Sunset Shimmer sat on the staircase leading into the doors of her school, Canterlot High. A smile formed on her lips as she placed a large book on her lab and pulled out a pencil. The teen felt that it was time to write back to an old friend, or a new friend that is pretty much the only connection she had to her old life.
'Dear Princess Twilight,
'It's been a while, hasn't it? I know I decided to only talk to you in case of real emergencies, but I felt that I wanted to catch up. That encounter with this world's Twilight was really strange... I didn't think the two of you would ever stop staring... Anyway, everything's fine here. Ever since the Friendship Games things have for the most part calmed down. Thank Celestia...
'It's still strange how magic is affecting this world. After all, for the most part the effects are only around Canterlot High. Good thing it's only around here... I wouldn't dare to think of the consequences if this became public knowledge.
'Anyway, how are things in Equestria? From what you told us last time you were here, you have your own student? How is being a teacher doing for you?'
Sunset's writing was interrupted by a vibrating and ringing sound in her pocket. Turning away from the book, she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her phone. Sunset removed the book from her lap and placed it on the stairs, right next to her.
'Yo, Sunset! We're waiting on ya!'
The teen smiled, "Yep, that's Rainbow Dash."
'Twilight really wanted to hear our music, we told her about the magic that happened when we "Pony Up" and wanted to see it for herself. Anyway, how soon can ya get here?' the message read. 'We're at AJ's right now.' she added.
Sunset replied a time and that she was on her way, and went back to writing in her old journal, deciding to end her message.
'Anyway, I gotta go. Hope to hear from you soon, Twilight.'
Sunset Shimmer grabbed the book, and placed the worn journal inside of her bag. She noticed that the sun was going down, realizing that it was getting late and she needed to get to Applejack's farm soon. But first she had to grab her music equipment knowing that she needed it now and it would take longer. Distracted in her thoughts, the teen gazed at the statue and put a palm on it, noticing a small ripple before pulling her arm back in slight surprise.
'One day...'
"Can she please hurry it up?" Rainbow Dash groaned as she stared out the door, able to see the setting sun in the distance above the trees in the orange sky. "We're literally losing daylight!"
"C'mon, Rainbow. Ya know that Sunset just can't warp here." Applejack told her friend. "As far as we're aware anyhow."
Twilight looked at the instruments owned by her friends, grabbing a notepad as well, ignoring the bickering among the two as she looked over everything, Can you really use your magic through music? That sounds fascinating..."
"Heck yeah, we can!" Rainbow boasted. She held up her guitar as she did. "Now, why do want us to do that all of a sudden, anyway?" she asked, looking at her friends. Each of them shrugging in response to her question, except Twilight.
"I remember each of you transforming and using your magic... When I accidentally stole it and used it." Twilight sighed. "But I wasn't sure of how that happened."
"Um... We weren't using instruments when you there." Fluttershy reminded the scientist.
Rarity took notice of Twilight's dejected state and spoke, "Darling, you weren't expecting the magic to be abused by Cinch. Don't put yourself down like that."
The teen nodded, adjusting her glasses, "R-right. Anyway, Pinkie told me about how you were all in a band and you all," she paused, raising her hands to do quotations, "Ponied up as it were. I wanted to see how that was possible."
Rainbow chuckled, "Sunset tried the same thing! It only ended in a messy lab. Heh, there were rainbows, apples, heck a lot of things everywhere. It took hours to clean up the lab and she smelled for days." she recalled the event and its aftermath.
Applejack shook her head, "Well, hopefully it won't come to that. Last thing we need is'ta make another mess in this barn. Big Mac and Ah just had it cleaned too."
Fluttershy raised her tamborines, "Um, I don't think we can worry about that. Maybe we got better with it? And Sunset had us wear those devices that enhanced us."
"That is true." Rarity recalled, "Perhaps we don't have to worry about a magic overload as it were."
Panting was heard. Gazing at the door, the girls saw Sunset, her hands on her knees and her head hung low, clearly exhausted from a quick run a sshe tried to hurry as not to keep the others waiting. She raised her head and smiled, "Made it." she gave the group a quick thumbs up.
