Chapters My Little Hedgehog: Generations
Sequel Time! A deliberately short chapter to begin with, before opening up into longer chapters.
Cloudsdale. The city of the sky. Located high above Equestria and the hometown to many pegasi. Built on the clouds, Cloudsdale has a vast amount of flight schools available to fillies and colts that are just getting used to their wings. Perhaps none more recognized as 'Young Flyers School for Gifted Pegasi'. The best of the best are selected to go to this school and most become some of the most well known in Equestria. In a small, well lit classroom a couple dozen ponies sat at their desks. On the walls were drawings of each other, some artistic...some not so. One image in particular looked like it had several bright colours sprawled over it. Sat at the desks were many different colours of ponies. Some of the ponies had their cutie marks on their hinds, others were yet to earn them. Almost all of them sat attentively at their desks, scribbling notes into their books, eager to pass. Sat at a small desk was a little cyan filly with messy rainbow colored hair. Unlike all the other would-be flyers, this particular one was very unique...
...Because she was sleeping with her head on her desk, a small bit of drool hanging from her open mouth after falling asleep during one of the teacher's ramblings. When the teacher stopped talking, all that could be heard were the soft snores coming from her. Most ponies did care for her antics, they knew that the teacher would simply deal with her soon enough.
"MISS DASH!! EYES UP HERE!!! demanded their teacher. She was a fairly young orange pony with a yellow mane. The young Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and slowly raised her head, still half asleep and half-aware of where she was. Her teacher was practically raging.
"This is the 4th time this month you have fell asleep in class! Do you actually care about graduating?!" she demanded angrily. The filly sat up and slyly brushed off the remark as the entire class stared at her, remaining cool, calm and collected.
"C'mon! I already know everything I should know! I'm the best flyer in the class!" she replied. Her voice squeaked a little during her 'speech'. The other young ponies all rolled their eyes, almost in unison. They had heard it all before and they knew the drill. Teacher rambles, Dash sleeps, Teacher yells at her, and Dash is sent to the principal’s office. It was a weekly, maybe daily routine.
Again and again.
"Rainbow Dash, go to the principal’s office! Now!" she yelled at her. Rainbow Dash didn't even care a little bit as she got off her small chair and trotted off to the door, her scruffy rainbow colored trail swishing back and forth proudly, holding her head high. Everypony's eyes were on her as she left with a happy grin on her face. She wasn't grinning because she was in trouble, she was grinning because she was, of course, right.
While she was failing at the theory side of flying, she was the best in the school's history for her practical abilities. Her attitude made her infamous among teachers and pupils alike, but she didn't care. All she cared about was proving she was the best there ever was, and indeed the fastest. Her love for a flying group named the "Wonderbolts" made her the most determined, but her laziness didn't help her in her written work.
"Maybe I can take a little detour" she thought to herself as she stalked the empty corridors of the school. She looked into several small rooms where other classes were taking place. Inside one of these classes was a slightly older filly than herself with a pink mane covering her eye. She seemed shy and appeared to prefer to keep to herself. She made her way down a few floors and outside into the open world, where she felt like she belonged. Taking in a breath of fresh air, she smiled happily as she flapped her growing wings into flight. Instantly, she felt much better, like a 1000 pound weight came off her back. Being on 4 legs for two long was simply torture, Rainbow Dash loved flying, and nothing was going to stop her from doing so. She decided it would be fun to fly around the school building a few times, making sure to fly directly past her classroom window for all to see and saluting as she did so. Some of the kids cheered her while her teacher simply rolled her eyes and made her way out of the class, to the principle herself. Dash didn't care, she was having fun and that's all that mattered.
Dash passed the time doing all sorts of tricks. Loops, barrel-rolls, all sorts of things. In her spare time, she was prepping herself up to attempt 2 moves she had in development. One was nicknamed the 'buccaneer blaze' that she wanted to keep a secret from the world for the time being. The other involved her breaking the sound barrier, though she wasn't very good at it, naming it the 'sonic rainboom'. The name was still a work in progress.
She decided to lie down on a single cloud, curling up into a rainbow colored blob. In her mind, she didn't care what the teacher or her principle said to her. She didn't care, she just wanted to fly.
...the wind picked up all of a sudden, disturbing Dash's nap.
"Huh? What's going on? Who's there?!" she squeaked. Out of nowhere, a massive mechanical hand broke through the sky like it was a piece of paper. The hand was rusted, as if it was hastily put together. Another hand broke through, ripping the sky apart, revealing a massive mechanical creature of a colossal size. It was all rusted and rather old looking, like someone tried to take something they once had and make it again. Dash stood defiantly ready to defend herself from what it was about to do. Before Dash realised it, the mechanical creature sent of a beam of strange, purple energy. Rainbow Dash was out for the count in seconds...
My Little Hedgehog: Generations
My apologies if this sucks, seems unoriginal, or simply silly. I'm very tired. Chapters will be longer from now on.
3 days following the 'Discord incident'
"Morning Sonic!"
"Hey Sonic!"
"Morning Shadow-I mean Sonic"
Sonic walked happily through Ponyville, being greeted by several ponies along the way. It was just a few days ago he was proclaimed a hero in Ponyville for saving not only it, but the entirety of Equestria from Discord's chaos. Speed Highway was also gone from Equestria and presumably returned to his own dimension when Discord was beaten. All traces of Metal Sonic's damage done to the area were also mended. Eggman however, was still at large, yet he didn't let that bother him too much, even if Metal Sonic and Metal Rainbow Dash were not destroyed. He couldn't have done it without his friends however, both old and new. He couldn't feel happier to be a hero in more than one universe. However, a thought loomed in his head, a thought that was strangely dormant until now.
