Chapters A Gem of a different Caliber
After a long day of work in Sweet Apple Acres' southern orchard, Big Macintosh and Applejack are wrapping up after the long hard day's work. Two buckets of fresh apples were on the older sibling’s back. Applejack's hat and mane were covered in her sweat since the day's heat peak was 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Both of their hooves where aching in sharp pain. The long distance they had to trot didn't help either.
As the two came to the gate, Big Mac tripped on something that caused him to fall over and drop the buckets of apples. Applejack had galloped ahead to open the gate, when she noticed her brother had fallen over. She quickly darted back to check on the stallion. “Ya OK Big Mac?” She asked the stallion who had ended up on his back. “Eeyup.” Big Mac said in his generic response to almost everything.
Applejack helped her brother back onto his hooves. “What'cha trip over, Big Mac?” She asked. “Uh, that.” Big Mac responded, pointing to a light blue gem in dirt. “Wow, a sapphire. At least, I think it's one. I've never seen one like that.” Applejack commenting on the odd color of it.
As Big Mac picked up the apples off the ground, Applejack started to dig out the gem. The gem, or sapphire as AJ called it, had been put in the dirt pretty well. It took the mare about five minutes to get it out. However, upon picking it up, she suddenly regained some of her energy. “Mac, e'ah am goin' back into the field for a little longer.” Big Mac raised an eyebrow at the statement. “ E'ah thought you were tired sis'.” Applejack shrugged. “E'ah just feel like e'ah can get a little more work done.”
It was about an hour or so till Applejack returned back to the farm house and retired in for the night. All night, the light blue sapphire gave off a faint glow on her bedside table.
The next morning, it was a normal day again. Apple Bloom had scooted off with her friends after breakfast and Big Mac was getting ready to work in the fields today. Applejack cleaned up the dishes that were used, a few pots, pans and a plate or two.
After she cleaned up, Applejack decided to step outside. Granny Smith was in her rocker, as always. Big Mac said his goodbye to the family and headed back out to the southern orchard to finish the work him and his sister had started. Applejack however, who had the day off, decided to head into town.
Though as she did, the familiar sound of a certain filly's scream came from southern field. Applejack's ears perked up and she yelled out “E'ah'm comin' sis!” She then went into full gallop. The gem that she had placed in her saddle bag earlier, started to glow brightly. The mare's speed almost doubled. She arrived before her older brother, even though he was already in the field.
Apple Bloom was stuck up in one of the highest branches in the tallest tree. The filly was holding on by one forehoof. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were at the base of the trunk, unsure of what to do. Applejack came to a screeching halt at the base of the tree. She looked up to see her younger sister just barley hanging on. “Just drop! E'ah'll catch ya!” Applejack yelled to the filly. Apple Bloom on the other hand was scared out of her mind. “E'ah'm not goin' to sis'!” She yelled down to the mare. “Trust me! E'ah got ya!”
Believing her sister, Apple Bloom let go of the branch. Even though she fell at almost twenty seven miles per hour, Applejack was some how fast enough, and strong enough, to catch her sister. The mare payed little attention to this and put her frighten sister down on the ground. She then turned to the two fillies that were relived that Apple Bloom was alright. “'Ight crusaders, what in the Sam hill where ya'll thinking!?”Applejack yelled at the top of her lungs.
Scootaloo was the first to speak up to the angry mare. “Well, you see... We were trying to get our cutie marks in tree climbing. Guess the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Tree climbers, ain't our talent.” Sweetie Bell just gave out a faint smile. Applejack rolled her eyes at the two fillies. “Just don't do it again, ya'll. Apple Bloom is my only sister.”
Late to the party, Big Macintosh arrived, out of breath. Applejack turned to her brother. “And where were ya all this time? Apple Bloom could have been hurt! Or worse!” The mare snapped. “ E'ah was galloping as fast as e'ah could.” Big Macintosh responded. He then asked, “How did ya even get here. E'ah thought ya were on yer way to town.”