"Woohoo! The gang's all here!" cheered Pinkie, raising her drumsticks as she did while standing on her drums.
Sunset spoke up, microphone in hand, "So, what's going on here? I got a text from Rainbow saying to come here as soon as possible. Is something wrong?"
"Ah, Twi here wanted to see us 'Pony Up' in action." Rainbow explained as quick as she could. "About time you showed up. I thought we were going to fall asleep in here."
Applejack rolled her eyes, "It wasn't that bad, Dash."
Sunset raised a brow at Twilight, "You sure? Things got a little... er, messy last time I tried to study this."
"I'm aware." said Twilight in a deadpan manner, "But can I at least see it? Maybe I can come up with an explanation as to why it's happening in the first place and how it's connected?" she suggested.
"...Alright then." agreed Sunset.
Pinkie raised her drumsticks, a smile on her face, "Alright then!"
The girls readied their instruments as the pink girl counted them down.
"One, two... One, two, three, four!"
The Unnamed Village, a peaceful village on an island located seemingly in the middle of the vast ocean. At least, it would be peaceful had it not been for the owner of the evil lair located right across from it. And they were unhappy.
Sonic the Hedgehog slid on the grass, dodging a laser shot from the hovermobile of his arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman, "Really, Egghead? We just wanted a bite at Meh Burger!" he looked over, seeing his team fighting off his robot forces. "But then you had to come along and ruin the meal! You owe me for this!"
Tails the Fox wiped his mouth and burped and stood next to his friends, "Yeah! It was actually slightly better than average today!" he bumped Sonic's fist with his own when he offered. Then he began to spin his two tails around like a propellor, hovering over the team as robots began to attack.
"Thank goodness." said Knuckles the Echidna in relief, rubbing his stomach, "Cause it feels like I ate five bean burritos still."
Eggman slammed his hands on the Egg-Mobile, "Nonsense, I'm doing you a favor! They charge five dollars for a soda! Five! That's highway robbery you know!"
"He's right..." sighed Dave, the worker behind the counter at Meh Burger, hearing the conversation.
A red orb-shaped robot appeared out of a small port, raising a metal finger as he commented to his creator, "If I may object, sir. That sounds rather petty."
"Nonsense, Orbot." Eggman growled,
Tails flew down, his namesakes spinning behind him, and he drove his wrench directly into a crab-bot, destroying it. "It actually kind of is when you think about it."
"Ha! Luckily for me, I don't think!" Knuckles shouted, his spiked fists driving themselves into a bug robot, his tall stature allowing him to do so with ease, smashing it to pieces instantly as soon as he slammed his fist down, "I only fight!" he added. Sonic kicked the head of the mechanical creature and ran off, trying to fight off the rest of the ambush, "I had it covered!"
"Wow! They're really beating you this time!" called out a yellow cube-shaped robot from his port.
Eggman gritted his teeth, "Nonsense! It's at least an equal battle!"
Amy held her hammer over her shoulder and swung it upwards, hitting a bee bot before it could shoot its stinger at her, "As if. Why did you bother us today?"
"Cause I'm evil! Duh!" the scientiest blurted out as if the answer was obvious. "I have a weekly quota to fill, remember?"
"But it's not Saturday!" muttered Sonic, getting to a knee as he curled into a ball, smashing another robot with a charged Spin-Dash. While he was in midair, he activated his blue Enerbeam and swung it at a bee robot, throwing on the ground as hard as he could once it wrapped around the metal animal, destroying it while he landed next to the contained explosion.
"Actually, it's Tuesday." corrected a beaver wearing a bowtie with a deadpan tone, completely ignore the battle going on right in front of him. Again. Sonic growled at his comment.
Eggman raised a fist, "Well, it doesn't matter this time anyhow! Cause I have the upper hand!"
Sticks the Badger threw her wooden boomerang through a few crab robots and bug bots, "Nah!" she scoffed. Tails chuckled at that, driving his feet down on yet another mechanical being, but a bee bot was about to blindside the fox, so Sticks threw her weapon at it, destroying it as she gestured to its metal remains. "See? I told you the robot overlords are plotting our demise!"