What about returning home? He did have all 7 Chaos Emeralds and Blaze had the 7 Sol Emeralds. So what was stopping him?
The ponies were stopping him. Not forcefully, but the 6 had developed good relationships the mane 6 over the past few days, before and after their adventure. Pinkie Pie and Amy were inseparable. They both threw a massive party after the parade was over and were like 2 sisters. Applejack and Tails got on brilliantly together. They were the only two to regularly use their combinations, purely so Applejack could fly around together with Tails and work harder on the farm. Silver and Twilight on...strangely well. Considering that they had nothing really in common. Silver's tales of the future greatly interested Twilight, who spoke of him quite often. She really seemed to like him.
As for Blaze and Rarity, they got on like a house on fire. They were almost never seen apart from each other. Rumours were going about that Blaze was planning on releasing her own line of dresses, With Rarity's help of course. As for Shadow and Fluttershy, no one really knew of how they were getting on. They tended to keep to themselves. To Sonic, it was to be expected. Shadow was mysterious and Fluttershy was, well, shy.
Finally, Sonic and Rainbow Dash were like brother and sister. Inseparable and constantly racing across the area. Sonic influenced her to help Scootaloo with flying, which she has been doing happily. Scootaloo's progress was...slow to say the least. All in all, Sonic enjoyed life in Equestria, it was a lot like his own, and so he almost felt at home there.
"And what do you think you are doing?" asked Rainbow Dash aloud. Sonic had his head on her tail all along. She wasn't alone. She was with Rarity and Blaze, both of them looking right at him. Caught off guard, Sonic let out a nervous chuckle as he got to his feet.
"Heh, sorry Dash. Didn't look at where I was napping" he replied. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at him as he sat down next to her. The 4 stared off into the distance.
"So, as I was saying, when are you all leaving for your world? I hope I don't sound forceful at all" asked Rarity. Sonic flinched at the question.
"Well...I enjoy it here, I really do! But we will have to go back at some point" Blaze lamented. Sonic's thought matched her own accurately. He didn't want to leave behind his new friends.
"Well hopefully it won't be too soon. I wanna race you when we're both in that weird, bright, incredibly awesome state that we were in 3 days ago" said Rainbow Dash turning to Sonic with an excited smile. Sonic returned it before turning to Blaze.
"What about your universe? Eggman Nega?" he asked with worry.
"Meh, I have the emeralds here, what's the worse he could do?" she deadpanned. She was right, the armies in her world could take care of his mere 'robots'. Rarity pointed her hoof to the sky.
“Oh! There’s Fluttershy!” she shouted, waving erratically at her. Fluttershy hovered in front of the sun, striking a shadow on the ground. The 4 happily looked up to her as she came down to land.
"Um, Hi guys. How's everyone?" she asked softly.
"It's all good. Just chatting" replied Dash. "Hey, where's Shadow?"
"Oh he'll be here right about...now" she replied. On cue Shadow appeared in front of them in a bright flash of light, startling everyone but Fluttershy. In his hand was a green Chaos Emerald.
"Oh, hey Shadow" greeted Sonic. Shadow just turned his head.
"Hmph, Hello" he replied softly. The 6 gathered round and sat together in peace.
"So Shadow, what do you think about going back to our world?" asked Sonic. Shadow genuinely looked surprised and saddened by the question. Of all the people to not want to go home, Shadow would be the last.
"Hm. I don't want to leave right now..." he grunted. Fluttershy seemed to frown sadly at the idea of him leaving.
"Well, as long as anything bad doesn't happen to this world, we'll be grand" replied Blaze, lying back on the grass. Everyone was quiet for a while as the sun reached its peak. Rainbow Dash shivered lightly.
"Brr, ever get that feeling like something bad has happened that shouldn't have?" she asked aloud.
"Not really no" replied Sonic with a frown.
"Well I did. I feel like someone is in trouble somewhere, I can't really describe it..." she replied. She thought quietly to herself, thinking her random shiver was a big deal. At that point, the wind picked up.
"Huh? That's odd, the wind was meant to be easy today" said Rarity aloud, shielding her face. The 6 looked to the sky, and what they saw was out of this world.
A large metallic hand ripped through the sky like cheap paper as another one joined it. The 6 got up and prepared themselves for what was in store. The rest of the machine burst through, revealing a large metallic grimace on its front. Sonic stood back in shock.
"It's can't be! That's not possible!" he cried out loud. The machine had no legs and yet it just floated in mid-air like it had invisible wings. The metallic mouth opened, revealing its dark insides.
"Sonic! What the heck is that thing?!" demanded Rainbow Dash. The machine's appearance sent the town into another frenzy of fear, though this time there was less screaming and more 'run-into-the nearest-house'.
"That's the Time Eater! But it was destroyed!" he yelled. The machine shot out some strange, purple energy from its mouth, heading right for the group. Sonic was thrown backwards from the blast and landed in his back. Landing beside him was Rainbow Dash, knocked out from the impact. Sonic attempted to get back on his feet, but his vision became clouded as he slowly blacked out. They didn't react fast enough as they were all knocked unconscious...
...
Rainbow Dash awoke slowly, not sure of what happened to her, or how long she was out for. She gazed at her surroundings. She was in a white room, nothing in her sight. No roof, no end or beginning. Her heart sped up, wondering if she was dead. Scared, she looked around frantically for a way out. What she did see however, was a small structure in the distance. it was curvy and strangely shaped. Going with her gut, she slowly flew over to the mysterious structure. When she got up close, she found it looked like the colour was sucked from it. It was lifeless, only a soft wind disturbing the silence. It was a collection of tall trees, akin to the ones in the Everfree Forest. Standing by the entrance was a white statue, standing in a scared pose. Upon close inspection, the stature was on two feet and had massive spikes on its back. Rainbow hit the statue in an attempt to move it.