Sweetie Bell then spoke up. “Hey, what's that light coming from your bag, Applejack?” Pointing to the light emitting from the saddle bag. Applejack then turned her head to the bag. The left pocket was glowing a very vivid light blue. “What the hay is up with this sapphire?” She asked, pulling the gem out of the bag. “ E'ah better take this thing to Twilight right now!” The mare then put it back in her bag and went into full gallop. Though, a sudden burst of speed left everypony in the dust.
With in a few short minutes, the country mare arrived at the outskirts of Ponyville. With her friend, Twilight Sparkles house in her eyes, she picked her hooves off the ground. The faster she went, the more dust was kicked up. As the dust cloud known as Applejack came though the town, everpony was afraid of what was going on. The mare quickly but not quietly, came to the front door of her friend’s house.
Applejack rose her hoof to knock but Twilight beat her to it. “What the hay is going on, AJ? I heard you coming from a mile away.” Applejack's eyes drew blank. “Huh. Whatchu talkin' about, sugar cube?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on, AJ. How do you not notice a large dust cloud coming in after you. You were gong WAY to fast. For a normal Earth pony that is.”
Applejack turned her head. Twilight was right, she had moved quickly. From the point where she was, it would have taken her a half an hour or so. Somehow, she was there in just a few minutes, if that. The mare's eyes then darted to the saddle bag. It was glowing the same color it was very recently. Applejack pulled it out and showed her friend. “ E'ah think this sapphire may have somthin' to do with it.”
Twilight took the gem from Applejack. She was mesmerized by it. From all her books, she had never seen anything like it. The vast verity of gems in Equestria and this one was unique. Before Twilight had a chance to start looking it over, She was greeted by a familiar hyper-active earth pony and a certain chromatic pegasus. “What was up with that dust storm? The was not suppose to be any strong winds for another few days.” Rainbow dash asked with a questionable tone. “Sorry, ya'll. That may have been little ol' me.”
Rainbow dash was quickly annoyed. “Since when was it your job to control the weather?” Pinkie pie quickly butted in. “You silly gooses. Applejack was almost running as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog!” Rainbow looked at her. “Who in the hay is Sonic the hedgehog.” Twilight looked at her confused friend. “Don't worry, Rainbow. It's just Pinkie.”
Finally, with all interruptions aside, Twilight and her friends headed into the library to figure out what was going on with the strange sapphire. After Twilight plopped herself down at a table, her baby dragon assistant came into the room. “Hey guys, what's....” His words where cut short as his eyes settled on the good size gem stone.
The dragon dived for the gem but was stopped mid flight by the unicorn's strong magic. “Spike! This sapphire is for studding, not for your enjoyment!” Twilight snapped. “Alright, fine. But why are you calling it a sapphire. That's clearly an emerald.” The annoyed unicorn simply stared at her assistant. “That is not an emerald. Emeralds are green!” Spike rolled his eyes. “That emerald maybe a different color, but what kind of dragon would I be if I couldn’t tell the difference between the two gems.”
Applejack spoke up. “He has a point, sugar cube.” Twilight looked at her mare friend. “You're right. But no way in Celestia is an emerald suppose to be the color of a sapphire. Even Pinkie Pie knows that.” Pinkie quickly joined in the argument. “What is that suppose to mean?” “Oh nothing. Nothing at all.” Twilight said with a slight chuckle.
*Meanwhile in the Everfree forest*
A strange vortex had recently appeared close to the edge of the forest near a familiar shy pegasus' cottage. Fluttershy peered out of one of the windows that light from the vortex was pouring though. The vortex rapidly changed shape into a portal. With a loud bang, the portal stabilized. The timid pegasus threw the curtains over her window and darted to a place of hiding.
After a few silent moments, Fluttershy peered out the window once again. Her eyes widened as three figures came through. The darkest looking of the three was the first to speak. “I can already tell I am going to hate this place. It's too cheery.” The first figure that had stepped through responded to him. “Oh come on, Shadow. It can't be all that bad. Besides, you're the one who opened the portal. I think we might be able to have some fun here.”
