Chapters Sonic Forces: Equestria Divided
"ZZZ... ZZZ..." Sonic's snores echoed throughout the entire room as a magazine with a picture of himself rested over his face. Before long, ten loud and annoying rings from a nearby alarm clock started to wake him up.
Sonic lazily raised his right hand and pulled the magazine off of his face and slowly started to open his eyes. He closed his eyes again and gave a big, long yawn, stretching all of his limbs.
"Yaaaaawwn! Boy, is it that late already? Sheesh!" He clicked his tongue a few times before storing the magazine in his head quills and jumping up onto his feet. After finally opening his eyes Sonic noticed that he was no longer in the comfy confines of his home, but instead, a dully-colored storage room with an abundance of gadgets and scrap metal lying around the room. It seemed that he had just fallen asleep at Tails' house and that his sidekick had gone off to work on new inventions. The couch he had slept on seemed different for some reason.
However, there was something missing in his mind. Something that he should've remembered, but he soon thought little of this inconvenience.
It was then that he noticed that there was a door leading to another room. The sound of a welding flame emitted from said room. Getting one last stretch in, Sonic started to make his way towards the door and eventually pushed it open.
What he found in the other room was... interesting to say the least. The room itself was nothing out of the ordinary. A chalkboard sat close to a work desk with blueprints taped to the walls and more devices and inventions sat next to the work station.
The thing sitting there, however, was a light yellow equine with a brilliant amaranth mane. Their tail had a crane-like hook attached to it and a pair of goggles covered their eyes.
"Tails? Is that you?" Sonic asked, taking another step forward.
"Huh?!" The mare working at the work station took off her goggles and snapped her head over to a tall, blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog with striped red running shoes and white gloves. "AAHHHH!" Almost immediately after taking a look, the young girl fell out of her seat from both confusion and fear.
"So... not Tails." Sonic then walked up to her and extended his hand. She was hesitant to take the gesture, scooting a few inches back."Hey, chill out, kid. I don't bite!" he joked. The engineer finally took his hand and stood up, now staring even more intently at him. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. After what seemed like an eternity of staring, the mare finally spoke up.
"Who are you? " she asked curriosly, pointing a hoof at him.
"I go by many names, but you can call me Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!" he pointed to himself with his thumb and gave a toothy smile.
"Nice name. Pleasure bein' your acquaintance. Ah'm Apple Bloom! Master engineer and Appleloosa's head inventor!" Her voice had a southern accent to it.
Sonic then placed his hands on his hips and looked around. "So, I take it this is where you do all your inventions and whatnot?"
Apple Bloom gave an affirmative nod. "Yep! Built it from the ground up into what it is today!"
"Heh. You remind me a lot of my sidekick, Tails. I bet you and him would have a field day together!" Sonic chuckled. "But anyways, why am I here? In fact, where IS here?! Last time I checked, my sofa doesn't belong in a storage room."
Apple Bloom's expression suddenly turned grim. "You're in Equestria and while 'ah do have a theory to why ya'll are here, it isn't exactly the greatest time to be here either."
"Why so?" Sonic asked.
"Ya' see, Equestria's been at a hard, long war for fifteen straight years!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
Sonic put a hand to his chin. "So, who's it against?"
"That's just it. We're at war with each other." The mare replied.
"Wait a minute. Your at war with yourselves!?" Sonic exclaimed. Apple Bloom gave a quick nod. "Yeesh. That' sounds rough."
"You'd be right 'bout that. In fact, this ties into my theory. You see, last night, I had put the finishing touches on my interdimensional transportation device!"
"So, a teleporter?" Sonic asked.
"In essence, yes. But anyways, I thought that if I could get that thing to work, I could call for help from another universe and help end the war! Of course, it didn't work out so well. Eventually I tossed it into the storage room with all the other failed inventions."
"If it failed, then how am I here?" Sonic pointed a finger to himself.
"You must've been summoned from an interdimensional disturbance caused by the materials used in the transportation device. I did use some strange resources."
Sonic tilted his head. "Like what kind of resources?"
Apple Bloom scratched the back of her head. "Um... the main thing were these gemstones that I found at the crash site of a meteorite.
"That gemstone wouldn't happen to be multicolored and cut in the shape of a diamond, would it?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah. How'd ya' know?" Apple Bloom replied.