"Sonic! Can you hear me?!" she shrieked, but to no avail. She figured she should enter the white forest. maybe she could find a solution to her problems in there.
Watching from above was a little cyan pegasus filly.
"Who does she think she is? She's taken my style!" thought the young Rainbow Dash.
My Little Hedgehog: Generations
Friendship is Magic Once More
Excuse me for any rubbish parts of this. It's been a while.
Memories are very important aspects of life. Some are good, some are bad yet most are memorable. Rainbow Dash felt like she found herself standing somewhere from a distant memory. She was in the Everfree Forest but there were aspects that seemed...off. The moon didn't appear to move at all, like it was everlasting and she felt like she was being watched by something unreal.
"This all seems too familiar..." she said to herself as she gazed through the mist. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was so important about the Everfree Forest this particular time around. All she knew was she walked into an entrance and there she was. No rhyme or reason. Confused, she looked around the area thoughtfully, trying to get some idea as to why she was there.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess" she said to herself as she stalked the dark woods trying to piece together everything that happened. Just what was that "thing" that attacked them? Sonic seemed scared of it or shocked it existed, whatever it was. That wasn't all, where were the others? Were they ok? Dash's head rushed with all these questions as she walked through the forest floors. Just from the corner of her eye, a shapeless mist glided through the trees with ease. Dash turned her head but saw nothing.
"Whose there?!" she yelled and with only the soft wind replying to her calls. She giggled nervously to herself. "Heh...I must be seeing things" she said in order to convince herself that nothing was wrong.
With no luck.
Not too far from her was another, younger Rainbow Dash. She had followed her older self into the area, not knowing who the other pony really was. The younger Dash was nowhere near as calm as her older self in the forest's depth. This was totally new territory being on the freaking ground after all. As she walked, her legs shivered with nerves as the creepy imagery greeted her eyes.
"C'mon Dash...keep it together. There's nothing dangerous here-" she whispered. She stood on a small twig, which to Dash made the loudest noise in history. She squeaked in fear as she regained her bearings. Frowning, she berated herself for being so scared.
"Now stop it Rainbow Dash! This place may be...", she gulped, "... terrifying, but you have to find out what's happening!" she said, giving herself some moral support. With that, she trotted off, her fuzzy tail swishing back and forth.
...
It felt like an eternity, but the older Rainbow Dash reached a new location. It was an old rickety bridge over a tall, seemingly bottomless drop. Beyond the bridge was nothing but thick fog plastered over whatever was beyond it. Narrowing her eyes, she saw the outline of a stone structure or temple. Memories came flooding back.
"I remember this place...I was with the others, searching for the elements of harmony!" she realised. That was the day she met Twilight Sparkle for the first time in her life and the day she was declared "the element of loyalty". She felt somewhat ashamed to forget such a fateful day. It all suddenly made sense! The reason the moon never moved was because of Nightmare Moon! She noted that the bridge was odd as well. It was broken before, so why was it fixed? She put it aside for other questions. She thought cautiously to herself about what was going to happen when she did cross the bridge. Was she to be tempted into joining the "Shadowbolts" like before? The more she thought about it, the more reluctant she was to cross it. She sucked up a breath and flew across the gap. What was the point of walking across when you had wings on your back? The second her hoof touched the ground, a ghostly female voice echoed around her.
"Rainbow....." it whispered, almost playfully. Rainbow frowned and looked around in all directions. It was happening again. Any second now she'd see the Wonderbolt duplicates eager to 'enlist' her. Not afraid or put off, she simply sat down and waited.
"We have eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in all of Equestria..." the voice again whispered. Rainbow Dash deadpanned. "Yeah yeah, heard it all before. I'm the best blah blah blah". Unlike before, the 3 Shadowbolts slowly trotted out of the mist with rather confused looks. Last time they ran out, triumphantly proclaimed themselves. The middle one spoke.
"Huh? Wha-Never mind. We are the greatest aerial team of the Everfree Forest! And soon we will be the greatest in-" it proclaimed before being cut off by the bored pony.
"All Equestria? Yeah. Like I said, heard it before" she deadpanned. The 3 ghostly figures looked at each other.
"...Have we met before?" the middle one asked. Rainbow merely shrugged in reply, still looking as uninterested as before. The middle pony shook her head and continued.
"Ahem, anyway. We need a captain...." the pony revealed, walking up Dash before flying around her. Dash didn't even bat an eye as the pony circled around her.
"The most magnificent..."
"Uh huh"
"...swiftest..."
"Uhhh huh"
"...bravest flyer in all the land!"
"Eeyup" replied Dash, taking on an impression of Big Macintosh all of a sudden. The pony flew right up to her ear.
"We need....you..." it whispered. Dash turned with a blank expression.
"Hmm, Nah. Not interested at all. I know you’re not actually real and I'm rather saddened that you'd think that'd work again" Rainbow said confidently. The pony backed off, caught off guard by the sudden remark. Angered, the 3 ponies dissolved into a single purple mist that seeped into the temple. Rainbow smirked to herself.
"Well...that went better than expected" she said quietly as she walked into the temple. As she did, it began to distort before her eyes and faded to white. Everything disappeared as she looked back to find herself standing at the 'entrance' to the Everfree Forest like she began in. Suddenly, dark colours returned to the once washed out trees. Only specific colours seemed to come back. The bark of the trees and the dirt came back leaving about half of it without colour, it was an improvement anyway. She turned to the 'statue' of Sonic. Colour seemed to return to him as well making Rainbow grin with joy. Sonic rubbed his head in pain as he turned to Dash who leapt at him to give him a friendly hug.
