Prologue
Prologue
Knuckles ran through the forest as fast as he could. I hope I can get there in time, the red echidna thought as sweat dripped down his face. I’ve never seen him use that much chaotic energy at once. He hasn’t gone used his hyper form in so long, though I can understand why. I hope Shadow’s okay. He skidded to a halt on top of a hill. He looked at the huge metal fortress in the distance. It looked like several warships had merged together and somehow got stuck in the dirt with a huge Eggman insignia on the front. Eggman’s never really been one for subtly. But that doesn’t matter, I’ve got to get there before Sonic does something he regrets, like forget to save Amy or Tails.
Hyper Sonic punched a robot in the face and it went flying into the rest of the crowd. With the entire room filled with robots, Hyper Sonic didn’t have much room, yet he was punching and kicking all the robots with ease. Hyper Sonic jumped into the air, spun into a ball, and slammed into a robot. However the shockwave completely threw all the other robots against the wall or ceiling, destroying them. The huge door at the end of the room closed with several metal doors closing behind it in order to reinforce it. A giant robot landed in front of the door and it’s eyes blinked red. Hyper Sonic ran towards the robot and jumped into the air. But the robot grabbed Hyper Sonic, trying to crush him in his hands. Hyper Sonic rips through the robot’s hands and through almost every single reinforced door, all the while yelling determinedly. Hyper Sonic stopped at the final door, hearing a familiar voice behind it.
“Eggman!” Hyper Sonic roared with such intense rage it shook him as he uttered his name. Hyper Sonic punched the last door far into the dark room to see Eggman jump out of the way in the dark room and look up at Sonic on his hands and knees.
“S-Sonic,” Eggman cried out in surprise, with his face being lit by Hyper Sonic’s technicolor strobbing fur. He put out a hand in front of him and tried to crawl back. “I-I’m sorry. L-look, go easy on me! I’ll turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance.” Hyper Sonic flew over to Eggman with his usual faster than a blink of eye speed and grabbed his collar.
“Go easy on you?” Hyper Sonic demanded with a mere whisper. But that didn’t last for long, as his voice grew louder, “Go easy on you?! Let me ask you something Eggman, did you go easy on Shadow? Huh? Did you?”
“Th-that was an accide –” Eggman began with a quiver.
“You didn’t have to press the button Eggman,” Hyper Sonic snapped. “You didn’t have to. Not to mention the last time you said those exact words you turned me into a werehog. Good job there by the way, taking away my speed is a good way to make me mad. But what you’ve done today,” Hyper Sonic paused for a moment and closed his eyes. “What you’ve done today, is something I cannot forgive.”
“Wait, what are you saying?” Eggman asked with more than a hint of fear.
“What I’m saying is,” Hyper Sonic said as he threw Eggman onto his back with his eyes full of animosity, and his voice with a touch of sadness. “That for about 20 years, we’ve done this. You’ve made a new plan to take over the world and I come in to stop you. A back and forth that I admit was exciting to see what you’d come up with next just to come up with a new way to stop you. But what you’ve done today has driven me to a point where I never dreamed I’d get to.”
“You don’t mean –” Eggman began.
“Yes I do,” Hyper Sonic interrupted. “Today, you’ve officially became a threat that I must permanently dispose of.”
“What?” Eggman gasped. For a while the two said nothing, merely staring at each other. Suddenly Eggman began to laugh. “You can’t do it. You never could. You’ve never had it in you to kill me, Sonic. And it doesn’t matter what happens, you’ll never have the gall to do so. And you want to know why Sonic?” Hyper Sonic glared at Eggman, but Eggman did not waiver. “Because like you said, you’re excited to see me come back. You’re excited to have your ‘next adventure’. You’re addicted to this cat and mouse game, Sonic. You know the only person that could kill me is now unable to.” To that Hyper Sonic punched Eggman in the face, sending Eggman’s head bouncing off the floor. Eggman spit up blood and several teeth, knowing that several more were chipped.
“Eggman, you don’t really get how this works, do you?” Hyper Sonic asked. “You can’t just trample on everyone I know without finally pushing me too far. Any other time I’d just try to get you imprisoned, even though you usually escaped. But you’d just break out, so I have to put you somewhere you can’t break out.” Hyper Sonic held his hand up to Eggman. “It’s time you got chaos controlled to the sun.” Eggman looked up knowing he was completely at Hyper Sonic’s mercy. “Chaos –” Hyper Sonic began.
“I’m sorry,” a charismatic yet sinister voice echoed in. “But I’m afraid it’s time for me to cut in.”
Knuckles managed to arrive to Eggman’s fortress. As he panted he wiped the sweat from his brow and felt a sense of relief. I made it, he thought. But immediately the entire fortress disappeared in a flash of light. Oh come on! Knuckles fell down to his knees.
“Amy! Tails! Sonic!” he cried to the heavens.
Hyper Sonic reappeared in a plane of eternal blackness.
“W-what’s going on?” he asked as his voice echoed across the emptiness. “Why can’t I move?” A maniacal laugh answered him.
“Oh, that was me,” the voice sneered. “I hope that you don’t mind.”
“Who are you?” Hyper Sonic demanded.
“That’s not important,” the voice dismissed. “But I’m glad you brought such a large amount of chaotic energy to me.” A lion’s paw came out and reach towards Hyper Sonic. “I’ll be taking that off your hands now.” But once the paw touched Hyper Sonic’s chest, it reeled back from a painful shock. “What the –”
“The severs are the seven chaos,” A new voice softly whispered from the darkness. A large green gem suddenly came out of the darkness glowing brightly.
The Master Emerald? Hyper Sonic thought.
“Chaos is power. Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the chaos,” the voice coming from the Master Emerald finished and then the glow grew until Hyper Sonic had to close his eyes from its blinding light.
“Wha-what the –” the sinister voice cried out.
Luna suddenly felt a violent shiver down her back as she ate her dinner in the royal castle. Luna let out a surprised gasp.