"Annoying badger." hissed Eggman under his breath. "Bah! I mean it this time, this is different than all of our previous battles!"
Sonic put his hands on his as he rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah? How?" he asked before kicking a robot that threatened to come towards him, destroying its faceplate. "Cause it looks to be the same old junk like always."
The genius shook his head, "Nope! I got this attached to my Egg-Mobile recently!" with a press of a button, he revealed a laser pistol emerging from a small port on the side of his hover vehicle. On top of it was a large purple crystal. "Here it is!"
The blue hedgehog tilted his head and quipped, "...You went jewelry shopping? That's unlike you."
Amy raised her head, "Wait, that looks to be one of the Lost Shards. They were once a full crystal used by the Ancients to power their advanced technology, but they were scattered and hidden away before they could be used for the wrong purposes." she explained, lowering her hammer for a moment.
"Like a certain slithery fiend we faced." said Sonic, clenching his fists in annoyance.
Tails hovered over the group, "But how?"
"I'm a genius! I figured it out!" Eggman boasted, pressing a switch and more buttons, "The Lost Shard has the power to break the dimensional barrier as we know it. With you gone, I can finally take over this island and build Eggmanland."
"Can we come?" wondered Knuckles.
The doctor held the edge of his Egg-Mobile, "No! Cause you'll be far away from here! Minions, attack!"
Nothing happened. "Hm?" Eggman turned his head, seeing his army turned to scrap. Again.
"Surprised, Egghead?" boasted Sonic, tossing a gear on his gloved hand in a bragging manner. Knuckles pumped a fist as he kicked the head of a crab-bot like a soccer ball.
"Yeah, give up!" Tails shouted.
Eggman laughed, "As if! Taste laser my enemies!" suddenly, the laser attached to the hovercraft began to glow purple thanks to the power of the Lost Shard.
Somic pointed at the device, "Sticks! Hit the laser thing!"
"Aye Aye, Captain!" Sticks announced, aiming her throw perfectly so that the crystal was hit by the boomerang, which the badger caught as soon as it came back.
Knuckles perked up, "Wait, are we pirates?"
Amy gave the echidna a deadpan stare, "No."
"Aw..."
The crystal began to glow brighter, "You idiots! See what you did to my beautiful Egg-Mobile?!" shouted Eggman in anger.
"Uh, Tails... Any ideas on what it's doin'?" asked Sonic.
The fox shook his head, "No idea. We may want to step back. It looks like its exerting the energy already absorbed into the laser!"
"Looks like we gotta go fast, then!" Sonic smirked, ready to make a run for it.
Then, a purple aura covered the team and Eggman, them screaming as they were sucked into a vortex that formed in the ground beneath. "Uh oh..." gulped Knuckles, before they all fell in. When they vanished, the portal closed behind them with no way to open it again from the island anymore.
A white eagle wearing a shirt and holding a microphone and standing in front of a camera made an announcement, "Soar the Eagle with a breaking news update. Our heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog and his team, in an attempt to stop Dr. Eggman have mysteriously vanished. Obviously, they still have to be alive, otherwise this would be a very grim news report."
"Where they are now, nobody knows."
An aura surrounded the girls as they finished singing, finally lowering themselves to the ground after hovering. They had pony ears on top of their heads and their extended down to their legs, giving them the allusion that they had literal pony tails. They six placed their instruments (and in Pinkie's case drumsticks) as Sunset spoke up first, "So, Twilight. what do you think?"
The bookworm adjusted her glasses again, jotting down some more notes again as a quick refresher, obsering their transformed forms now in awe, "Fascinating. I didn't think there would be a connection to your musical talents and the magic in this world. Perhaps that's something we should look into."
Sunset chuckled, "No offense, Twilight. But my attempts didn't work out that well. You already know that."
"It is a rather interesting connection." Rarity noted.
A green and purple dog barked, getting their attention before clearing his throat, "Magic's weird." was all Spike said, "Heck, I still have to get used to talking."
"Who cares how it works? We look awesome!" shouted Rainbow, observing the wings that grew on her back. "I'll never get tired of these things!"