"Hey, thanks Rainbow. Man, this is what Tails had to go through. Jeez" he continued to rub his head as Rainbow paused for thought.
"You wouldn't believe what just happened to me Sonic. I felt like I just went through a memory..." she said. Sonic paused and looked around. It seemed like what happened to him was happening to her...but there was no sign of Tails to back it up. His younger self was nowhere to be seen either. He did keep a look out for her younger self though. He thought about everything that happened, but he would explain later.
"Hey! What's that over there?" asked Dash aloud. She pointed to a tall, white building off to the distance. "Let's go check it out!" she said as she flew off to it. Sonic ran after her, wanting to find out more about where he was this time around.
...
"Who would use such a bad looking bridge?" asked the filly Rainbow Dash aloud. She calmly flew across the gap and set her tiny hoofs on the ground. As she did, a voice called though this one was not so playful.
"What are you doing here?" asked a pony dressed in all black attire. Dash stepped back a little at its sudden appearance. "Um...why are you smaller?" asked the pony, taking note of the filly's size. Rainbow Dash frowned.
"I'm not scared of you! Gimme your best shot!" she proclaimed ready to fight. The Shadowbolt just glared confused at her.
"Look kid, I'm waiting for someone else, just go on through that temple and you won't be harmed..." it threatened. Dash did as she was told, backing away into the temple, still in her aggressive stance. Like before, everything stated to fade out as she wound up back at the entrance. The young filly shook her head as she regained her bearings. Gazing at the entrance, its colours returned to its entirety, yet Dash didn't care. She only had two questions on her mind, who was the pony she ran into and what ever happened to the pony she saw earlier also entering the strange forest? She looked up to see some random floating letters above her reading "FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC " in bold lettering. Dash rubbed it off and looked off to the side where she spotted two figures conversing. She didn't approach, just stared.
...
"This looks a little like the town hall...covered in snow for some reason." remarked Rainbow Dash. Sonic stood by her. She was right as it was a tall building, washed out like the Everfree Forest was before. The door to the building was open for anypony to walk through. "I'm gonna go check it out, will you wait here?" asked Rainbow Dash. Sonic nodded despite being left out of the action a second time. Rainbow entered the doorway and disappeared completely. The young filly decided to follow suite and sped up to the entrance and through the doorway. Sonic stood back in surprised as the blur blasted by him.
"Was that?...Nah. Never mind" he thought to himself as he waited by the entrance. He turned and screamed at an angry statue staring right at him.
"Shadow?!" she asked aloud expecting a response. By his side lay a motionless Fluttershy, covering her head in fear. They were all white.
"Hurry Rainbow Dash and save your friends. I know I had to..."
My Little Hedgehog: Generations
Let's just say it took me forever to think of a good way to work in filly Rainbow Dash
The Ponyville she left was not the same Ponyville she entered. The sun shone brightly over the morning sky, as everything was covered in a layer of thick snow stretching over the landscape. Rainbow Dash's legs sunk slightly into the snow, as the freezing chill shook over her body. She stood there, admiring the view in front of her, a nice change from the Everfree Forest's darkness. She was too caught up in the view that she forgot about her situation. That's when she noted the crowds...
Groups of ponies and stallions all working together, gathering up the snow. These 3 groups all wore separate colored vests, green, brown and blue. Each of the ones in the in blue vests were mostly pegasi with a few Earth ponies and were all grouped together somewhat uncoordinated and looking about confused. The other 'teams' seemed to work just fine. The ones in green worked solely on clearing the snow from the area and gathering food, while the ones in brown worked on helping animals. Then it hit her.
"Ow! Who threw that?!" yelled Rainbow Dash, wiping snow off of her face. She turned to a member of the blue team who was walking up to her. It was a grey pegasus pony with an almost blonde mane, though the pony's odd eyes were what caught her off guard. "Derpy, what did you do that for?!" asked Dash, astounded that the pony was able to get a good shot even with her crossed eyes.
"Dash, you’re supposed to be our leader-thingy" replied Derpy Hooves. Dash looked at her own body and somehow didn't even notice that she was wearing a blue vest herself. It all flew back to her, she was the leader of the weather team of the winter wrap up.
"Well, that explains the groups I guess" she mumbled to herself. As she walked up the rest of the flight team alongside Derpy, she found herself stuck. What was she to do to "complete" the memory and return to Sonic? She put these thoughts aside as she addressed the group, giggling nervously to herself. The feeling of serious deja vu was almost funny.
"Ok guys, what we want to do is...uh..." she struggled to remember what she was to say, though it was plainly obvious.
"Clear the clouds?” asked one of the ponies.
"Uh, yeah! Sure, clear the clouds. Earth ponies should...cut the ice! You know, so it melts and all that stuff" Rainbow Dash nervously smiled as the ponies went about their business before joining the other pegasi in the sky.
...
Despite all the commotion, no pony seemed to notice a tiny Rainbow Dash standing by some snow, poking at it curiously. To her, it was like a cloud, only much colder as the shivers crawling over her told. Her attention turned to her surroundings, amazed by the buildings and the plant life that didn't exist. She felt like an alien on a different planet. Either that or the surrounding ponies were the aliens. She happily explored the snowy Ponyville with her big purple eyes. To her it was odd to see ponies that didn't have wings on their backs. In fact she barely saw any pegasus ponies at all! Her mind raced with questions about the other ponies, especially the ones with horns on their heads. She turned her head to the sky as she spotted a flock of ponies clearing the skies, deciding to return to where she belonged, she flew up into the sky to help the weather team. She flew up to a purple pony with fluffy pink hair who was in the process of kicking a cloud. Rainbow Dash felt vaguely nervous about strangers.