“Is everything alright, princess?” a royal guard in golden metal armor asked. Luna gave him a serious look that made the royal guard swallow hard.
“I need to find my sister,” Luna said as she got up from the table. “Where is she?”
“She’s in the royal throne room,” the royal guard reported and shortly afterwards Luna went flying out of the room and down the twisting hallways all the way to the royal throne room. She kicked the doors open, however Celestia, who was sitting on her throne, didn’t look up at her.
“Celestia,” Luna reported with a soft pant. “Did you feel that?”
“Yes, my sister,” Celestia said in a regal tone. “I did. It seems that an immense amount of chaotic energy has entered Equestria and spread itself all across the Kingdom.”
“And Discord,” Luna said frantically. “I felt him as well, but is that really possible? I thought he could only come back through disharmony but ever since Twilight and her friends had sealed him back into stone, they’ve been teaching all the fillies and colts about harmony as much as they can so it could never happen again.”
“Discord has always been a fan of the impossible,” Celestia said grimly. She took a deep breath. “As soon as you can, go to Ponyville and get Twilight and her friends. We’re going to need them. Also investigate those two chaotic energies that landed there as well.”
Chapter One
Twilight was walking down the street humming to herself. Dang it Pinkie Pie, she thought. Now one of her songs are stuck in my head. Ugh, sometimes I wonder why us ponies just spontaneously burst into song anyway. Twilight sighed. I wish I had something to take my mind off it. Suddenly an enormous and deafening boom broke the serenity of Ponyville, causing nearly all ponies to stop and stare. Twilight jumped at the sudden sound, but then turned to the sky. A white gleaming light fell from the sky like a meteor. There was a loud ongoing sound getting louder as it got closer, as if it was screaming at the top of its lungs.
“What the –” Twilight asked to no one in particular. And with that, the light crashed into Twilight’s library, sending branches flying setting parts of the library on fire. "No, no, no," Twilight said frantically. You just had to wish for something, huh? Twilight thought. She shook her head as if breaking from a trance and galloped to her library as fast as she could.
Spike peeked from the admittedly bad hiding spot, the ladder against a shelf, and saw the unmoving blue creature who's face had gotten stuck into the wooden floor. Spike took his eyes off the creature to look around, much to his dismay. Entire sections of the library had been thrown onto the floor, important charms and parchments had been lost in piles of papers and quills, a gaping hole was now in their roof, and Spike could detect a faint smell of burning wood.
Sweet Celestia, when Twilight comes home I'm so dead, Spike thought. He then stepped from behind the ladder and took a few steps towards the creature. His incredible fear slowly but surely began to be accompanied with a dull anger. Stupid...thing! I just finished all my chores, had the rest of the day to myself, and you just come crashing - Spike yelped as soon as the creature twitched. He immediately ran back behind the ladder and watched as the creature slowly moved it's arms and clench and unclench it's fists. The creature tried to push it's head out of the floor, accompanied by a muffled groan, however it was to no avail. I-is it...stuck? Spike thought. He started to feel bad for the poor thing as it tried again and again, but failing each time. Aw, it really is stuck. Spike looked up through the hole it had left in the roof. Where did it come from, the sky? Spike gasped. Of course, it's an alien! An alien just crashed landed into our house! Spike took a moment to smirk. Heh, and Twilight told me they didn’t exist, bah!
"Come on, Sonic," the creature muffled as Spike cautiously walked toward it. "You've done this a dozen times before. Just. Pull. Yourself. Up!" The creature gave a strong push, but soon sighed and gave up. "Great, now what?" Spike grabbed the creature's side, and began to pull. Once the creature got the idea, it pushed and with a pop and quick hail of splinters, the creature was freed. Spike immediately took a few steps back as the creature rubbed it's face and closed it's eyes. "Ugh," it groaned. "That wasn't fun."
"Um," Spike began with a quiver in his voice. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry," the creature reassured with it’s eyes closed. “This happens all the ti -” The creature opened it’s eyes and blankly stared at Spike for an instance. Spike waved nervously.
“Hi,” he said. The creature cried out in surprise and Spike did so as well, shortly after running behind the ladder again. “Please don’t hurt me,” Spike pleaded. “I won’t tell anyone I saw you. And whatever you do, for the love of Celestia, don’t probe me.” The creature blinked a few times and looked around. It was then Spike could fully assess the alien. He was tall, much taller than Spike himself, and probably taller than Twilight. His fur was blue, his eyes, massive as they were, were green. His fur on his head seemed to fall back as if it were some spikey haircut. He wore red shoes and white gloves, had a small black nose, and patches of apricot shaded skin on his arms, stomach, and mouth. He definitely was a strange sight to see.
“Uh sorry if I scared you,” the creature said looking back at Spike. “I really shouldn’t have screamed considering all the friends I have.” He chuckled nervously, obviously to ease the tension. Spike pointed at him.
“D-d-did y-you just talk?” he stammered.
“Yeah,” the creature said. “And so did you.” He ran through his fur and brushed off some pieces of wood.
“Um,” Spike said cautiously stepping from the ladder. “Who exactly are you?” The creature grinned and placed his thumb on his chest.
“I’m -” he began, but was interrupted when the door slammed open and Twilight stepped inside.
“Spike, are you okay?” she asked. “What happened?” Her eyes rested on the blue creature standing near a new whole in her floor. “And er, who are you?”
“I was just getting to that,” the creature said. “I’m Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog.” Twilight stepped into the library and saw the horrors of the fallen books, damaged roof and floor, and piles of paper.
“Did you do all this?” she asked. Sonic scratched behind his head.
“Well, not on purpose,” he admitted.
“Not on purpose still means you did it,” Twilight said with a great deal of irritation. She sniffed the air. “Is something burning?” Spike went up the ladder and looked at the hole closer. The edges of the hole were aflame and the leaves of the trees were catching on fire quickly as well.
“Twilight,” Spike called over. Sonic held up a finger.