**End of chapter one**
What the hay IS an echidna?
…The first figure that had stepped through responded to him. “Oh come on, Shadow. It can't be all that bad. Besides, you're the one who opened the portal. I think we might be able to have some fun here.”
Fluttershy's eyes widened from hearing that comment. She didn't know what kind of “fun” the blue figure meant, but she didn't like the sound of it. “I have to warn Twilight about this r-right away... what if they see me leave? No I can't think about that now. I must warn Twilight about this.” After getting her knees to stop shaking, she carefully unlocked her door and then galloped out of the cottage to town.
As she galloped, she looked behind her. To her surprise, nopony was following her. She simply guessed that nopony saw her dart out. When she was sure that no one was following her, she took to flight at the bridge that connected the two sides of the river. She covered the rest of the trip with in a couple minutes.
When the mare came to the library, she tapped on the door with her forehoof. “Oh... I hope they can hear me....” As she is about to tap again, Rainbow Dash opened the door. “Sup 'shy? What's with all the racket?” Fluttershy gently moved her friend out of the way to get into the building. “Sorry, but I need to talk to Twilight, if you don't mind... that is...”
Twilight turned her head to see her anxious friend wanting to ask her something. “What do you need, Fluttershy?” Twilight let out. “Well... uh.. there is... some kind of portal..... on the edge of Everfree,” the nervous mare started. “It just appeared... and... and...” Applejack interrupted her friend. “Just spit it out, 'shy.” “Three dark looking... figures stepped through... they said they wanted to have fun here...” Rainbow chuckled when Fluttershy said 'fun'. “Do you know what kind of fun they were talking about?”
Fluttershy shrugged. “I am... not sure.” The yellow coated mare then looked past Rainbow to see the strange emerald sitting on the table. “What's that guys...?” Applejack answered her. “Hay if we know but Spike thinks it's an emerald...” Twilight then interrupted the country earth pony. “Well that’s obviously wrong. Emeralds are green not light blue.” Applejack just gave a stare at Twilight. “E'ah was going to say that.”
“Actually,” A voice stated. Everypony quickly turned around to see a blue figure standing in the doorway. “It is an emerald. A chaos emerald.” Fluttershy started to slowly back away. “That's one of them.... one of them I saw in the Everfree forest.” She then ducked behind Twilight, scared as ever.
Rainbow Dash quickly got in front of the group. “Who the hay are you and what do you want!” She growled at the figure. With a smile on his face, the figure simply said, “Well, might as well kill two birds with one stone. To answer the second question I am here for that chaos emerald you have. And as far as the first question is concerned... The name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog.”
Rainbow Dash simply looked back at the pink mare standing to her left. “You have GOT to be kidding me.” Pinkie Pie simply smiled. “What?” She asked the confused Pegasus. Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Never mind...” The mare then turned to Sonic, who had started leaning on the door frame. “Never mind who you are. Why the hay do you want this emerald?” Sonic shot back “Why the hay not?”
Rainbow Dash was thrown off guard. “Are you being a smart plot with me?” Sonic scratched his head in confusion. “Was that suppose to be an insult? I've heard better comebacks from the good old Egghead himself.” Rainbow Dash's eyes turned with a furious look. “Nopony! I mean nopony! Talks about Twilight like that!” Twilight was quick to cut in. “I don't think he was talking about me, Dashie.”
Sonic let out his signature laugh. “Oh boy! You guys are just too funny!” Sonic was quickly bucked out of the way by a second black and red figure coming up from behind. “We are not here for chitchat Sonic. We are here for the emeralds.” He explained. The figure then proceeded to head for the emerald on the table. Only to be cut off by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Don't ya'll think we are gonna let'cha have this here emeralds without an explanation.”