The blue blur smirked at the response. "Those things have been life savers in the past. Their called the Chaos Emeralds and-" He stopped, noticing the concerned look on Apple Bloom's face. "What's wrong?"
"Ya' see, chaos isn't something we look at as life saving. If anything, it made our lives worse." she stated, shivering at the horrible memories with a certain God of Chaos."
Sonic carefully thought on how to word this and soon enough, had come up with a solution."Don't worry. These things aren't actually chaos related. Well, they are, but I can activate the positive energy within them." Apple Bloom nodded, now gaining a better understanding of the jewels. "I've used these things to put a planet back together, correct the flow of time, defeat demigods, teleport, you know, that kind of stuff."
Apple Bloom took a second to process all of this information. "Wow. Just, wow! I wish I still had those things!"
Sonic's expression turned slightly worried. "What do you mean if you still had them ?"
"Ya see, after I inserted it into the main modulator, it just disappeared in a green flash!" she exclaimed.
"Chaos Control."
W-What?" Apple Bloom stammered.
"If used incorrectly, you can actually send the emeralds far away by mistake if your not careful, but not before preforming Chaos Control. That most likely created that distortion thing that sent me here." As Sonic finished explaining the situation to Apple Bloom, she slumped her shoulders.
"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll them it back, no sweat!"
"Really? How? The way you put it, finding those things sound impossible to find and hold onto!" Apple Bloom stated.
Sonic quickly scratched his head. "You got something around here to track my speed?"
"Why'd ya want to go an' do somethin' like that?" the engineer asked.
"You'll see." He replied slyly.
Soon enough, Sonic was set up inside a big hamster wheel with monitors and statistic screens wired up to it. Sonic finished up his leg stretches and gave a thumbs up to Apple Bloom. He then started jogging at a slightly above average speed.
"28 miles per hour? That's it?" She asked angrily. "You had me set this all up for that?"
She then noticed a small smirk form on Sonic's face. "Wait for it." In the fraction of a second, his speed instantaneously shot up to a ridiculous rate. His arms were now thrown back as he continued accelerating. "How's that?"
Apple Bloom's eyes shrunk as she took a glance at the speedometer. "457! No way!" she exclaimed.
Sonic then came to a screeching halt and jumped out of the wheel.
"I'd go faster, but I think you get the idea." he said casually.
Apple Bloom, on the other hand, was completely astounded by the raw speed of the hedgehog. "This. Is. AMAZING! With that kind of speed, we can get those emeralds back in a day, tops!"
"Well, it's not that simple." Sonic interrupted"
"What?"
"Well, you see, I don't have a good way of tracking them down without having one. And even then, it's still pretty hard." He explained. Apple Bloom's spirit was suddenly smashed into a million pieces.
"Oh. Ok." She said solemnly.
"It's like I said before. Don't worry about it. I we'll find them eventually. In the meanwhile, I wanna see what you were working on earlier."
Sonic then happily watched as her spirits were lifted back up. "Oh, right!" She darted over to the chair placed next to the workbench. "I was just finishing my work on a prototype flamethrower. Still haven't come up with a name for it. Anyways, I need you to be quiet for a minute while I install the main igniter, ignition, and its regulator."
Sonic nodded and watched as Apple Bloom held a metal wire in her hoof and started to bend metal around to a desirable angle. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she worked with each piece. It was like watching Tails tinker with inventions all over again.
After a few minutes, she was about to finish installing the ignition when Sonic heard the faint sound of footsteps growing louder by the second.
Without further warning, an armored mare taller than Apple Bloom barged through the door. Something that caught Sonic's eye was that she was missing her right eye. "APPLE BLOOM! " she shouted. This startled both Sonic and Apple Bloom, causing them both to flinch. Her hoof jerked suddenly from the outburst and the metal wire she held cut open the igniter.
A small explosion of smoke blew up right in Apple Bloom's face as the other mare sweat dropped. It was only because of her goggles that the engineer did not get anything stuck in her eyes.
"What the heck, sis!? Did you even read the sign!?" Apple Bloom growled, pushing her goggles up on her forehead.
The older mare flinched at the tone. "Shoot, Apple Bloom, ah'm so sorry..." she replied. As Apple Bloom walked away to clean the soot off of her face, the other mare took a look at the strange contraption. "What are you workin' on, anyway?"
"Ah was installing the ignition in that prototype flamethrower. Don't touch it." Apple Bloom said.