“Wait,” he said. “I can fix this.” He lifted his leg, and in the next second he was gone. But merely a second later a blue blur ran across the entire library outside and in. Suddenly Sonic was back, standing with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. “There you go, good as new.” Twilight glanced at her library with an angry glare, but had to look again much more carefully. The sight she saw caused her mouth to hang agape, the books were all back on their shelves, the papers neatly organized, and the fire put out leaving behind charred remains.
"H-how did you do that?" Twilight asked as Spike fell onto her back from pure shock.
"Well they don't call me the fastest thing alive for nothing," Sonic said with a grin, but it went away quickly and was replaced with an apologetic face. "Sorry bout the mess, I kinda crashed here."
"Crashed?" Twilight repeated. Spike sat up.
“Yeah, came right from outer space,” Spike said. Then he added with a sly grin, “And you said aliens didn’t exist.” Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Well I’m technically not an alien,” Sonic corrected.
“Ha,” Twilight said. “I knew it.”
“Though they do exist,” Sonic continued. “I ended up saving quite a few in my many adventures.”
“Ha,” Spike laughed. “In your face, Twilight.”
“Twilight?” Sonic repeated.
“Oh my gosh, we haven’t even introduced ourselves,” Twilight gasped. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia. This is Spike, my personal assistant.”
“Your number one assistant,” Spike reminded. Twilight replied with a giggle as she rolled her eyes.
“So I’m going go out on a limb and guess you’re not from around here,” Twilight asked. Sonic shook his head.
“I’m actually from a place called Mobius,” Sonic explained. “A place filled with animals living their simple lives. That is, until Eggman came in and tried to take over my world. However, me and my friends always come together to smack him down before his plans really become a reality.”
“Wow,” Spike said. “Sounds like you’re a real hero. Is Mobius filled with, er, hedgehogs like you?
“Well not exactly,” Sonic said. “All sorts of animals live there, the fastest being me of course. By the way, where is here?”
“You’re in Equestria, in a town called Ponyville,” Twilight explained. “Where ponies make up most of the population. This town has been hit with a few, er, situations in which my friends and I have to usually solve on our own, whether it’s bringing about Spring on time, or fighting Hydras.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sonic said. “You guys fight Hydras...and can change seasons?”
“Well yeah, isn’t it like that on Mobius?” Twilight asked.
“No, not at all,” Sonic explained. “The seasons change by themselves. But wow, I didn’t think you’d want to fight Hydra’s, let alone talk about it like it’s just another day at work.” Twilight blushed, but Sonic’s face grew serious and he folded his arms. “Although, if you’ve never even heard of Mobius, that means I’m probably not on a nearby planet or anything. I guess wherever the chaos emeralds sent me must’ve -” And suddenly Sonic’s ears twitched. He cried out in surprise, causing Twilight and Spike to jump. “The emeralds!” Sonic cried out as he looked around him. “Oh no, I lost them again.”
“Emeralds?” Twilight asked.
“Look,” Sonic said frantically. “I’d love to stay and chat, and I’m really sorry for crashing into your house, but I gotta go find the emeralds and fast.” Sonic lifted his leg, but upon bringing it down for his first step his stomach growled loudly. Sonic tripped and fell right on his face.
“Uh, can someone tell me what just happened?” Spike asked after a moment of silence.
“Oh come on,” Sonic groaned lifting his head off the floor. He sat down. “Darn it all, I haven’t had anything to eat all day. I can’t go at full speed with nothing in my stomach.”
“But you were going pretty fast just a second ago,” Spike pointed out.
“That was before my stomach growled,” Sonic explained. “Believe me, as stupid as it sounds, I can’t do half the things I normally do on an empty stomach. And when my stomach growls, that’s the sign that my stomach is completely empty. Plus my fight with Eggman definitely drained me." Sonic groaned, "I had to use a power I normally don't and now I'm running on empty."
“Well then, Mr. Hedgehog,” Twilight announced. “You should come with us to Sugar Cube Corner, you can get something to eat there, my treat.”
“Really?” Sonic asked getting to his feet.
“Of course,” Twilight smiled. “It’s the least I could do after fixing the library.”
“That he admittedly destroyed,” Spike reminded. Twilight’s tail swiped Spike off her back and he hit the floor with a thud. Twilight walked towards Sonic with a smile as if she didn’t even notice the baby dragon.
“Come, let’s go,” Twilight smiled. Twilight left the library, Sonic followed her with Spike coming up at the end, grumbling something under his breath. Sonic had to blink a few times and shield his eyes due to the variety of such bright colors that made up this unusual town in this unusual world. With ponies of such bright colors ranging from every color under the sun, it was almost too jarring to look at. But once Sonic got a good enough look at the place, he could finally find the right words to express his first impression of this new world.
"Wow," Sonic said. "This has to be the girliest town I've ever seen. Not that there's anything wrong with that, " Sonic added for good measure.
"He is right when I think about it," Spike admitted. "I haven't seen so much pink at one time when we were in Canterlot."
"Canterlot?" Sonic asked.
"It's the capital of Equestria," Twilight explained. "It's where the princesses live. Spike and I grew up there." Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he noticed that more and more ponies stopped in their tracks to stare at them. Sonic also noticed that some ponies had horns, some had wings, and others just looked like normal horses...that had taken a shower in Crayola. Sonic let out a nervous chuckle.
"Uh, Twilight," Sonic whispered. "Everyone's staring at us."
"You mean everypony," Twilight corrected. "And yeah, I noticed. Probably should've disguised you or something. Oh well, the ponies of Ponyville should be understanding seeing that with you're with me."
"Oh really?" Sonic said, unconvinced.
"Yeah, Twilight's a big hero around here," Spike said, causing Twilight to blush once more. "Not only did she defeat this big monster called an Ursa Minor, but she saved the world from a dark alicorn called Nightmare Moon, and then she saved the world from Discord, god of chaos, AND saved Canterlot from a changeling invasion."
"Wow, Twilight," Sonic grinned. "You really are a big hero. Would've loved to see you in action."