"Twi does bring up a good point about this. Then again, we haven't done transformed like this since the Sirens showed up." Applejack elaborated. "How the heck does it work?"
As they were conversing about the topic, a strange electric noise got their attention. Looking up, they saw a purple vortex open up on the ceiling. Fluttershy gulped, "D-Did we do that?"
"No idea." Sunset muttered, putting a hand to her head in confusion, "Is there another magical leak from Equestria somewhere?" she questioned loudly. Their transformations faded as it happened as they chose to a moment ago.
Suddenly, five figures fell from it, landing as a pile. The girls and dog each took a step back upon seeing this predicament. On the ground were five grumbling animals of multiple colors. "Um..." Spike said, unsure of how to react. "What are they?"
"Can you guys get off?" grunted Sonic, trying to push up.
"Okay, who's on top of the dogpile?" Sticks grumbled.
"Um... Me?" Knuckles said sheepishly.
Amy snarled, "Well, can you get off, Knuckles?!"
"Alright, jeez. I thought we were having one of those friendship dogpiles or something!" Knuckles relented, rolling his body back to allow his friends to finally move and sit up.
Tails adjusted his goggles, "What does that even mean?"
"I dunno, but it sounded fun!" Knuckles said loudly.
Sunset cleared her throat, ending the bickering among the animals and getting their attention. Team Sonic looked at the confused girls, just as curious as they were. The blue hedgehog waved around nervously, "Uh, hi. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog..."
"Please don't eat us, you crazy looking monsters!" Sticks begged.
Fluttershy looked at the badger, "We're, uh, not going to eat you. Don't worry, critter." she tried petting Sticks, but she growled at the timid girl, surprising her.
"Hey!" Rainbow pointed a finger and held up her guitar, "Don't attack us! We're just as confused as you!"
"Well, sorry! But we would like some answers!" Amy shouted back, ready to raise her hammer, which appeared seemingly out of thin air to the others.
"Where did-?" Applejack wondered.
Pinkie gasped, "How did she reach into my hyperspace?!"
"Your what?" Tails and Twilight asked at the same time.
"Why are we shouting!?" Knuckles yelled. "Cause if this is a fight, then I win!"
Sunset extended both of her arms as she screamed, "ENOUGH!"
The groups were silent now, having halted their argument. She exhaled sharply, "Okay... Who are you people? We just want answers." she questioned at last.
"We're Team Sonic." the blue hedgehog introduced.
"Uh, Team Knuckles." the echidna corrected, Sonic shook his head and continued.
"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Tails the Fox." the fox greeted.
"Knuckles the Echidna. I think." Knuckles said.
"Amy Rose." the pink hedgehog introduced.
The badger muttered, "Sticks the Badger. But that information stays here, got it?"
Sonic replied, "Now, who and what the heck are you?"
"Sunset Shimmer."
"Twilight Sparkle."
"The awesome Rainbow Dash!"
"Pinkie Pie!"
"Applejack."
"Rarity, darling."
"O-Oh, Fluttershy..."
Amy smiled, "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Where are we?"
"In a barn." said Spike.
"Yeah, one of our kind!" cheered Knuckles, kneeling down in an attempt to high-five the dog.
"Aw... I'm gonna call you Buster 2!" Sticks cooed.
"I'm Spike."
Twilight added and held the dog in her arms, "He's my dog."
"Oh, alright then." said Sonic, "So... Any clue on what to do now?"
Sunset pinched her temple, "First, how did you even get here?"
"Long story short..."
Knuckles pointed a thumb at himself, "Let me tell this story, Sonic. See..."
"Ha ha ha! I am totally evil!" Eggman declared in his Egg-Mobile. "And my robot army shall destroy you!"
Sonic gulped, "Oh no... We're doomed!" he studdered out, his knees shaking at the sight of all the robots surrounding them. "We have to make run for it."
"If my calculations are correct, we have a .5 percent chance of survival." Tails analyzed.
"Not if I have anything to say anything about it!" came a heroic voice in the distance.
Amy squealed, "Can it be?!"
"It is!" cheered Sonic.
"Knuckles!"