She gave a playful scoff and shook her head. "Psh, really? Don't ya' think this is a bit of a waste of talent? Why the hay would we use flamethrowers in battle?" she then looked over to Sonic and narrowed her gaze. "But as for you. Who are you and what are ya'll doin' 'round my baby sister?"
Sonic took a slight step back and scratched the back of his head. "Whoa whoa! Slow down. Apple Bloom and I are cool, um..."
"Applejack."
"Thanks. Anyways, I woke up in her storage room and I've been hanging out with her ever since." Sonic finished. Applejack's right eye then lit up with a strange red glow. She took a second to look intently at Sonic, eyes narrowed, before her expression eased up slightly.
"Alright. I believe ya." Applejack stated.
"What was that?" Sonic asked.
"The One True Sight. Allows me to see through lies, illusions, and deceit." she explained.
"Cool. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. Fastest thing alive, righter of wrongs, eater of chili dogs!"
Applejack scoffed. "Great, just what I needed. Another Rainbow Dash..." Before she could continue, Apple Bloom returned, her face now clean from the soot.
"As for you, young lady, I want to talk to you about-"
"Spare me the speech, Applejack." Apple Bloom cut her off before she could continue. "I know why you came all the way here. Sweetie Belle came to Appleloosa to hang out with me, just like old times."
"You know her visit costed us five dead solders and fourteen crippled, right?" Applejack asked, malice in her voice.
"Yes, because that moron ignored their flag and attacked them anyway." Apple Bloom grumbled.
"It was a Whitegold Airship! What did you expect?!"
"I expected you to choose guards who think with their HEADS and not with those stupid prejudices this house was built with! Your soldier didn't give her the chance to do other than looking for me, anyway! She fled before you could reach her."
At this point, Apple Bloom might as well been radiating anger. Taking a deep breath, she continued, now in a slightly mellowed state, but not by much.
"It was for the best, though. If your soldiers had managed to find her and do... what they usually do, Whitegold would be all over us. Maybe I would be their target!"
"Whatever the reason they pick up, should they be stupid enough to come against us we will always be ready to fight!"Applejack stated in a stern tone.
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! " Apple Bloom's shout of protest shook the very building they were in. Sonic jumped a little at the outburst.
"For the first time in this war, a small light of hope for peace occurred when you and Rainbow Dash of all ponies took a truce during the battle of Skyfall! That had to mean something! "
"What happened at Skyfall was only a matter of time." Applejack shot back. "She suffered a lot of losses and she would rather have had us as allies during that fight instead of those griffon rascals. Also, our pegasus auxiliary force is bigger. And knowing there are still those freaks who prefer anarchy over order still roaming around... I don't think we will be talking about long-term peace anytime soon."
Applejack closed her one remaining eye and took a deep sigh. "I will let this go, for the sake of your good ol' times. But next time, white flag or not, we will carry out the law!"
"What? Why?" Apple Bloom shrieked.
"No unicorn is to be trusted."
"But why? She is not a fanatic of Moon and Star! How can you be sure that she has ill intentions? How can you be sure she didn't come on her own initiative? Can you even give her the chance to be 'scanned' by that freak eye of yous like you did for Sonic?"
"..." Applejack wasn't sure how to respond to this. Sonic could see her expression lighten slightly, but only slightly.
"How can you be sure she is not as SICK of this STUPID WAR AS I AM?! " She burst through the door and started running away from the building.
"Apple Bloom, wait!" Applejack called out with Sonic following the two.
"You heard me! I'm sick of this war! I... I built things. HORRIBLE things. I made that my talent. I did it because I hoped it would eventually bring peace to this land... Even if it was a forced peace... but now..." She then turned around and pushed her mussel up against Applejack's. "I swear! You will have to find somepony else to do your weaponry, cause I QUIT!"
"Because of a unicorn?" Applejack scoffed once more.
"Because of a FRIEND . For both my old friend and my new one!"
Apple Bloom was about to turn around to walk away, but not before hearing one last thing.
"I wish you weren't my sister." That was the final nail in the coffin. It hit Apple Bloom harder than a buck to the face on apple bucking day.
"WHHHAAHHH! " Tears streamed down from her eyes as she turned around and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
Sonic watched as the pony left a trail of tears behind as the sound of sobbing echoed through the air. It saddened him so much to see such a young spirit crushed under the horrible realization that she was one of the few sane ponies in the world, but not as much as the anger he kept bubbling inside for the way Applejack had treated her.