"Yeah, well," Twilight replied, unable to face Sonic knowing that her entire face had gone red. "I couldn't've done it without my friends. Speaking of, here we are, Sugar Cube Corner." Sonic stopped to look at the bakery. A cute pink wooden cupcake hung from over the door on a chain and sweet sugary aromas tickled Sonic's nose and made his mouth water. The three stepped inside to see a pink pony with curly hair working behind the cash register.
"Hiya Twilight," she greeted. "Hiya Spike, hiya...new friend!" The pink pony shot out from behind the register and bounced around Sonic. "I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?" Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but Pinkie interrupted. "Oh, wait, lemme guess. Uh, Blue Dude? Ocean Splash? Mr. Bluey? Blooregard Q. Kazoo? Boomer? Bloser? Shadow?”
“Wait, did you say Shadow?” Sonic asked. Pinkie bounced a few inches higher at that.
“Ooh, did I guess it right?” Pinkie squeed. Pinkie stopped bouncing and looked straight at Sonic. “Well Shadow the Hedgehog -”
“Pinkie, how’d you know he was a hedgehog?” Twilight asked.
“Well duh, that’s what hedgehogs look like,” Pinkie said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Well, I haven’t really seen one before, but you’re what’d I think they would look like. Anyway, so Shadow -”
“My name’s Sonic, not Shadow,” Sonic corrected.
“Okay, SonicnotShadow,” Pinkie smiled.
“No, just Sonic,” Sonic corrected as his eye twitched.
“Okay, JustSonic,” Pinkie smiled obliviously to Sonic’s growing irritation.
“No, okay,” Sonic sighed. He continued slowly, “My name is Sonic.”
“Okay Sonic,” Pinkie imitated in the same slow tone. “What would you like at Sugar Cube?” Sonic turned to Twilight.
“Is she always like this?” he whispered.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Twilight giggled. “But don’t worry about it. It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Just go order what you want.” Sonic nodded and turned back to Pinkie. She ducked under him and appeared behind the cash register again with a wide smile.
Jeez, Sonic thought. She’s a bit too energetic. Well I guess that’s what happens when you work at a place called Sugar Cube Corner. Still, she did mistake me for Shadow. But how could she do that if she’s never even seen a hedgehog? Not to mention Shadow wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this. Sonic chuckled at the thought of his angsty friend in such a peppy and cheerful place.
“Do you guys sell chili dogs?” Sonic asked. Pinkie’s joy all at once turned into fear and confusion.
“Uh, you eat dogs?” Pinkie asked. Spike swallowed in fear as he imagined the blue hedgehog pouncing on an unsuspecting puppy.
“What? No,” Sonic reassured. “It’s just called a chili dog.” Pinkie raised her eyebrows, unconvinced.
“C’mon, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight spoke up. “Sonic comes from another world and eats different things. Some may sound strange but probably taste pretty good.” She turned to Sonic. “Maybe if they knew the ingredients they could make one from scratch. What’s in a chili dog?” Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He tapped the side of his head.
“Y’know what, never mind,” Sonic said. “What do you recommend, Pinkie Pie?”
“What do I recommend?” Pinkie said with a smile. “Why there’s so much it’s hard to choose.” Sonic looked around as the lights began to dim and suddenly there was a crowd of ponies in the shop. To his amazement, Pinkie began to sing completely out of nowhere:
Sugar Cube Corner
When I first came to Ponyville
I was so unsure what to do until
I smelled the sweet scents of this bakery
And was attracted to all the pastries
Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike;
Pies, and strudels, and cakes, and doodles
All sprinkled with a pinch of sugar and made with love
Muffins, and yurlas, brownies, and semlas
Are some I’m particularly fond of
At Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where the magic of smiles can be passed through treats
Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where everything’s delicious whether it’s sour or sweet
I was so drawn in by their desserts
I couldn’t stop thinking about the yummy squirts
Of their jelly donuts topped with pink icing
And their bonbons were especially enticing
Soon I was there about everyday
And was delighted to hear Mr. & Mrs. Cake say,
“This store can’t keep up with the demand.
We could really use a helping hand.”
At Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where the magic of smiles can be passed through treats
Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where everything’s delicious whether it’s sour or sweet
And that’s when I started working here
To serve everypony far and near
Delicious treats that would tickle their tummies
And make them say, “Mmm, yummy!”
We’ve got empanadas, and ensaïmadas
I’ve tasted it, you should too
Eclairs, and flanon, börek, and chasan
All rich in flavor, just for you
Now some might sound odd like cocas or caracs
But I insist that you please try it
All the sweets are delectable, from masan to linzer torte
Don’t knock it till you try it’s what I always say
At Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where the magic of smiles can be passed through treats
Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where everything’s delicious whether it’s sour or sweet
At Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where the magic of smiles can be passed through treats
Sugar Cube Corner (Sugar Cube Corner)
Where everything’s delicious whether it’s sour or sweet
The lights switched to their normal intensity, and the crowd of ponies left just as fast as they arrived. Sonic just stood their with his mouth agape. Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight just smiled as if this was just a normal occurrence.
“So, Sonic,” Pinkie smiled. “What’ll it be?”
“D-did you just make that up on the spot?” Sonic asked, still in shock and disbelief. Pinkie nodded and Sonic slowly clapped. “As odd as that was, that was pretty impressive.”
“Oh, stop,” Pinkie giggled. “You ol’ flatterer, you.” Sonic looked down at the case of various pastries from whip cream pies, to delectable cakes, all which seemed to make Sonic’s mouth water just by looking at them. He had a strong urge to ask for one of everything, but then he remembered who had the money.
“Uh, I guess I’ll take a chocolate cupcake,” Sonic decided.
“Whoa, whoa,” Spike spoke up as he walked over to the register. “One cupcake, isn’t going to fill you up at all.” He turned to Pinkie. “Better make it a whole tray.”
“Spike,” Twilight called. “Don’t force Sonic to get more than he wants.”
“But he does want them, right Sonic?” Spike said, ending with a grin.