"Excuse me, is there anything I can do to help?" she asked. The pony’s attention was drawn to the young filly, who stared at her curiously. She looked very familiar.
"Uh, sorry kid, but this isn't for you. Why don't you find one of the younger ponies to play with? I'm sure there's a young pegasus pony named Scootaloo at the school." replied Rainbowshine as she returned to her work. Rainbow Dash sadly returned to ground level and made her way to what she believed was a schoolhouse judging by the amount of fillies and colts playing around the area. She stood before the crowds looking for "Scootaloo". It was an odd change from her school at Cloudsdale. No runways or hangers. Just a school house and a playground full of chatty fillies and colts. To her surprise there was one little pegasus firmly grounded. The others were all flying in the air chatting happily. This one was all alone. Rainbow Dash slowly approached the orange filly.
"Um, hey" she said. Scootaloo turned to her, and quickly took a step backwards in shock. Scootaloo examined the filly that stood before her.
Cyan coat? Check.
Rainbow mane? Check.
Purple eyes? Check.
Scootaloo frowned. "What are you, an impersonator?"
"Of who?"
"Rainbow Dash, who else? You look just like her" Scootaloo replied. Rainbow Dash shot a confused look. She had never met this filly before, yet how did she know who she is? "What is your name anyway?" she asked.
"My name is Rainbow Dash..." she answered back. Scootaloo examined her closely. She looked like Rainbow Dash, she sounded like her and her name was the same as well. But why was she suddenly younger? "What's your name?" asked Dash. Scootaloo hesitated in answering to her.
"It's Scootaloo, but if you’re Rainbow Dash, why are you suddenly my age?" asked Scootaloo. She walked around the impostor, noting that the fillies' flank was blank. "...and where's your cutie mark?" she asked. Dash looked at her flank. She didn't know either where her cutie mark was. She just hadn't earned it yet.
"How do I know?!" she squeaked. She sat down and pouted about her missing mark, even though the rather odd filly she was talking to didn't have a mark either. Scootaloo sat down next to her, not knowing that she was speaking to her idol from the past.
"Hey cheer up Rainbow Dash, if that is your real name, do you want to go play or something?" asked Scootaloo with a glee about her. Rainbow Dash turned to her and gave a small smile.
"Sure thing, but can I ask, why did you think I was an impersonator of myself?" she asked.
"Well there is this pony, who looks just like you and has the same name that is just amazing! She does all sorts of tricks and stunts, including the Sonic Rainboom!" she declared with a fangirlish glee about her. Rainbow Dash smiled at her energy, even if what she was saying didn't make sense. She was starting to like Scootaloo.
"Sounds a little like me then" she smiled. "So let's get moving then" and they left the playground.
"Where are your friends?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"They are like the only fillies working during this wrap up. Both working with their sisters, so I was left alone" she replied.
"It was a good thing we met then" Dash smiled.
"Yeah, thanks. You wanna see my scooter?" asked Scootaloo.
"What's a scooter?"
"You'll see"
...
The older Rainbow Dash sat exhausted by a tree after fulfilling most of her duties as weather team leader. At this point in time, Twilight would start to organise the wrap up to be more efficient, only Twilight never came. The wrap up was continuing without her. In fact, she hadn't seen ANY of her friends during the day, so the day seemed a little less heck-tick without them.
Or more heck-tick. She hadn't quite decided. It was like they were missing in time...
As she sat on the soft ground, her vision became clouded and dark. Before she knew it, Dash was asleep and waking up was beyond her control. She began to dream. Her dreams were vivid and unreal. Her mind was clouded with images of the mechanical being that sent her here in the first place, until one point where a young filly bearing a strong resemblance to herself attacked and defeated it alongside a visage of her current self. As the event took place, a voice called her name constantly. Suddenly, her vision turned blue...
"Rainbow Dash! Wake up!" yelled Sonic at the top of his voice, with a worried tone. He grabbed and shook her awake, thinking the worse had happened. So imagine his surprise when she returned with a yawn.
"Hey Sonic, what time is it?" she dozily asked.
"There is no time here" he deadpanned. "I just found you like this when I got back from the place named "Friendship is Magic".
"You visited the Everfree Forest?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah, and it was...weird to say the least"
About 5 minutes earlier...
"Heh, this is like Angel Island! Only with fewer robots" he said to himself. He was running at full pelt through the darkness from where he started. At this speed, he reached the bridge in no time at all and crossed it without a thought.
"Rainboooooow.... ", a voice called out like before. Sonic screeched to a halt and looked around for the source.
"Who's there?!" he cried. He was prepared for whatever threat may attack him.
"We have eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in all of Equestria... " it replied in a ghostly monotone. Sonic placed a hand on his hip, looking confused.
"Eh? I can't fly, what are you on about?". At that moment, a single dark pony came out of the fog, looking downright annoyed.
"Oh come on! We're looking for Rainbow Dash! Not a kid, and not a....whatever you are! Get out of here!" it yelled at him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Nightmare Moo-I mean Luna-I mean one of the Shadowbolts! We're waiting for Rainbow Dash. Leave now!"
Sonic shrugged and walked into the temple nearby, not really wishing to around such a rude individual anymore.
...