Said echidna was standing heroically as a trumpet fanfare blared in the background. His hands were on his hips and the wind was blowing his dreadlocks. "I'll take it from here, citizens!" he declared in a serious tone at last.
"Do it, Knuckles!" said Sticks.
Knuckles ran forward and destroyed the robots with one punch from his spiky namesakes. "Amazing! He is tearing those things apart like a... Like a smart sophisticated word in my brain!"
"I tend to do that!" Knuckles boasted.
Eggman screamed, "Ah! Knuckles, no!"
"You made me mad, Eggman!" shouted the echidna. He began to fly as he screamed, stretching his arms to his sides. Suddenly, his dreadlocks spiked up as a yellow aura surrounded his body. He reared his arms back as a ball of energy hit Eggman, blowing up the Egg-Mobile he was sitting in and covering the scientist in ash.
Knuckles smiled and folded his arms proudly at what he did. Sonic folded his hands, "Wow, Mister Knuckles. I am so weak and helpless and dumb! Can you be our team leader?"
"Of course. Only one with my brains and brawn can handle such a taxing role for such a simple-minded oaf." Knuckles announced.
"Can I have your autograph?" Tails asked, holding a notepad.
"Of course, fan."
Sparks began to appear behind the team as they looked at it curiously, "H no, what's happening?" asked Sonic.
Knuckles hummed, "It seems my awesomeness has somehow tore apart the fabric of space and time."
"What?" Tails screamed.
The heroes and Eggman fell into the portal, where the team reappeared again.
"...And that's what happened." Knuckles finished his story. Silence was shared as Team Sonic glared at the echidna. The girls were left even more confused.
Pinkie was the only one who clapped, "Encore!"
"Thank you." bowed the echidna.
Amy rolled her eyes, "That's not what happened."
Sunset groaned, "Then what did happen?"
"Eggman and us were fighting again, he had this crystal that could break the dimensional barrier or something and when Sticks hit it, something happened and were sucked into a vortex. That's how we ended up here I think." Sonic explained briefly.
"Oh." was all Twilight replied. "That makes more sense... I think."
"It really doesn't." Spike said under his breath.
Tails looked around, "Well, that's our story. We just need to figure out how we're going to wander a new dimension."
"Uh, I think we can help." Sunset offered, "Something like this isn't new to us. Just follow us, I think we may have an idea on what to do about this." she said.
"You do?" Amy asked.
"Could be a trap!" Sticks growled.
Pinkie raised a hand, "We Pinkie Promise it's not!"
Tails blinked, "Is that... is that a good thing."
Applejack chuckled, "Don't ever break one." was all she said.
"Okay..." slurred Sonic. "Where to?"
Sunset led the group, "Like I said, just follow us."
The blue hedgehog shrugged, "I'm more of a leader than a follower, but whatever."
Eggman coughed as silently as he could, hiding his Egg-Mobile in the bushes right next to the open farm entrance where they won't notice him. "They'll never expect to find me here!" he bragged silently. Noting that he was in fact undercover.
"Uh, sir. It's quite obvious." Orbot corrected.
"Silence. My plan is fool proof. Since I'm stuck here as well, I guess I'll have to get rid of those pesky heroes on my own." Eggman revealed to his robot minions.
Cubot said, "But that doohickey broke didn't it?"
"Slightly. One of the fragments fell off when the badger truck the device, I just havw to see where it ended up." Eggman explained. He looked at his wrist, noticing his mechanical gauntlet glowing purple, a small gem lodged into it. "...Interesting. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage." he smirked deviously.
He saw the group leave and decided to follow them, "It is time to make my exit."
Author's Note
So, I had this chapter written months ago (like back in January), but never continued considering my backlog and the reputation the Sonic Boom series has from Rise of Lyric.
Consider this a bonus until I get my other stories sorted out. So unless I get really bored, don't expect an update from this for a while.
For anyone curious, this is set in between Seasons 1 and 2 of Boom. And inbetween Friendship Games and Legends of Everfree for EQG.