“I-I wouldn’t want to be a bother,” Sonic said, causing Spike’s grin to grow.
“See, he does want the tray,” Spike proclaimed. “He’s just too nice to ask for it.” He turned back to Pinkie. “One tray of chocolate cupcakes please.”
“Coming right up,” Pinkie happily said. She bounced to the back room to get the tray. Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked up to the counter. Her horn suddenly was wrapped in a purple aura and several gold coins levitated from Spike’s mouth onto the counter. Twilight tapped her hoof impatiently until she noticed Sonic staring at her, shocked once more.
“What?” She asked.
“What was that?” Sonic asked.
“Oh, well dragons like to chew on rare metals/gems,” Twilight explained. “So Spike usually has a few in his -”
“No, no, no, the part where your horn glowed,” Sonic insisted.
“Oh, you don’t have magic in your world?” Twilight asked with a frown.
“No, I do,” Sonic replied, just a bit exasperated. “But it’d be nice if you could just give me a heads up that you can.”
“Okay, okay,” Twilight said. “Most unicorns can use magic, pegasi can not only fly, but change the weather as well, and typically, Earth ponies like Pinkie Pie have much greater endurance. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both alicorns, or ponies with horns and wings that are quite basically immortal and have immense magical power surpassing every pony on the planet put together. They move the sun and the moon.” Sonic had his arms folded and had an irritated look on his face. “What is it now?”
“No, please, go on,” Sonic said. “I mean, what else haven’t you told me yet about this world that could possibly be important?”
“Well she probably didn’t tell you about the Elements of Harmony,” Pinkie Pie pipped up just as Twilight was about to respond to Sonic. She placed the tray on the counter and Sonic took them with a quick thanks.
“No, she didn’t,” Sonic began a little more irritated. But then he looked at the cupcakes and sighed. What was he doing? Twilight didn’t have to tell him everything, plus he’s only been here for a half hour at most. He continued softly, “But she didn’t have to.” He looked over to Twilight. “Want a cupcake?” Twilight’s irritated look also soften a bit and she nodded. The four sat at a booth and started to eat the tray of sweets. “Sorry if I’ve been giving you a hard time or anything,” Sonic apologized to Twilight.
“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight replied. “Between being warped from another world, crashing into my library, looking for mystical gems, and meeting Pinkie Pie, I’d be surprised if you weren’t a little aggravated.”
“Whoa,” Pinkie breathed. “You’re from another world?” Sonic smiled and explained to Pinkie about his world, his recent adventure, and what led up to now. “So you’re looking for these chaos emeralds because they might be the only thing that can send you home?”
“Yes, Pinkie,” Sonic said. “Thank you for repeating what I just told you. Anyway, I really should get going, after all Eggman was with me when I got warped so who knows where he ended up. Plus I’m really going to need the emeralds when I get back to Mobius anyway.”
“What, you’re leaving already?” Spike asked, disappointed.
“Sorry, but they won’t collect themselves,” Sonic said. He hopped out of the booth. “Thanks for the cupcakes you guys.”
“Wait,” Pinkie said suddenly appearing in front of him, causing Sonic to jump. “You can’t leave just yet. We...uh, we haven’t gotten the chance to tell you about the Elements of Harmony. They’re the things that allowed me, Twilight, and the rest of our friends to beat up the occasional bad guy." Immediately, Pinkie's eyes lit up. "Ooh, you should meet them. They'd love to get to know you."
"I'm kind of in a hurry," Sonic began, but Pinkie quickly shoved her head under Sonic, and lifted, slumping Sonic onto her back. Before he could utter another protest, Pinkie Pie was already out the door, with Twilight calling after her. Sonic glanced at the unicorn chasing them, along with Spike on her back. "Okay, Pinkie," Sonic sighed. "Who are we going to see?"
"Fluttershy of course," Pinkie smiled. "She loves new animals."
"Uh huh," Sonic sighed. "Well after meeting her, I gotta get going, okay Pinkie?"
"Sure, don't worry about it," Pinkie dismissed unconvincingly. Sonic sighed as he got the feeling he was going to be stuck in Ponyville for a while.
Chapter Two
Eggman stirred on the cold dark floor. Eggman slowly sat up, much to the protest of his aching back. He groaned as he rubbed it and looked around. He seemed to have once again been stranded on an alien world due to one of his schemes. Did Sonic just banish me? Eggman thought. He was in the ruins of a castle seemingly surrounded by nothing but forest. He grinned. That stupid little hedgehog. I always knew that he never had it in him to kill me. He never could, and never will. But then Eggman frowned as the memories started to fall back into place. Wait, no. Sonic was about to do…something, but something else intervened. Something that pulled Sonic and I into a pocket dimension. I’ve never come across something of that caliber. I mean, when creatures are getting pulled across the space time continuum, I’m usually the mastermind behind the deed. Eggman stood up and shivered. Although it seemed to be a warm summer outside these castle walls, an almost suffocating coldness seemed to penetrate Eggman’s very bones. Eggman shook his head. Whatever! It doesn’t matter what did this to me. All that matters is finding those blasted emeralds before that hedgehog does. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a round stopwatch looking device. Hopefully the emerald radar will work here….wherever here is. Suddenly a black spot of swirling smoke appeared on the radar. What…what is this? Eggman looked up from the radar and walked over to the ruins of what appeared to be a throne with vines growing over it, every step feeling colder and colder.
Come closer…
That whisper broke the silence, however stopped Eggman right in his tracks.
“Uh,” Eggman called. “Who’s there?”
It is us of course, come closer…
Eggman, very cautiously crouched down and observed black smoke swirling around on the seat of the throne, with his every breath emerging as a visual cloud of fleeting heat. He dipped his finger into the smoke, and immediately the black smoke shot up Eggman’s finger and caked itself into his glove. Eggman yelped in surprise.
Don’t be afraid, traveler. We are here to help thou. It seems thou have come a long way to get here. Perhaps thou would like our assistance to get out of the forest.