The figure simply raised his hand in front of the country mare. “I don't have time for these silly little games.... Chaos ...!” Sonic quickly darted in front of the figure. “Shadow! You said we would do this my way first! We don't know if they are a threat or not! We are not going to blow up everyone who disagrees with you.” Shadow took a step back and lowered his hand. “I will let that fly this once. If you ever get in my way again, I won't hesitate to destroy you!” “Besides Shadow, they do deserve some sort of explanation for this.” Sonic responded
Sonic turned to the group of Equestrian mares. He then cracked his knuckles. “Before I start this story, Knuckles get in here. Also, dose anyone have a chair?” A stubbier red figure walked in behind Sonic. “About time Sonic, I was getting tired of standing guard.” The final figure let out with a grunt in his voice.
Sonic regained the attention of the five mares and the lone drake. “A'right, so lets start this story.” he said, jumping into a chair that was not built for his behind.
A long time ago, before anyone on Mobius could remember. There were seven stones of power. Each stone had a different color to it. But all had immense power. It was said that even one, could double the natural abilities of the user. Although, if one had all seven in their possession, a miracle was supposed to happen.
The power of the seven stones was so great in fact that the guardians had to do something to control them. Using positive and negative energy of the emeralds, they created an eighth stone. It was near infinite in power. This came to be known as the Master Emerald, the controller.
Centuries pasted in harmony and peace. But the guardians became greedy. The sought to use the power of the seven stones to conquer the surrounding tribes. However, a great power over came the guardians and attempted to destroy them all. This power was known as Chaos. He was almost unstable, until one guardian stepped forward.
A girl named Tikal gave her own soul to lock both her and the creature known as Chaos into the Master Emerald. The resulting spell scattered the stones across the known world. For thousands of years, the seven stones came and went throughout history.
Thirteen years ago, all seven were brought together once again. I was the one to bring all seven back together. Using the power of all seven emeralds, I was able to defeat a mad man. He sought to take over all of Mobius with a robotic army. Time and time again, I defeated him with the emeralds. However, when he was able to snatch the emeralds from me, Shadow had the foresight to teleport the emeralds away before the mad man could use them.
It took us some time, but we were able to trace where the emeralds had wound up. A friend of mine was working on interdimensional transportation. Using the machine he called a Fargate, we were able to wind up here.
Sonic finished his story. Shadow stepped forward. “Now if you don't mind, we will be taking that emerald.” Applejack gave out a sigh. “Well, ya'lls story makes a lick of sense, e'ah reckon. Ya'll can have it.” Sonic let out a smile. “Thanks, but we still have to find the other six. They can be anywhere across this land of.... what do you call this land anyway?” He asked scratching his ear.
Applejack tipped her hat a little. “It's called Equestria.” She answered the blue hedgehog. Knuckles then butted in. “Equestria, like in horse?” Twilight was swift to correct him. “No, we are actually ponies.” The pinkish mare then joined in with her own question. “So, if Shadow and Sonic are both hedgehogs, what are you? You look a little different from them.” “Well actually, I'm an echidna.” Knuckles responded. Rainbow Dash, with a confused look, asked “What the hay is an echidna?”
Knuckles put his glove to his face. “It's kind of like a tougher hedgehog.” Shadow shot back “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Knuckles.” The echidna's face grew redder than normal. “Hey!” He shouted, shaking one of his fist. Sonic broke the two up. “Come on guys, find a room. Besides, we better get looking for the other six emeralds.” Applejack suddenly offered up some help. “Ya'll sure ya don't need any help? Equestria is a might' bit bigger than ya'll think.”
Sonic just rejected her offer. “I don't think you know who you are dealing with! I am the fastest thing alive!” Steam blew out of Rainbow's ears. “I doubt that one, blue boy!” Sonic came back with; “Is that a challenge I hear?” Rainbow got up in Sonic's face. “You! Me! First one to Canterlot and back right now!” “You're on fly girl!” Sonic challenged the Pegasus mare.
**end of chapter two**
…”You! Me! First one to Canterlot and back right now!” “You're on fly girl!” Sonic challenged the Pegasus mare.
The two stared at each other for a second. The room was completely silent. Twilight's assistant finally broke the silence. “Hey, if you are going to have a race, you need a referee.” Sonic looked at him. The drake did raise a valid point. The hedgehog let out a smile. “Sure thing little buddy.” Spike gave out a “yes” in approval. Sonic looked at Rainbow Dash. “Camelot is kind of far from here, don't you think?”