"My, my. You must think you're real smart doing what you just did." Sonic growled. "Trust me when I say that you just made a huge mistake." Sonic then sped off towards Apple Bloom, leaving behind a sonic boom in his wake.
Now standing all by herself. Applejack did not feel anger. Instead, it was pity. Not for Sonic. Not for Apple Bloom. But for herself, for the decision she had just made could never be erased.
Sonic Forces: Equestria Divided
Sonic had been running for what seemed like hours to him. The trail of Apple Bloom's tears had vanished not long after he started looking for her. The Earthborn House's base wasn't much special. There were mainly ponies at industrial sites mining out valuable resources and building more weapons to wage war with.
Luckily, his speed was enough to sneak past them all without detection. The last thing he wanted right now was attention. It was then that he started to think about what he said to Applejack. Perhaps he had gone just a tad bit overboard scolding her.
It was short, sweet, and to the point, yes. But the tone he used sounded like he wanted to guilt trip her into feeling sorry for her actions. It wasn't that he was trying to make Applejack feel like the the scum of the earth... well partly entirely, anyways. He just wanted to give Applejack something to think about while he searched for Apple Bloom
Hopefully, he could find her in time before she did something she would regret.
It was now late at night later and Sonic was walking around the outskirts of town, stilling looking for Apple Bloom.
'Come on, kid!' he thought to himself. 'Where in the world did you run off to?' As he made his third lap around the base, he noticed the faintest trail of tears lining the ground once again. He saw the trail lead up to a tall hill with a single apple tree on top.
Taking another look, there was a distinct red bow hidden partially behind said tree. As he walked up the hill, the sound of sniffling grew louder and louder. When he finally got up to the top, he saw Apple Bloom looking out into the distance. She didn't seem to notice him and continued staring ahead of her.
Down below, there was a sparkling, blue pond with a few scattered trees and a small beach. Forward from there, the acres upon acres of untouched land spanned for what seemed like thousands of miles.
Apple Bloom then gave a few sniffs. "Why... Why c-can't this s-stupid w-war be over? *sniff* It's k-killed so many and r-ruined countless l-lives. Why d-did I have to c-create such a-awful things? *sniff* I j-just want t-things to go back to the w-way they w-were." She then proceeded to bury her head in her hooves and start to sob again.
Sonic, now seeing what he wanted to do, walked up to the crying mare and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up quickly before putting her face in her hooves once more. Sonic sat down next to her and put a hand around her. "Don't worry, kid. Just let it out."
And so, she continued to cry for another thirty minutes before it had turned into infrequent sniffling.
"You know, I think you're doing a really good thing." Sonic started.
"Huh?" Apple Bloom raised her head and looked over to the blue blur.
"You're doing your best to try and help make the world a better place, even if it's not working how you intended it."
Apple Bloom tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?" she sniffed.
"Not every world is guaranteed a happy ending. It's up to everyone to achieve the ending we want. At least, that's what I figure."
"If that's so, I'm being a horrible pony."
"That's not true. You said you build because you want to bring peace, right?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Well, you can't be a bad pony if you want to bring peace to the world. Doing what you're doing only shows that you care about the well being of everyone. You want this war to stop, but you're failing on your own. Lucky for you, I'm here. And because of that, I wanna help you put a stop to this insanity."
"R-Really? You want to help? " Apple Bloom asked.
Sonic took another step forward and wiped the tears off of her face. "Yeah."
"What about going back home?" She continued.
"That's the least of my worries. We're in this, together."
What came next caught Sonic off guard. Apple Bloom stood up and flung her front hooves around Sonic and embraced in a warm hug.
"Oh, thank you, Sonic!" She cried. "Thank you, Sonic... You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!" She held him tight and refused to let go. Tears flowed freely from her eyes while he patted her on the back.
This being, despite just meeting her today, was willing to help her enact her plan to help return Equestria to the way it was. No one, not even the ponies in the Earthbound house, were willing to help her to this extent. Perhaps fate had finally tipped in her favor.
After spending a good fifteen minutes on the hill, Sonic and Apple Bloom returned to her workshop with Applejack standing outside. As much as Apple Bloom wanted to go up and punch her sister across the face, something inside held her back. Maybe it was fear. Or possibly that she wanted to make up.