Eggman clenched and unclenched his newly darkened fist. A black and smoky aura emanated from his new black glove, and all at once Eggman’s horror disappeared and was replaced with the euphoric bliss of this newfound energy source.
“Of course,” Eggman smiled evilly. “One could always use a guide when starting a new chapter in life.”
Pinkie hummed a song to herself as she trotted along with Sonic on her back and Twilight and Spike in hot pursuit. As the four approached Fluttershy’s cottage a new tune, a soft and delicate hum began to dance upon the air. Pinkie picked up the pace.
“We’re here,” Pinkie Pie called in an almost musical tone. She knocked on the front door. “Oh Fluttershy, where are you? I’ve got something to show you.”
“We’re in the back, Pinkie Pie,” a new voice with a southern accent called. “Come around.”
“Oki doki loki,” Pinkie answered with a smile. She was about to trot over around back, until an exhausted purple unicorn collapsed behind her.
“Please…wait…up…just…for a…second,” Twilight panted as sweat ran down her forehead.
“Twilight,” Sonic asked. “You okay?”
“Yeah…I’m fine…just not used…used to that…much running,” Twilight panted as Spike got off her and fanned her with his tail.
“Sorry about rushing over here,” Pinkie apologized. “It’s just that I don’t have that much time before the surprise.”
“What surprise?” Twilight asked. Pinkie pretended as if she didn’t hear the question and delightfully bounced with Sonic on her back, to Fluttershy’s back yard. Twilight sighed as she and Spike slowly followed the two. The four walked in on a yellow pegasus tending to a bunny and a tan earth pony with a cowboy hat standing next to a cart filled to the brim with apples. Pinkie bounced and sent Sonic flying over her head, landing on his butt just a few inches from Pinkie Pie.
“Fluttershy, Applejack,” Pinkie said. “I’d like you to meet my new friend, Sonic.” She leaned next to Sonic’s ear as Fluttershy and Applejack stared at Sonic. “Now I just wanna warn you,” Pinkie whispered. “Fluttershy can be a bit nervous to new friends, so don’t take it personally if she doesn’t really talk to –”
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh,” Fluttershy squeaked in excitement she flew over to Sonic and looked at examined him from every angle, unknowingly bumping Pinkie Pie out of the way. “You wouldn’t happen to be a hedgehog, would you?” she asked in odd way as if she would explode any minute.
“Uh yeah,” Sonic said standing up and dusting himself off. “I’m Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog.”
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh,” Fluttershy squeaked even higher.”I’ve never met a hedgehog in person before. And so strong,” Fluttershy squeezed his arms. “Such nice quills,” She stroked his quills. “So dynamic and striking. I mean, you’re just so (how would Rainbow put it?) awesome!” Sonic slyly grinned at Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight.
“Well, well, well,” Sonic grinned as he put his hands on his hips. Twilight rolled her eyes.
“And you can talk,” Fluttershy continued. “Ooh, that’s so amazing. Ahem, my name is Fluttershy by the way, and I’m sorry but I just need to know, what exactly do hedgehogs talk about?”
“Well what do you wanna know?” Sonic asked.
“Everything,” Fluttershy replied passionately. Sonic put a hand to his chin.
“Well let’s see,” he began. “It all started about 20 years ago –” He was interrupted by a purple hoof in his mouth. Twilight gave him an irritated look.
“Sorry,” she apologized. “But last time something like this happened, we had to listen to a certain somepony’s life story.”
“Well excuse me,” Spike pouted as he folded his arms. Fluttershy squeed as flew in circles over Sonic.
“I can’t believe I’m meeting a hedgehog,” she giggled. Just as Sonic was about to stroke his ego, Applejack ran up to him and strongly shook his hand.
“Well howdy Sonic,” she greets wholesomely. “I’m Applejack. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Nice to me you too,” Sonic said with a strong vibration in his voice due to the strong handshake. Applejack ceased the handshake, but Sonic's hand continued to move up and down uncontrollably.
"So Sonic, what brings you to Ponyville?" Applejack asked. Sonic's hand still moved up and down beyond his control until Spike grabbed it, stopping it.
"Thanks," Sonic said, slightly embarrassed. "Actually, I -" Pinkie Pie rose in front of him from seemingly nowhere.
“He’s from a whole other world,” Pinkie proclaimed causing Fluttershy and Applejack to gasp. “And in that world he fights this doctor guy, and he’s all like,” Pinkie’s tail went over her lips and she continued her explanation in a comically gruff voice, “Ha ha ha, Sonic, you cannot defeat me and my robot army!” Pinkie’s tail dropped and her voice shortly went back to normal, “And Sonic was like,” Pinkie continued in a more masculine voice, “Just watch me,” Pinkie continued in her normal voice, “And then Sonic fights the robots, beats the doctor guy, and saves the day! But some weird voice threw him into Twilight’s library, so now he’s here!” Sonic embarrassingly scratched behind his head.
“Yeah, uh, that’s the short version,” Sonic chuckled.
“Wow,” Fluttershy said in awe. “You’re not just a hedgehog. You’re a full blown super hedgehog.”
“I guess you could say that,” Sonic smirked with another stroke to his ego. Suddenly there was a loud buzzing coming from Pinkie Pie. She checked her wrist and looked at her watch.
“Ooh, looks like that’s my cue,” she said. “Sorry, guys, I gotta go now, or I won’t have enough time to plan the surprise.” She began to trot away. “See ya later, Sonic.”
“Bye, Pinkie,” Sonic waved. Once she was gone he turned back to the other ponies, “Well guys, it’s been fun, but I’ve gotta get going.”
“Going?” Fluttershy repeated in an extremely sad tone.
“Yeah,” Sonic said warily. “I gotta find these things called chaos emeralds. They might be the only thing that can help get me back home.” He turned to Twilight and Spike. “Thanks for your hospitality,” he smiled. “And the cupcakes.”
“Good luck on your adventure,” Spike said in a slightly sad tone.
“Get home safely,” Twilight smiled.
“B-but you can’t leave,” Fluttershy blurted out desperately. All eyes were on her.