"This is, like, the biggest city I've ever seen!" Tails said in awe, looking over at the tall buildings that towered over everyone walking. The night was when things calmed down in the city, and that meant that the girls were able to escort Team Sonic around with as few issues as they could handle. Of course, when anybody would come near them, they would hide in the alleys or use a costume excuse, which Knuckles didn't seem to mind. Surprisingly, it worked.
Amy raised a finger and corrected the fox, "Actually, it is the biggest city we've seen. We've spent most of our time on an island with a village, canyon and a jungle."
"We really need to get out more." muttered Sonic, putting his arms behind his back.
Knuckles scratched his head, "I dunno, we're kind of surrounded by water. How do we leave? And would our budget even allow it?"
Sunset sighed, "...Where do you live?"
"On an island. The Unnamed Village to be exact." Amy answered.
"Does the village not have a name?" Twilight wondered.
Sonic shook his head, "No, we mean it's literally called Unnamed Village. We really got a get a new name for it at some point, like Hedgehog Village or something. We should start a petition for the mayor to change that and the Awardy Awards."
Sticks said, "Yeah, that'll never work."
"Can we come?" Pinkie asked.
Tails replied, "Well, the thing is... We don't even know how we got here, or how to get back. Even if we did, Eggman warped in here with us and we should find him first."
"This Eggman guy sounds like bad news." Rainbow Dash said.
Sonic shrugged, "He's just a mild inconvience to us. He just shows up with an army of robots, we trash them and we kick his butt back to his island fortress. When he's not trying to be evil, he's just... there. I dunno how to explain it."
"So basically, having a fight against a robot army is boring to you? We should seriously swap places." Rainbow muttered.
Amy sighed, "It gets boring when he does it every week."
"Every week? It feels like we have to wait months before something cool happens!" Rainbow groaned.
Applejack said, "Ah don't think ya'll should encourage her thrill-seekin'. It's not gonna do us any good." Rainbow gave her a quick glare at that but exhaled.
Fluttershy asked, "Um... A-Are there others like you?"
"Yeah there are. But they just stand in the background while we fight Eggman most of the time." Tails replied. "The five of us are the island's heroes... whenever they acknowledge it."
Knuckles snickered, "Good. It means I get to show off just how strong I am."
Sonic looked up at the girls, "So what the heck goes on here? Cause Rainbow is making it sound as boring as us eating at Meh Burger when Eggman's not attacking."
"We have school to worry about..." Sunset paused, "Plus a few other things."
Amy crossed her arms and raised a brow at her choice of wording, "What kind of other things?"
Before Sunset or even Twilight could respond, Pinkie interjected, "We have to deal with magic that constantly seeps the way into the school and there are monsters and sometimes magic stuff! But you didn't hear i from me!"
Sticks curled a fist, "I should'a known science or magic would be the end of us!"
"Right?" agreed Pinkie, "It's strange!"
Rarity bit her lip, "Uh, Pinkie, dearie, I do not think we should be confiding this information to these... fine creatures." she chose her wording best as to not offend the Team.
Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose at Pinkie's blunt explanation, "'I-It's fine, Rarity. They kinda needed to know anyway since we're going back to the school."
The blue hedgehog shivered, "Egh. School... Luckily I don't have to worry about that."
"Why are we going to a school? To learn about the history of this world already?" Amy wondered.
Shaking her head, Sunset responded, "No. It has to do with this magic phenomenon Pinkie mentioned. I got into contact with a friend to get a second opinion on this. Hopefully she could explain that random surge that brought you here in the first place, cause I have no idea as to what happened."
Twilight pointed out, "I did ask if you could play your music right before they warped in... Could that have something to do with it?" she wondered aloud.
"Even if it did happen because of that, I wouldn't blame you for it." Tails said to the girl, "It sounds like all of you are still learning about it. Maybe I can join you in researching it if we're going to be here for a while?" he suggested.
Twilight smiled, "Sure. I didn't think any of you would be interested in this research."
Tails pointed a thumb at himself, "I like to do some experiments every now and then."
Sonic put his hands on his hips with a smug grin, "And by some, he means a lot and he spends most of his day in his workshop attending to a new invention nearly everytime I see him." he teased, earning a glare from the fox, but he laughed, rubbing his friend's head playfully, "But he's the smartest kid I know despite that."