“Canterlot....” Rainbow muttered under her breath. “I am sorry. I couldn't quiet hear that over the sound of how awesome I am. Could you repeat that?” Sonic mocked in his cocky attitude. “The city is called Canterlot, you blue ball of spikes!” Sonic smiled. “Oh, you almost hurt my feelings with that one. Almost. So where is this city anyway?”
Rainbows lead the group outside the library. Using one of her forehooves, she pointed to a cliff side. “You see that castle over there?” Sonic squinted. “It's kind of hard to see. But yea, I think I see it.” Rainbow smiled. “That's Canterlot.”
Shadow let out a noticeable sigh and turned his attention to the mare. “We don't have time for this.” Rainbow just grinned. “Don't worry grouchy. This will only take a Manehattan minute.”
Spike then looked around. “Alright. I guess I better get started on the starting line.” The pink random mare then jumped in. “Don't worry Spike! I hid a bunch of starting lines around Ponyville just in case we ever had a race like this.” She then jumped into a bush and came out several minutes later carrying a yellow starting line.
Sonic's green eyes blinked. “How...? I don't even... Why?” Rainbow Dash looked over at him. “Don't even try to understand that pony.” “You know what, I am okay with it.” Sonic said, still a little confused. “Alright little referee, I think it's time to get this race started.” The hedgehog then started to jog in place in front of the starting line.
Rainbow took her spot next to Sonic. She started to flare her wings. Spike got in front of the two racers. “Alright racers. On your mark....” The cyan mare started to grinned her hooves against the dirt. “Get set...” Sonic got low to the ground and put his white gloved hands just behind the start line. “Go!” The two races suddenly bolted off, throwing Spike to the ground as the two passed him.
A few miles into the race, Rainbow noticed that Sonic was not in front. She looked back. Not there either. “Slow poke must still be at the starting line. This race is in the bag.” The mare said, cockily.
A little more down the road, Canterlot came into the mare's view. Suddenly, she was thrown off her guard. The blue hedgehog was standing right in front of the gates. “What's the hold up? I've been waiting for hours!”
The mare's jaw dropped. “How are you here? You didn't even pass me!” “Oh please, I left you in the dust at the start line.” Sonic then started jogging backwards and patted Rainbow on the head carelessly. “Later kid!” He then ran off.
Steam came out of the mare's ears in anger. “I am NOT about to sit here and let that ball of spikes beat me! It’s time for him to taste the rainbow.” Rainbow shot up into the sky then went into a near perfect fifty-five degree dive. The air started to make the mare feel as if it was pulling on her tail. A Mach cone had formed.
With a finial burst of speed, she broke both the sound barrier and the light spectrum. A couple or so seconds later, a six colored ball of light dashed past Sonic. “That's a sonic boom!” He yelled out. “NO WAY am I getting shown up in a test of speed.” Tapping into his reserves of chaos energy, Sonic shattered the sound barrier on his own.
Sonic was just a bit faster, but the chromatic Pegasus had a substantial lead. He was gaining; however the finish line was approaching faster than he was. Putting on as much speed as his current form could muster, Sonic was able to cross the finish line. “Ha I won!” Rainbow Dash, who had crossed just about the same time yelled out: “What! I crossed that finish line before you!” Sonic crossed his arms. “I demand a replay!” Rainbow suddenly let the poor hog down. “Sorry blue boy, we didn't have a camera to capture my victory!”
Twilight stepped up. “Actually, I have a spell for that.” The two racers' eyes simultaneously blinked. “I recently learned a spell to playback anything I have recently seen in the past five minutes or so.” Sonic shrugged. “Works for me!”
Twilight nodded and her horn started to glow with a purple aura. Through a purple haze, the group saw a transparent image of Sonic and Rainbow slowly approaching the finish line. The ghost of Rainbow had the lead but the ghostly Sonic was catching up fast. At the second the two came to the finish line, Sonic's left shoe and Rainbow's right hoof touched the line at the same time.