“Uh, why not?” Sonic asked.
“Because…because…” Fluttershy said with her eyes darting all over the place looking for an excuse until they landed on the apple cart. “Oh, because you haven’t tasted any Apple family apples. They’re the best in Equestria and it would just be terrible if you missed the chance to have one.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say best in Equestria,” Applejack said blushing just a bit and clearly enjoying the compliment.
“Well I guess I could,” Sonic said. Applejack grabbed one with her tail and threw it over to Sonic. He caught in his glove and had to rub his eyes. It was the reddest apple he ever saw and it seemed to shine in the sun. Sonic took a bite of the apple and chewed for a moment and then stopped.
“Well?” Fluttershy asked. Sonic said nothing.
“What’s wrong, Sonic?” Spike asked. “Did you bite into a worm or something?”
“There are no worms in my apples,” Applejack snapped. Sonic swallowed.
“This…is the best apple I’ve ever tasted,” Sonic barely whispered.
“Really?” Applejack’s eyes lit up. Sonic greedily devoured the remains of the apple, leaving nothing but the core in the matter of moments. “Wow. That went by quick.”
“I’ve never had an apple with that much flavor and juice before,” Sonic continued dreamily. “It was like tasting a dream, like having an angel dancing on my tongue.”
“Aw, shucks, thanks Sonic,” Applejack smiled. “My family treats ever apple tree as if it were one of our own so only the best apples are grown.” She put her hoof on her chin. “That’s good, I like the sound of that. Should be our new slogan.”
“Your family made these?” Sonic exclaimed. “You guys have a gift. I mean I never thought there would be something tastier than a chili dog but you proved me wrong.”
“Wait,” Fluttershy said putting on a worried look. “You…eat…dogs?” Applejack suddenly had a terrifying image of Winona cowering and whimpering in the corner as the dark shadow of Sonic loomed in on her. Applejack shivered.
“What? No,” Sonic reassured. “It’s not what you think, Pinkie asked the same thing. Chili dogs in my world are not made of dogs.”
“Oh, well what are chili dogs made of?” Fluttershy asked.
“Let’s just say they’re not made of dogs, okay?” Sonic sighed, defeated. Just then Sonic noticed a green twinkle off in the bushes.
“Well that’s okay,” Fluttershy chattered much like Pinkie Pie as Sonic walked over to the bushes. “I mean, whatever floats your boat of course. I just, y’know, would love to know what hedgehogs eat so then I could um, y’know, prepare it just in case you’re ever back in town or y’know…”
“Sonic?” Twilight asked. Sonic crouched and reached into the bushes.
“Is it?” Sonic whispered to himself. “I mean, did I already…?” He pulled out a large green gem whose faint green glow exploded in intensity with the sun high in the sky beaming down at it. Sonic’s eyes lit up along with the gem.
“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy gasped. Applejack whistled.
“Why ain’t that a beauty,” Applejack remarked.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a huge emerald before,” Twilight said, amazed at the find. If Spike wanted to say something, it was lost in his drool. Sonic chuckled.
“This is it,” he smiled. “It’s one of the chaos emeralds. I can’t believe I found one so quickly. Usually this would take some stupid fight or something but I guess I –” Before Sonic could finish his sentence, a white rabbit jumped out and snatched the emerald right out of his hand. Sonic clutched the emptiness in his hand a few times, as if he was trying to assess what happened to his emerald. Then he sighed.
“Angel,” Fluttershy scolded. “You give that back to Mr. Sonic right now.” Angel rebelliously stuck his tongue out. “Angel,” Fluttershy warned. “I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy turned back to Sonic. “He can be quite a handful at t –” In the blink of an eye Sonic was in front of the rabbit with his hands on his hips. Angel jumped in surprise and stopped in his tracks.
“Hey buddy,” Sonic demanded. He held his hand out. “Give that back right now.” Angel however smirked and turned the other way only to see Sonic in front of his path once more with a scowl on his face. Angel had to do a double take to make sure he was really there. “Look, this isn’t going to end with you winning. Just hand it over.” Angel squeaked furiously at Sonic (the exact translation would cause Fluttershy to later clean Angel’s mouth out with soap), and stubbornly try again to hop away in another direction, however Sonic was already in his path with the same scowl on his face. This happened again over and over until Sonic was literally running circles around Angel and his eyes couldn’t keep up with the hedgehog. Angel swayed back and forth from the dizziness of trying to catch up with Sonic, and collapsed on his back. Fluttershy gasped and Sonic skidded to a stop. Everyone (or everypony) held their breath for a moment until Angel waved a tiny white flag and they all let out a sigh of relief. Sonic snatched the chaos emerald from the dizzy rabbit with delight. “Yes! One down!” He turned back to see the three ponies and dragon with their mouths agape still staring in shock. Suddenly Spike began to tremble as he seemed lost for words.
“That…was…so…awesome!” Spike settled on cheering. “I mean you were all like,” Spike ran around Sonic and made various race car sound effects. “And you were all like,” Spike puffed out her chest and copied Pinkie’s masculine imitation, “Give that back, punk!” Spike squeed and continued in his normal voice, “It was just…SO COOL!” Sonic grinned, absolutely loving Spike’s fanboy moment.
“I gotta say,” Twilight added. “That was pretty impressive. You might even give Rainbow Dash a run for her money.” Applejack and Fluttershy glanced at each other and erupted into laughter. Sonic, Twilight, and Spike shared confused looks. “What?” Twilight asked as her ears folded. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m sorry Twilight,” Applejack said through her laughter. “But you do remember who Rainbow Dash is right? She’s the absolute fastest pony in Equestria,” She took a moment to adjust her hat and strike a pose. “Well I suppose second fastest seeing how I beat her in that race.”
“I thought you two both tied for last place,” Spike pointed out.
“That’s only because she was wasting our time by cheating,” Applejack protested. “Anyway, you two know how fast she is. She cleared an entire sky full of clouds in only ten seconds.”