"I thought I was the smartest kid you knew." Knuckles replied, rubbing his chin. Sonic gave his echidna friend a blank stare, "...What? I'm actually serious."
Rarity tilted her head, "*Is he always this... aloof?"
Amy sighed, "Yes..."
"Nice try, Rarity. But I am in fact not a loofa! So ha!" Knuckles mocked, unaware of what he just said. Silence was shared among the group for a moment after that. That is, until Sticks finally broke it, calling back to the last topic.
"I still don't trust magic..." growled the magic.
"You don't trust anything." Amy commented.
Sticks shrugged back and screamed in response, "That's true. But science and magic will be the very things that will bring about the apocalypse!"
"I doubt it, Sticks." Sunset replied. "It hasn't reached a scale like it did at the Friendship Games." she noticed Twilight gulp, an uneasy frown formed on her face, and Sunset wondered if it was still too soon after the fact.
"You... You have something called the Friendship Games? Give me a gag." Sonic groaned.
"Alright, Shadow." Amy muttered. "What are the Friendship Games anyway?"
Rainbow decided to answer, "The toughest set of competitons against our rivals, Crystal Prep! We got nerd stuff like spelling bees and math tests, meh stuff like cooking and woodshop, and then you have the cool sports like archery and motorcross! One year, Canterlot High's Wondercolts will have a full-fledged win!"
"A competition called Friendship Games. Ironic." Amy said.
Sunset pointed at a lone building, "Speaking of Canterlot High. There it is. I wrote to the Princess that we'll be meeting her tonight."
"You know a princess?" Tails asked.
"From the other world, yes." Sunset corrected. "It may be a little confusing at first, but it'll make sense once she arrives."
Sonic said, "I hope so cause I'm already getting tired of just walking and standing already." he paused, "...Why are we looking at a broken statue again?" he asked.
Then, the side of the now pedestal of the broken statue began to ripple causing Tails to say, "Whoa. It looks like some kind of secret portal is back there."
Then, something, or someone, landed perfectly on their feet. Team Sonic was taken aback. She looked just like Twilight, except she wasn't wearing glasses, her hair was all the way down, and she wore a different set of clothes. She yawned and Sonic spoke, "Uh, Twilight... Is this your twin or something?"
Twilight shared a glance with her lookalike, "No, this is my doppelganger." she answered.
"Woo! More parallel mumbo jumbo!" Knuckles cheered, "I wonder if other me is still out there."
Twilight opened her eyes after yawning, "Hi, Sunset..." she wiped her eyes.
"Hey, Princess Twilight. I gotta ask... Has anything like this happened back in Equestria?" Sunset wondered, gesturing to the team of animals that stood behind her and the girls.
The princess' eyes widened at the sight of the hedgehog, fox, and echidna, "Sonic? Tails? Knuckles?" said animals shared a confused glance with each other, "Why do the three of you look so different?" she questioned. "And who are they?"
"Uh, do we know each other?" Sonic asked. "Cause it sounds like you know us somehow. Then again, I am a world famous hero after all, so I could see it."
Princess Twilight blinked, "You don't remember? The three of you helped my friends and I use the Elements of Harmony and Chaos Emeralds to defeat Dr. Eggman and his robot army when he tried taking over my world." she recalled. "It was a world of ponies, Equestria. Any of this sound familiar?"
Sonic shook his head, "Sorry, lady. I don't even know what the Chaos Emeralds or Equestria are. But if you know Eggman is bad news then I guess I can't be too upset."
"I also don't know what's going on, human horse person." Knuckles pointed out.
"You must know the three of us from an alternate universe." Tails suggested, "Like how there are two of you here." he pointed to both Twilights, "Just saying, it seems the most likely theory since we've never been to Equestria like you said we did."
"Another Sonic. Heh, I bet that other me hasn't had to deal with that before." Sonic chuckled.
Applejack asked, "So ya say you met 'em before?"
The princess nodded, "Yes. But Sonic wasn't wearing a scarf, Tails didn't have those goggles, and Knuckles wasn't so big. The other two weren't there though."