Sonic, on the other hand, maintained a slight smirk that one would have to pay close attention to see.
Regardless, Applejack started towards Apple Bloom. Her one real eye was light red and puffy from what the two could only assume was crying. Before she could react, Apple Bloom was suddenly pulled into a bear hug with Applejack holding tight.
"I-I'm so sorry, Apple Bloom. I love and trust you above all else. I never should have said the things I did. You are my sister. Through and through."
Letting go, Applejack continued on with Apple Bloom listening intently to what she had to say. "When I was younger, I used to believe in something greater than ourselves. But turns out that was a load of crap. ...Then I decided to believe in my friends. And wouldn't ya' believe it, that went to crap to."
Applejack did her best to hold back tears as she continued her speech. "It was then when I turned to those whom I neglected for following those lies. My family. Only ya'll and those pure sons of earth who helped us in our time of need... Is the force that keeps me going. I don't know in what else to believe in!" She then placed a hoof under Apple Bloom's chin. "Don't you get the picture? I need ya'll, sis! I need something to believe in! I need something to have faith in!"
Once more, she embraced in a hug with Apple Bloom, still catching her off guard. Tears now dripped from her eyes and onto the ground. "If you leave me, what the hell am I supposed to hold on to??" Both Sonic and Apple Bloom were moved by this speech. She was finally starting to show her true colors.
As Applejack sniffled, Apple Bloom grabbed her hoof and smiled. "Sis... Every step and choice I've made has been for the sake of peace . And so it will be until I die. And those choices and efforts will always be from here . I will never leave your side, sis."
Her tone then shifted slightly into a more confidant one. "But please understand... I too need something to believe in. And since that darn law came into effect... Neither the integrity of our family nor the sanity of this house are of those things." She then opened the door to her workshop and started to walk in.
"A... Apple Bloom!" Applejack exclaimed.
The young engineer then turned around with the smile now gone from her face. "We alone are NOT Equestria, Applejack. And this land does NOT belong to the Apples! The day we all come together will the the one that ends this war." Her head then turned to Sonic. "I'll move the couch out of the storage room. Come in when you're ready." With her messages sent, Apple Bloom closed the door behind her.
Sonic and Applejack were now both staring at the door Apple Bloom walked through.
"... Well damn." Applejack sighed.
"Relax, Applejack." Both of them turned around to find a guard of the area behind them. "She's just a naive, idealistic, and cranky youngster... or is she?" Sonic watched as Applejack's eyes snapped open in rage. This could only go so well. My princess there has quite a mouth, doesn't she? Ah would keep mah eye open, if you catch my drift, commander." In the blink of an eye, Applejack's hoof planted itself into the guard's face and sent him careening into the wall.
"SPEAK ILL OF MY BABY SISTER AGAIN AND I'LL SEND YOUR SORRY FLANK TO THE CHANGELING FRONT LINE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" Applejack's yell echoed around the the area, except Apple Bloom's workshop due to the walls being soundproof.
The guard got up to his hooves and nodded, fear not evident on his face, then walked away.
Panting heavily, Applejack turned around when Sonic placed his hand on her shoulder, just like he did for Apple Bloom.
She looked behind her and saw that his expression was not one of malice, but instead one of happiness. "Why aren't ya' still mad with me?" She asked.
"Because you were being honest with yourself. I don't need some fancy eye to tell me that." Sonic replied. "Family is something you can't ever replace. I may have been a bit rude before, but that doesn't mean I don't think about this kind of stuff. But hey, don't dwell too much on this. We all get into fights sometimes. What matters is that we make up and move on, learning from the works of the yesterday." Sonic then turned around and started walking towards the door.
Applejack stared in complete disbelief, her jaw dropped in shock. She took a moment to process what Sonic had just said before giving a light smile, something she rarely ever did during since the war started. "You're much more insightful than ya'll let on, aren't ya'?" Sonic stopped and turned towards Applejack, a familiar small smirk forming on his face. "Thank you kindly for those words."
"Hey, no problem." Sonic gave the mare a thumbs up before walking into the workshop and closing the door.
Inside, he was greeted by Apple Bloom who had now taken off her work attire, revealing her bright yellow coat. More noticeably, he saw a wrench and apple mark on both sides of her flank.