Twilight said, “Well that settles it, it was a complete tie!” Rainbow suddenly got into her friends face. “It can't just be a TIE! There has to be a defined winner!” Twilight stepped back. “I'm sorry Dash, magic doesn’t lie. You both touched the finish line at the exact same picosecond.” Rainbow Dash was confused. “What the hay is a picosecond?” “It's a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a second.”
Sonic let out a whistle. “Well if that don't beat all. How did you figure that out?” Twilight simply nodded back. “It's what I do.” “I'll take... I'll take your word for it.”
Pinkie pie, with a smile on her face, bounced in. “Well, I was going to have a party for the winner, but since you are both winners. I will just have a party for both of you! Tie party!”
Shadow sighed. Sonic looked over at the black and red hedgehog. “What? It’s not like the party is going to kill you or anything?” Shadow just barely spoke up. “You don't know that....” “Party pooper.” Sonic commented. “Besides, it's getting dark. It's a little late for finding emeralds, don't you think?”
Knuckles coughed. “Hey, we already got one in under our belt. And they are willing to throw us a party. I'd say we don't look a gift horse, or in this case pony, in the mouth.” Sonic nodded in agreement with his longtime friend. “Alright, let’s get this party started!”
Not even twenty minutes later, Pinkie Pie was able to round up enough party goers at Sugar Cube Corner. At the party was the mane-6, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the Sonic Team. She also rounded up a few of her friends around and about Ponyville. The Cakes had provided the needed refreshments for the party as well.
After the party got going, the CMC found their way into the back of the shop. Scootaloo was losing her marbles. “Can you believe this?! Somepony was actually able to catch up with R.D?” Before anypony could comment on what she said, she let out “That... was... Awesome!” Apple Bloom looked at her friend with a slightly off face. “E'ah thought you were head over hoof for Rainbow Dash?” Scoot corrected her friend. “Oh don't get me wrong! R.D is still the best pony... forever! But, Sonic maybe the best candidate for the best hedgehog forever!” She yelled, jumping into the air.
***
Shadow's ear twitched. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Shadow crushed the cup full of apple juice in his hand. “Oh somebody must have a death wish!” Applejack looked over at the angry hedgehog. “Now, why did ya have to go off and waste perfectly good homemade apple juice?” With fire in his eyes, Shadow answered the mare. “There's some little chicken in the back room who needs to learn her place.”
Applejack remained confused till a loud sigh from the back room alerted her to Scoot's presences. “Now that was just rude....” Shadow walked past her. “Not my problem.”
***
Scootaloo's eyes were looking straight at the maple wood floor. “He... he... he called me a chicken too.” Sweetie Belle was busy rolling on the floor, laughing, while Apple Bloom was trying to comfort her friend. “Now THAT is priceless” Sweetie Belle let out in between her laughs.
Apple Bloom looked over the filly unicorn. “Now that wasn't funny at all.” Sweetie Belle looked up. “Oh come on, it was a little funny.”
Apple Bloom ignored her. “Don't listen to her, Scoots. Hey! E'ah know what will cheer ya up!” Scootaloo looked up. “What do you have in mind?” Apple Bloom pointed to the light blue chaos emerald sitting on the counter behind Sonic and Knuckles. “Sonic said that there were seven of 'em. He also said that he needed to gather all of 'em. Ya thinking what ah'm thinking?” Scootaloo smiled and the three fillies jumped into the air. “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Chaos Emerald Hunters!”
**End of Chapter Three**
...“Ya thinking what ah'm thinking?” Scootaloo smiled and the three fillies jumped into the air. “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Chaos Emerald Hunters!”
While the three fillies sneaked out in an overly complicated way, the party continued on. Knuckles was searching for some grape juice or something of that caliber. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were off talking in a corner. Twilight and Sonic were trying to have an intelligent conversation. Pinkie was off following the grouchy Shadow, trying to come up with a way to cheer him up. Applejack had stepped out to get some air. Rarity, who had only recently been introduced to the Sonic team, was busy fussing about Pinkie's “obtrusive” overuse of pastel colors.