“And she’s the only pony to do the Sonic Rainboom,” Fluttershy added.
“Sonic Rainboom?” Sonic asked.
“It’s when a pegasus flies so fast, she breaks the sound barrier and causes a rainbow all at once,” Fluttershy explained.
If there was any doubt in my mind that this world wasn’t filled to the brim with concentrated girliness, Sonic thought with a chuckle. It’s gone now. Still, a pony that can break the sound barrier sounds like someon – uh, somepony I outta meet. Sonic sighed. If only I didn’t have this awful vibe that something is out there I need to deal with. I mean, I know I have to collect the chaos emeralds, but…this feels different, but similar. Sonic shook his head as the ponies continued to argue about his speed. It must be my nerves or something. I’ve been doing this for so long, maybe I’m just paranoid. Still…
“…in only around four, maybe six seconds at most,” Twilight argued as Sonic noticed Spike licking the side of the emerald. "The whole place was good as new."
“But um, he did mess it up in the first place,” Fluttershy passively pointed out as Sonic pushed Spike away. “Shouldn’t there be um, some kind of time penalty?”
“What, no, of course not!” Twilight replied in a way that caused Fluttershy to squeak and hide behind Applejack. Twilight felt a twinge of guilt in her chest and sighed, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you.” Spike got on his knees and began to beg Sonic to give him a bite. “You have known Rainbow Dash the longest.”
“Then it’s settled,” Applejack smiled as Sonic shook his head and Spike cried into his claws. “Rainbow Dash is faster than Sonic.”
“How is me apologizing for yelling at Fluttershy the same as Sonic being slower than Rainbow Dash?” Twilight reasonably demanded. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well there’s only one way to find out,” Sonic said as he rested his shoulder on Twilight’s head, causing her to pout. “I guess I’ll have to pay ol’ Dash a visit.”
“Then you’re staying?” Fluttershy asked excitedly.
“But didn’t you say you had to go?” Applejack reminded which promptly got herself a mouth full of Fluttershy’s hoof as she silenced Applejack with the utmost gentleness.
“Shh, Applejack,” Fluttershy said as Spike tried to take bite out of the emerald and Sonic lifted out of Spike’s range. “I-if Mr. Sonic wants to stay in Ponyville a little longer, then he can.” Spike, with his mouth wide open and a new craving for emeralds, leapt towards Sonic. But Sonic being, well, Sonic, dodged it in the blink of an eye. Twilight didn’t even have time to react to that as Spike clamped his teeth onto the side of Twilight’s head. Twilight did however react to that and she screamed in pain and ran around the ponies and hedgehog, who were all trying to calm Twilight down enough to remind her she could just use her magic.
Jeez, Sonic thought as he took the time to laugh at the whole scene in front of him. I knew my life was weird and all, but even I would’ve never expected to be in a land of talking ponies trying to get a baby dragon to not eat a unicorn. His smile momentarily left him. Pinkie Pie. There has to be a clear cut reason how you knew him. There has to be a reason how you knew Shadow, and I’m not leaving until you tell me how you do.
A fox with two tails laid sprawled out on his back in a dark forest. He began to slowly open his eyes and then let out a groan of pain as he sat up since every part of his body felt sore. Ugh, he thought. I feel like the Death Egg dropped on me. He rubbed his head which only caused more pain. The fox looked around the dark forest with an obvious thought entering his head, Where the heck am I?
“Ah, so the little fox has finally woken from his nap,” a strangely charismatic and sinister voice echoed across the darkness. “I suppose you’re used to that, Tails. You have been doing that for around 20 years.” Tails slowly got to his feet as he fought through the pain.
“Who’s there?” Tails demanded. A manically laugh echoed across the darkness and caused a violent shiver to go up Tails’ spine.
“Just think of me as your little guide,” the voice said, failing to reassure Tails. “I can help you out of this forest.”
“You can?” Tails asked, unsure.
“Of course I can Tails,” the voice said. It began to feign sadness when it asked, “Do you think I’d lie to you, Tails?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Tails replied nonchalantly. “You happened to be talking to me in the middle of a dark forest, in which you won’t show your face to me what so ever; you sound like you really don’t care about what happens to me since I know the sound of crocodile tears when I hear them; and on top of all of that, you know my name without me introducing myself. So yeah I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you’re evil and just not listen to you at all.” Tails’ tails began to twist around levitating him slowly into the air, however Tails felt a twinge of pain and his tails stopped, sending him face first back into the ground.
“It looks like you can’t fly,” the voice stated. “You might want to apologize for those hurtful words and maybe I’ll still want to help you out of this forest.”
“Please,” Tails replied. “I’d rather go it alone then listen to you. I’ll be fine just by myself.”
“Really now?” the voice said as Tails began to walk in no particular direction. “Because I thought going it alone is the reason he got hurt.” Tails stopped dead in his tracks. “Ooh, did I touch a nerve? Yes, you’re right, I know about you before you telling me anything. However, I know more about you than you think you know about yourself. So c’mon Tails,” A twisting row of trees were sucked into the ground, creating a pathway right in front of Tails. “Walk down this path and I’ll help you out of this forest, and enlighten on exactly who you are.” Tails merely stood there unable to really react to what had been said to him. “If it helps, I can help you find Sonic as well.”
“You can?” Tails piped up to that.
“Of course I can,” the voice said. “But the road to him is paved in pain. Unfortunately, it is also the same road out of here. It is up to you to take the first step.” Tails felt his heartbeat thud loudly and almost painfully in his chest.
What should I do? He thought. This voice, whoever it belongs to, they’re so obviously evil. And yet, if Sonic’s on my side I can’t lose. But this could be a trap, they know too much about me. But my tails won’t be able to save me here, plus Sonic’s here, wherever here is. What should I… With a deep breath Tails began to walk down the mysterious path. Suddenly when he was a few mere steps down the path, the entrance to it closed behind him with the trees popping back up. Well, Tails thought with a gulp. I either found the way out with an annoying companion, or I just made a really, really dumb mistake.