Stifling a laugh, Sonic pointed to the mark. "What's with the tattoo on your butt?"
"Oh, this?" Apple Bloom replied, turning her body to show off her mark. "It's mah' cutie mark. It's what ponies get when we discover our special talents."
"Really, now? Back on my world, there are these things called tattoos where they dye your skin with needles." Sonic took a minute to look at Apple Bloom's confused expression. "Yeah... Never understood why people do that either. Anyways," Sonic took a long and hefty yawn. "you mind showing me where we're gonna sleep?"
Apple Bloom nodded and waved her hoof for him to follow. She soon led Sonic to a simple room with both her bed and his couch. As Sonic jumped onto his small piece of furniture, Apple Bloom climbed into her bed. "Are ya'll sure ya don't want me to build ya something more suited fer' sleep?"
Sonic fluffed the pillow on his couch and smiled. "No thanks, kid. I'm fine with what I've got. Thanks for the offer, though."
Apple Bloom wrapped herself in her covers while Sonic laid down with his legs crossed over one another.
"Sonic?"
"Yeah?"
"I... I'm really glad I met you today."
"Same here, kid."
With one final good night, Apple Bloom hit the lights in the room as the two drifted off into a deep sleep.
Sonic Forces: Equestria Divided
Apple Bloom smiled as the sun shone over the horizon. She and her friends had spent the entire morning deciding on what they would do to try and earn their cutie marks and discover their special talents. The trio walked through the bright streets of Ponyville as they thought.
"I say we try skydiving!" the pony to her right exclaimed, buzzing her tiny wings in excitement.
"What about singing?" the unicorn to her left added.
Apple Bloom closed her eyes and dug deep into her mind, trying to think of an idea to give to her best friends. After a second or two, her eyes snapped open as she thought of something she knew both of her friends would love.
"Ah' know!" the farm pony started. "How about, Cutie Mark Crusader Milk Shake Racers!" Apple Bloom watched happily as both of her friends grew wide smiles on their faces.
"Yeah!" the two exclaimed.
"Race ya' to Sugar Cube Conner!" Apple Bloom's pegasus friend laughed as she sped off without further warning.
"No fair, come back!" The unicorn followed suit with Apple Bloom tailing behind her. The three continued laughing as the gingerbread house of sweets came into view. As she approached the door, she felt a chill go down her spine as the sky started to turn a darker shade. Turning around, the farm pony saw this as worry overtook her.
"Hey, girls! Am I seeing things, or is Princess Luna calling in an early moon raising?" Apple Bloom asked. She looked for her friends to give their input, but they had mysteriously vanished into nothingness.
"A-Alright. What's goin' on around here?!" Apple Bloom asked to nopony in particular. Taking a another look at herself, she noticed that she was back in her older and developed body. Apple Bloom started walking away from Sugar Cube Corner and noticed that all the other ponies that once populated the town had disappeared along with her friend.
"Apple Bloom..."
The young pony stopped dead in her tracks. Didn't dare to turn around and try and find the source.
"Apple Bloom..."
She now started to sprint as fast as she could. She didn't know where she wanted to go, and frankly, she no longer cared. More and more, the eerie calls of her name flooded her mind. Suddenly, after failing to notice a pothole in front of her, she tripped and landed on her stomach.
She tried to get up, but felt something hold her right hoof back. She looked over to her hind legs to find that her right one was encased in a stone prison.
"No. No, no, no!" Apple Bloom continued to struggle before noticing that the air had become cold. Then, the sound of monstrous tidal waves pounded against her ears. Behind her, an entire flood of water approached at a rapid pace, sucking up everything in its path. "Come on! Let me go!" After a few more tugs, she gave into the inebital as a large body of water engulfed both the her and the town. Now submerged in at the bottom of the newly-created ocean, Apple Bloom frantically worked towards freeing herself even harder than before.
Her cheeks were puffed up, filled with whatever air she could breath in before the splash. Her lungs burned from the lack of oxygen and her eyes became bloodshot. She knew that time was running out.
It was then that the voices started to come back.
"Apple Bloom... Apple Bloom..."
'Please! Go away! Leave me alone!' Apple Bloom wanted to scream, but she needed to hold onto whatever air she had left. After another ten seconds, her vision started to blur as she breathed in the last of her air. But before she could pass out, a frightening creature of shadow with blood red eyes came into view. Apple Bloom's eyes shot back open as it lunged straight towards her.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Apple Bloom flung her hooves rapidly as the covers flew off of her bed. She rolled around in her mattress before her entire body fell off the bed. Luckily, Sonic had woken up and had caught her inches from the ground.