After a little bit of searching, Knuckles walked over to the two mares talking. “Hey, what was your name... Bumblefly....” Fluttershy barely audible “It's... Um Fluttershy...” “Oh... that's right. Sorry about that. You take care of animals, right?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well, I got this problem. There's a lot of Apple stuff around here but I don't have a taste for it. By any chance do you know where I can get any grape juice?”
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. She then cut in. “You actually LIKE grape juice? I thought I was the only pony that drank that.” Knuckles turned his attention to Rainbow. “Oh, so you have some?” “Yea, I always keep a bottle or two at my house. Not many ponies like it so I don't bring it to parties.” Knuckles let out a friendly smile. “Well if you got a glass to spare, I would love some.”
Rainbow Dash looked out the window. “Sure, I just need to fly home first.” “Mind if I tag along? I need some fresh air.” Rainbow agreed to the echidna's simple request. The two headed out. A few party goers noticed them leaving but paid little attention.
“So, tell me more about Mobius. What's it like, where you come from?” Twilight asked, pulling out a quill and some parchment. Sonic gathered his thoughts and answered the mare's question to the best of his abilities. “Well, Mobius is a nice little planet. Not too cold, not too hot, and defiantly not too wet. The way Mobius is divided is into several different zones. You got one zone that is several rolling green hills. Another zone has a giant chemical plant in the middle of it. Most of Mobius is a giant forest, however. Some areas are starting to industrialize. Some a little faster due to Doctor Eggman.”
“Oh so this Doctor Eggman guy helps out the planet?” Twilight asked out of curiosity. Sonic knew that wasn't true, entirely. “Not exactly, Twi'. Mobius is just starting to come off its first big industrial revaluation. Eggman tried to push it a little bit too fast. A lot of people ended up hurt because of him.” A tear could be noticed rolling down his cheek. “Oh. I'm sorry I said anything like that.” “He wasn't always bad. He use to invent for the greater good. Then... Badniks.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the last word. “Who or what is a Badnik?” Sonic leaned up on the wall. “Well you see, Eggman found out a long time ago, most creatures that live on Mobius are tied into something called the Chaos Force. So by using the inner chaos in all the little woodland creatures, he was able to power robot suits with them.” Twilight just lost it to that thought. “That's horrible!” “Yea, I know. I lived it. That's why I started fighting against him.”
Twilight put down her writing supplies. “I can't even begin to think how hard that must have been for you.” Sonic reassured the mare. “Nah. Once I was able to destroy the robots, the little guys came out fine. It didn't take long for old Egghead to figure out that I wouldn't let him use my friends to power his bots.” Twilight smiled. “So eventually he stopped?” “Well yes and no. He stopped using woodland creatures and turned to something more powerful.”
Twilight grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and put more ink on her quill. “You see, every living thing on Mobius is tied into the Chaos Force. But there are more direct ways to access it.” His eyes then darted to the light blue chaos emerald sitting on the counter next to him. “You mentioned that a couple times now, what is this Chaos Force?” The mare pondered the Mobian hedgehog. “It's like your magic. Except its alive. I can feel it right now. Not just from the emerald but every single pony in this very room. It comes from your emotions.”
Twilight was just simply dumbstruck. “What do you mean it comes from one's emotions?” “The servers are the seven chaos. Chaos enriched by the heart. The user is the one who unifies the chaos. This energy is created when positive and negative emotions react against each other. In a way, chaos represents harmony and disharmony.”
Twilight wanted to get a little deeper on the subject. She was interested. “Okay Mr. Hedgehog, riddle me this. Why would this Eggman fellow want to use this Chaos Force anyway? What kind of practical applications dose it have?” “Well, for starters, it's a source of near unlimited power. Some people that have a strong enough connection to it can use it as an energy weapon.” He said pointing to Shadow. “Mr. Hotshot over there is one of the best I know. Some of those things he can do with it are teleport, energy projectiles, and having an overinflated ego.” Twilight let out a girlish laugh.