Colour partially returned to the building, making it possible to distinguish what was snow and what wasn't. Up until then, the town hall looked like a giant igloo. Above them in bold blue text read 'WINTER WRAP UP ".
"You know, how does the rest of the colour return?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I'll tell you later, but we have to move on" he replied. He wished to keep his past experience with the Time Eater private at the moment for two reasons. One reason was so Rainbow Dash wouldn't be confused right now.
The other reason was that he wasn't totally sure if she was the only Rainbow Dash flying around the White Space...his thoughts became interrupted by Rainbow screaming at the sight of Shadow and Fluttershy, encased in what appeared to be stone.
"Sonic! We have to get them out of there!"
"We will, just calm down. Right now, we have to move on" he reassured her the best he could. However, Rainbow Dash didn't want to leave them. It went against what she stood for, true loyalty.
"Dash, believe me. They will be fine. Trust me" he whispered. Dash held back tears as she backed off from the statues. She may have been fine when Sonic was in the same state, but he came back after she returned. These two didn't. Surely there must be another way, but she left those thoughts behind as she turned to Sonic.
"Come on Dash, there are some more buildings over there" he said calmly, pointing to the distance. Wordlessly, the two walked over to the next area.
...
"So you can't fly? Seriously?" asked Dash. Scootaloo lowered her head in shame.
"No I can't..." she sadly replied. Rainbow Dash did her best to comfort her.
"Hey, you'll be able to fly at some point. Took me a while to get going, maybe you just need more practice!" she said cheerfully.
"I know, I've been asking Rainbow Dash, you know the other one, about it but she hasn't taught me yet". Rainbow Dash still couldn't get round the fact that Scootaloo knew a pony just like herself. Maybe this other Dash was...
"Hey Scoots, where can we find Rainbow Dash?"
"She'll be on the weather team, helping clear the sky. We won't see her today"
"Fair enough" she replied. Her questions would have to wait. "So where's this scooter of yours?" she asked as they approached Scootaloo's house.
"Wait here, I'll go get it", and with that, Scootaloo entered the house. Rainbow Dash continued to prod at the snow below her feet, it was such an odd feeling. It wasn't as soft as a cloud, but it looked like one. She spotted two ponies walking together, talking happily together. Dash examined them closely, one of them had the weird horn that the other ponies seemed to have, and the other had nothing at all. No wings or horn. It was just odd to see ponies without wings. The aqua one spotted her and turned to her friend, pointing at her. They both just stared at her curiously. Dash tried to read their lips but couldn't understand what they were saying about her. They walked off, still looking at her.
"Here it is! My pride and joy!" proclaimed Scootaloo, holding a motorised scooter by her side. Rainbow Dash stared at it curiously.
"That thing looks so strange, how does it work?"
Simple, just operate it with my hooves. Fancy a race?" Scootaloo grinned. Rainbow Dash nodded approvingly. "First one to the town hall and back is the winner, you know, the tall building"
"Got it, let's do this!" she replied. The two lined up side by side, Scootaloo in her scooter and Dash relying on her wings to win the race. Scootaloo started the countdown.
"3...2...1...GO!" she yelled, moving before she even finished saying 'go'. The two began blurs as they raced each other. Rainbow Dash was surprised at how fast Scootaloo was even going in the first place. She was almost going as fast as her, using her wings to speed up. The orange and rainbow blurs sped past anypony in their way, going at such a speed that they cleared the snow in their paths. Once they reached the town hall, Rainbow Dash gained the upper hand, turning around on the spot, while Scootaloo was forced to turn normally. The blasted through the town again, as a small very faint aura began to form in front of Rainbow Dash. The race came to a finish as Dash reached the house first, with Scootaloo mere seconds behind.
"Heh, nice race Rainbow Dash. You know you are like the other one is so many ways, almost like your her younger self, but that's be silly!" Scootaloo giggled. Rainbow laughed along with her, not noticing Scootaloo's parents returning home.
"Scootie, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the playground?" her mother asked with worry. Rainbow Dash stepped forward.
"It's my fault really, blame me if anyone". Her loyalty shone through even before she met the rest of the elements. Scootaloo's mother examined Dash.
"I never knew Rainbow Dash had a younger sister" replied Scootaloo's father.
"She doesn't. This is another Rainbow Dash. She looks like her though" Scootaloo stepped in. Her parents looked at each other and then back to Scootaloo.
"Well anyway, you shouldn't leave like that, even if you were only there for the wrap up" replied her mother. "Now we're going to be making dinner soon, say goodbye to...uh, Rainbow Dash"
Scootaloo lowered her head sadly before looking up at Dash who shot her a playful smile. "Maybe another time Scoots". Scootaloo gave her a friendly hug out of the blue. Dash couldn't help but smile at her kindness.
"See ya Rainbow Dash. I'll tell all my friends about you" she said happily. "Thanks for hanging out with me"
"No problem. See ya around" she replied and happily flew off into the air. Scootaloo and her parents watched as the rainbow trail covered the sky.
"Are you sure that's not the same Rainbow Dash?" asked Scootaloo's mother.
"Impossible. That's a filly, not a full grown pony" replied her father. Scootaloo said nothing as she watched her fly off.
Rainbow Dash flew happily through the sky. She met a young filly who, unbeknownst to her, would become her greatest fan in the future, and barely age on top of that. Her vision of the snowy Ponyville soon faded to white as she found herself floating above large blue letters all of a sudden. Grounding herself, she looked back at the entrance.
"Did that all really happen?" she thought quietly. More colour restored to the town hall, completing its visage. The young filly looked at the strange statues at her side. To her surprise, they were coming to life! A pony got up from the floor and looked around curiously, while the tall black creature seemed very calm and collected for someone just awoken from a stone prison.