"Another Knuckles... I can finally get Knuckles Jr. And train him in my ways." the echidna pumped a fist.
"Another world." Amy mused, "I wonder what other me is like."
Sticks crossed her arms, "I don't ever want to meet another me. I like to be one of a kind. I don't think I could trust her."
"Who are you two anyway?" Princess Twilight asked.
"Amy."
"Grr... Sticks, but what's it to ya, huh? You some kinda interdimensional spy?" the badger asked.
The Equestrian looked to Sunset, who shrugged, "I'm still trying to figure these people out. Anyway, my question was if anything like this was possible in Equestria, and if you know a way to send them back, but I guess you already answered that question earlier. Have you seen the other versions after they left?" she asked her mentor.
"No." Princess Twilight answered. "Not since Sonic used Chaos Control to go home after destroying Eggman's mech." Sonic growled, reminded of an old rival upon hearing Chaos Control.
"That sounds awesome!" Rainbow said. "Why can't that happen right now?"
Twilight hummed, "I wonder what other differences these two worlds have."
"A lot already, I can tell you that much." grumbled Sonic, hating that his counterpart had to steal an ability from his rival. He was supposed to be original with his moves, he thought.
"I wonder if the other Sonic is less of a grump." teased Amy.
"Probably." agreed Knuckles.
"So how did the five of you end up in this world?" Princess Twilight questioned.
Knuckles spoke up, "Allow me to explain, your highnieness."
"Yay! More cutaways!" Pinkie cheered.
"Uh, no. Not this time." Sonic stepped forward, "We were fighting against Eggman, who you also seem to know, and we were warped here by some Lost Shard or something. Now we gotta find Eggman and get home." he explained, "But y'know, we might as well get adjusted to being here. Egghead is useless without his robot army by his side, so he's not much of a threat, we might as well have some fun."
Twilight adjusted her glasses, "I'm not sure where the five of you will be staying though if you want stay here for the time being though. Having five bipedal animals walking around town will be pretty strange to explain. So it would be best if you stayed hidden for now."
"We can figure that out I think."
"Yeah, I mean, I sleep under Tails' porch." Knuckles added.
"You what?" Tails blurted out.
Princess Twilight folded her hands, "This was the last thing I expected when you wrote to me. If you want, I'll go back to Equestria to see if there's anything I could do to send them home in the meantime." she offered.
"Sure. I think things are gonna get pretty crowded already." Sunset agreed. "I think Sonic and Tails can stay in my place if they want to, unless they want to stay outside."
"I do not think we should decide living arrangements right now." Rarity responded, "It will be tough to explain that there are animals in our houses."
"Well, ah think I could fit Knuckles, Amy and Sticks near our barn fer now." Applejack suggested. "Should be easier to handle unless we just reveal everything to the city, or at least the school."
Sonic yawned, "Living arrangements. Great... Hopefully you're a better roommate than Eggman, Sunset. Cause I'm not dealing with that nonsense again."
"...Eggman lived with you?" Princess Twilight and Rainbow asked.
"Long story. But yeah, for a bit." Tails said. "Like we said, he's not much of a threat."
"That's, uh, odd..." Fluttershy pointed out.
"No kidding." Sonic said.
"So now what?" Rainbow asked, "Are we just gonna stand here until the sun rises?"
"No, I..." Sunset yawned, "I think we should head home now. This just made the weekend more interesting. And we need all the rest we can get because of it."
Princess Twilight looked to the counterparts of her friends, "Alright then, I'll let you know if I find anything."
"It's amazing how many hidden bushes there are in this world to watch my enemies." Eggman quietly said, looking over the fragment in the device that was attached to his wrist.
"So what's your plan now?" Cubot asked.
"Those dogooders are planning to live with these girls. It's quite strange, but I think I can make this work..." he looked back to his device and showed a devious grin, "...Perfect."
"What is it, boss?" Orbot asked.
"It's quite genius, if I say so myseld. I may be recycling old plans, but I think I can make this work again." Eggman replied, "Wherever Sonic's going, he's about to have some company."
Author's Note
Note: This story's in fact a sequel to my previous Sonic story, The Blue Blur, but beyond that mention it will be standalone.