“Well, I guess it is a lot like unicorn magic. Not that I am not taking your word for it but I'd still would like to have an example. Think you could show me?” Sonic shook his head in disagreement. “Sorry little lady, but I can't use that power quiet so well. But I do know one hog who can. Give me one second to get him.”
In a blink of an eye Sonic dashed over to Shadow, leaving a blue trail behind. Sonic grabbed the black and red hedgehog by his spine. He then darted back over to Twilight, dragging Shadow with him. As soon as Sonic let go of him, Shadow turned around and kicked him hard enough to send the blue hog over the counter. “What the hell was that for?” Sonic asked, picking himself up. “You should have know what you were getting yourself into. Now, would you mind telling me why you dragged me over here?”
Twilight broke into the conversation. “That would be my fault. I asked Sonic to show me how the Chaos Force works.” Shadow looked at Twilight. “I guess Sonic isn't as stupid as he looks. I am the one who you would ask about that.” “Okay then... Sonic said you can use the Chaos Force to teleport. Mind showing me?”
Shadow picked up the chaos emerald. “But of course. Alright everyone, I would suggest taking a step or two back.” Everypony in a five foot radius, even Twilight and Sonic, took a few steps back. Some of the party goers were a little confused about what was going on. Shadow rose his hand into the air. “It all starts with this. A gem containing the ultimate power! Chaos... Control!”
A sudden bright light similar to one given off by a military flash bang filled the room. Everypony attempted to cover their eyes in time. When the flash died off, Shadow was nowhere to be found.
***
At that moment, Rainbow Dash and Knuckles was just below the mare's house. Knuckles was more confused then he ever was. “Your house is a cloud?!” Rainbow Dash looked at Knuckles. “Yea, I know. I'm awesome, ain't I?” “I mean, I live on a floating island. I thought I was the only one who did that.”
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in a little bit of confusion. “A floating island? How dose that work?” Knuckles gathered his thoughts. “You live in a cloud and you are asking me how I live?” “Well duh! Lots of pegasi do that! It's kind of what we do.” “Right, cloud houses aside. I think we came here for some grape juice?” Rainbow facehoofed. “Oh right. Let me go get that.” She then flew up and into her home to recover the bottles.
A sudden flash of light appeared behind Knuckles. He turned around to see Shadow standing right behind him. “Oh hey Shadow. What are you up to?” “Just checking in on you. I know how you like to sneak away from parties. But if I don't get to you don't either. Explain why you are out here.” “Damn, I never figured you to be the nosy one.” Knuckles commented on Shadow's pushy attitude. “I'm just down here waiting for one of Sonic's pony friends to come back down here with some grape juice.”
“Grape juice eh? Well, keep telling yourself that it is. I will expect you back at the party.” Shadow then blinded Knuckles as he teleported back to the party. Rainbow Dash came back down from her house, carrying a bottle of home made grape juice. “What was that flash?” “It was just Shadow snooping as usual.”
***
After a couple of confused moments passed, Shadow reappeared in the exact spot he was in moments before. Twilight rubbed her eyes with one of her forehooves. “What the buck just happened?” Shadow put the emerald down back on the counter. “I was just checking in on someone who had sneaked off with one of your mare friends.” Twilight blushed a light red. She looked around an noticed the element of loyalty was gone. “She's just a friend mind you.”
“Is that all you needed?” Shadow questioned the violet colored mare. “Yes, for now. I must sort this information out.” Out of the blue, a pink earth pony tackled Shadow. “Where did you get to Mr. Grumpy?” Pinkie asked with a large smile on her face. Shadow let out a angry growl. “Get... the hell... off... me...” “Okie doky artichokey.” The pink mare then got off him and trotted off.
“Okay. So what was that just now?” Sonic asked. “That would be classic Pinkie Pie.” Twilight answered. “Right then. I think its a good time to end the chapter.” Everypony just looked at him in confusion.
**end of Chapter four**