"Shadow, where are we?!" asked Fluttershy with a scared tone. Shadow didn't answer, he simply stared at the young filly in shock. Fluttershy's attention was also drawn to her as the 3 stared in silence for a long time.
"..Rainbow Dash?" asked Fluttershy, lowering herself to Rainbow Dash's level. The filly just stared at her.
"We, Fluttershy, are in trouble" announced Shadow.
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My Little Hedgehog: Generations
There's a Crisis in my Gala, and You're All Invited.
OH SHI- AN UPDATE
Now let me say this. Because it's been so long, my grammar, spelling and over all story-telling ability is rusty, so please ignore any deterioration in quality if any. This WILL be revisited at some point.
"So tell me again, why don't you want to go in here?", asked Sonic.
"It was the worst night ever, ok?" replied Rainbow Dash, standing nervously at the 3rd gate. For once, she knew exactly what she was getting into. Staring at the Caterlot Castle, or a miniature version of it at least, memories of her past flooded back, namely the struggles her friends went through on that day, and her own humiliation in front of her idols. The Grand Galloping Gala was a night best forgotten for all of the ponies, except Celestia herself. She loved the chaos.
"Come on, how bad could it possibly be?" taunted Sonic as he gave her a friendly nudge, Rainbow Dash turned to him, completely straight faced.
"I dunno, does the sight of one of your friends having a nervous breakdown, while another is treated like filth by royalty of all ponies, complete with the destruction of one of the castle's rooms sound fun to you? All while being embarrassed in front of the people you’re trying to impress?"
"Yes. But is it as bad as running through a burning city, being chased by a tornado which all the while is throwing freaking cars at you, complete with burning monsters out to kill you?", Sonic confidently replied.
"...Oh, and your younger self had to experience the same stuff as you at the same time. mustn’t forget that", he continued. Rainbow Dash just stared at him.
"I get the point", she muttered. Her attention was drawn to the complementary statues that came with every gate. This time it was Blaze and Rarity that got the stone treatment, though to be fair, Blaze appeared to put up a fight. Rarity on the other hand appeared to have passed out behind her.
Again.
"Well at least we know where they wound up. But you know, unless you go in there, these two aren't going to become normal again", Sonic added. Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. For once in her life, she was not 100% willing to go all out to save her friends. She still didn't know what happened to Shadow and Fluttershy, and Sonic was being rather vague about where they are.
"Just how do we get them free Sonic, your being awfully in the dark about all this..."
"Trust me, go in there and relive the past. You'll save them"
Somewhat satisfied with his answer. Rainbow Dash took a gulp and slowly entered the gateway. The entrance was literally a gate into the castle grounds. For once, Sonic heard sounds by the gate. Fireworks and inaudible chatter came out of thin air, like it was a figment of his imagination, but he knew the truth. Rainbow Dash disappeared into the white mass, like she walked through a mirror, leaving Sonic alone, with only the statues of his friends for comfort...until he heard footsteps behind him.
"Sonic! I'm glad to see you’re ok!" yelled Fluttershy, or whatever you could call a yell from her as she ran up to hug him. Her heart leaped knowing that there was hope of returning home. Sonic returned it, while caught off guard but none the less happy to see them alive and well. By her side was Shadow, who still kept his serious expression despite all he went through. "Please tell me you know where we are!", she begged. Sonic gave her a gentle smile.
"I don't, but you shouldn't worry. We'll be fine"
"What happened here Sonic?", he mumbled. Sonic looked at them both, scratching his head.
"I don't know, Rainbow Dash just entered a gate in time, to what she called the "Grand Galloping Gala" or whatever", he replied. Fluttershy stepped forward.
"The Grand Galloping Gala? That was a long time ago...I remember acting a little funny that night", she quietly confessed. Her words meant one thing to Sonic and Shadow, as they turned to each other, but Sonic had another question on his mind.
"Hang on...if this is just like before, then there must be 2 people going through time...and since I've only seen Rainbow Dash do them, that must mean-", just as Sonic was about to finish, a small colourful blob walked around from behind Shadow, and with it brought Sonic the same amount of shock he felt when he met his younger self for the first time.
"You’re kidding me...", he muttered.
"Who are you, and why are you so blue?", squeaked the tiny Rainbow Dash.
Sonic tried not to giggle at the sight. He wondered if this is what his other friends thought when they met his younger self for the first time.
"We found her just outside the Winter Wrap Up gate", whispered Fluttershy. The little filly looked curiously at the two hedgehogs and then back to her.
"...What are you guys?", she squeaked, "You don't look like ponies".
"We're hedgehogs. Don't ask about it" Sonic muttered. Explain to one pony about how they are different, explain to them all it seemed. "Does she know about...you know...?" he asked cautiously. The little filly's attention was drawn the mysterious gate behind her. Without a word, she dashed into it before any of them could react. One pony's past is another's future.
"Oh my...now what do we do?" asked Fluttershy quietly, not completely wanting to know the answer. Sonic said nothing as he looked off to the right. A massive golden gate stood on the distance. Beyond it was a massive barrier of black smoke. Whatever was beyond it was a total mystery to Sonic and Shadow.
...
Once again, Rainbow Dash found herself with a different look, a more 'formal' look. Out of nowhere she was wearing a dress and her normally 'messy' hair was styled. It wasn't comfortable, all it did was just remind her of what happened, and now she was living it for a second time. She just sat there, at a table with one of the Wonderbolts. Usually that'd be the best thing since sliced bread, but since she didn't really get a whole lot of attention, it really wasn't. This time, she'd make some changes. She wasn't going to live it again. Nervously, she approached Spitfire, who was in the middle of conversing with another guest. For once, Rainbow Dash didn't mind getting away from them. She tapped her on the shoulder, to gain her attention.
"Hey! Uh, you don't mind if I leave do you?" she almost whispered. She didn't feel right leaving them.
"Not a problem, just return whenever you feel like it Rainbow" she replied, somewhat unfazed. Despite this being what she wanted, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but be offended further by her idol's lack of interest. Besides, she did save their lives after all. Walking out of the VIP section, she cast her mind back to everything that went wrong with her friends.
Twilight couldn't get Celestia's attention, Pinkie Pie was not in her 'natural environment', Rarity met her Prince...who was a bit of a git, Applejack was unsuccessful selling pies, and Fluttershy....lost her mind. However, something wasn't right. Among the amounts of happy ponies, she couldn't see Pinkie Pie trying to have fun, it was all civilized like she never existed. Looking around again, Applejack's stall was missing, not an apple in sight.
Something was wrong.
...
"Wow! This place is BOOOOOORING!!! yelled the filly Rainbow Dash. Too many fancy ponies for her liking. She simply trotted through the main halls of Caterlot Castle, looking upon the ponies talking and laughing. There was not a single filly in the entire place, and she was about to learn why.
"Hey kid! No fillies are allowed in the main building!", shouted a bigger stallion who Dash assumed to be some kind of guard. Without hesitating, the little filly flew out of the room and around the building, looking for a way out, passing through doorways, pillars and other groups of ponies, all being stirred up by the sudden rainbows flying around the room. Eventually, Rainbow Dash found a massive doorway, and flew outside. She flew up to the top of the castle and landed safely, staring down at the other ponies.
"Heh! Still no match for the fastest flyer in all Equestria!", beamed Dash to herself. She took her time to analyse her surroundings, with no real luck. Ponies, Stallions, and that was about it. If she had just waited she would have met her idols inside the castle if she wasn't so hasty. Though there was something that she noticed.
There was a pony. A pegasus, about to enter the building. She looked...familiar. She didn't get a good enough look to get any details, but she looked like herself, just a little bit. Before she could think any more of it, she felt the castle shake, as did the rest of the area.
A stampede was approaching...
"Pinkie Pie! Twilight?! Applejack! Girls?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, gaining the attention of everypony in the room. Even Celestia, who should be at a table eating cake was gone. Was she alone? She stopped panting, and allowed herself to calm down.
"Hey, are you ok?" asked a random stallion. Rainbow Dash gave him a nervous smile.
"Yeah, everything's just dandy!", she replied confidently. Only nothing was fine. She was in the past, where her friends were missing, while being trapped in a separate dimension with her friends with no exit in sight and with no idea as to what was happening to Equestria in reality.
"Hey, it'll be fine, whatever it is, it could be worse", replied the stallion. The words shook Rainbow's core, back to how things originally went...
"Well...it can't get any worse....", muttered Twilight, as the rumbling began...
As if on cue, the room rumbled. Ponies panicked and ran for the doors, when they suddenly swung open. With them, hordes of animals of all shapes and sizes ran into the room and caused chaos. Rainbow Dash gazed into the dust to see a familiar shape, of a pegasus pony who was not quite herself.
"Fluttershy!", she exclaimed happily, though her smile faded when she remembered what was next.
"You're...going to LOVE ME!!!!"
The words screamed through the air and around Caterlot, even among the chaos of it all. The filly Rainbow Dash, in a blind panic flew off the top of the castle and away into the distance, vanishing into thin air...
"Ah! Help! Help! Scary Pony!", screamed Rainbow Dash as she flew out of the gates and past the startled hedgehogs. She stopped dead in her tracks as she came face-to-face with Fluttershy.
"Um...are you ok?", asked the timid pony. Rainbow Dash screamed and flew into the black mist, clearing in the process. As it cleared, it revealed a large metallic gate made of rusty clockwork. The sound of aggressive thunder and lightning was all that could be heard through it. Rainbow Dash stated into the purple void which it held and looked back at Sonic.
"A boss gate...", he muttered to himself. The tiny filly flew into it without a word as the 3 just stared at it. Sonic's attention turned to Fluttershy.
"Why was she scared of you?", he asked. Fluttershy was just as confused as he was. She turned toward the gate she came from as colour swept across it. Above them, the letters "THE BEST NIGHT EVER" shone in an odd green colour. More colour suddenly returned to the gate.
"Huh? How is it doing that? Only one Dash left the-", and before Shadow could finish, Rainbow Dash catapulted out of the gate, all scuffled and messy. She got up off of Shadow and looked up to the sign.
"Pfft, as if-Wait a minute, Shadow!" she realised. She smiled happily at the less than amused hedgehog on the ground before turning to Fluttershy. She ran over to hug her friend.
"I thought you were gone!", she exclaimed. Fluttershy smiled back at her.
"We're ok. Mister Sonic told us what's happening", she quietly replied. Rainbow Dash turned to Sonic, who was still looking in the direction of the boss gate.
"What's that?", she asked.
"A checkpoint, in a way. It's another hole in time, but not like the others", he said, still keeping the information about the other Rainbow Dash close to his chest.
"What's inside it?"
"Only one way to find out". Rainbow Dash walked slowly up to the portal and stood at it entrance. The thunder and lightning brought back memories of a battle long ago.
When she first met Twilight...slowly, she entered the gate. Leaving the 3 alone once more.
"So what now?", asked Shadow.
"Now we wait", replied Sonic, gazing at the statues of Blaze and Rarity, as they came to life...