"Whoa there, kid! Calm down!" he exclaimed in a joking, yet sincere manner. Apple Bloom opened her eyes and looked around her. She took a hefty sigh of relief as Sonic sat her on the ground.
"Thank ya' kindly, Sonic."
"Rough night?" Sonic asked, putting his hands on his hips.
Apple Bloom sadly nodded. She then went into full detail into explaining the horrific nightmare to Sonic. Apple Bloom's tone made it obvious that she was still shaken up from the experience. It wasn't until she got to the part about drowning that sweat began to fall down Sonic's forehead.
Apple Bloom noticed this and tilted her head slightly. "You alright?" She asked.
Sonic snapped out of his trance and lightly shook her head. "Sorry. I just sorta... kinda... maybe... can't swim..."
"Oh..." Apple Bloom was not prepared for this. For someone as confident and happy as Sonic was, she didn't think that he couldn't do something as simple as swimming.
"Yeah... Not my strongest point." Sonic sighed.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I can't dance!" Apple Bloom laughed.
Sonic smiled and ruffled Apple Bloom's hair a bit. "That's fine, kid. Not everyone can have awesome dance moves like myself. So anyways, you know what's for breakfast?"
"Let's head to the Garden of Appleloosa. They're servin' apple cinnamon waffles!" Sonic could see a little drool fall from Apple Bloom's mouth as she lazily thought of the delicious treat.
"Apple Bloom. Yo! Earth to Apple Bloom?" Sonic joked, waving his hand in front of her eyes. Apple Bloom snapped out of her trance and looked back to the hedgehog. "You mind leading the way?"
"Huh? Oh, right." Apple Bloom blinked and flashed nervous smile, a blush slightly noticeable on her cheeks.
Apple Bloom had grabbed their breakfasts and made her way back to Sonic and their table secluded far from the others. As much as Sonic would have liked to go up and get his food for himself, Apple Bloom insisted she did it to avoid alerting anypony of his presence. Besides her, Applejack, and the disrespectful guard, no one was aware of Sonic's presence.
Apple Bloom sat down her and Sonic's breakfasts before the blue hero quickly ate away at his food. She giggled slightly and nibbled away at her food as well.
"Wow! This stuff is pretty good! Doesn't beat chili dogs, but it's still up there in my list." Sonic praised.
Apple Bloom chuckled slightly. "I thought you'd like them. Apple cinnamon waffles are my favorite!" She took a big bite our of her second waffle with a smile.
"So... you wanna tell me why this whole thing started?"" He almost immediately regretted his choice of words as Apple Bloom flinched at the question. He quickly scratched his head in embarrassment. "Okay, touchy subject. My bad."
"No, it's fine." Apple Bloom said. She cleared her throat before starting with her explanation. "It all started when Princess Celestia and Luna disappeared from Equestria without a trace. They would raise and lower the sun and moon respectively. When they continued moving on their own, everyone lost it and all Tartarus began to break loose. The Elements of Harmony tried to keep everything under control, but even they would soon succumb to the panic and chaos. They formed their own respective houses to wage war in, hoping to bring their ideal world into reality to take the place of the former one with the Two Sisters. The rest is history and that led us to the horrible state we're in now."
Sonic took a few moments to digest everything he heard. He had to choose his next words carefully. "My world isn't always sunshine and rainbows either."
"Really?" Apple Bloom skeptically asked.
"Really." Sonic chuckled slightly. "For 25 years, I've been driving off a mad doctor from enslaving the entire world for what seems like every other month. He always says he wants to build an amusement park on top of the entire world. I personally think that's a waste of time, but that's besides the point. I've kicked his sorry butt more times than I can count, but even still, I still it's not always easy. Well, I mean, a lot of it is, but not all of it ."
"I'd take that world over this one any day." Apple Bloom sighed. "You're world sounds like paradise compared to current-day Equestria."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm here to put a stop to this insanity. And when I do, this'll all be over and you guys can all have some peace again for yourselves. Now no more moping around. I don't want you to lose all of your appetite."
Apple Bloom found some comfort in what he said and looked towards her last waffle.
However, before she could consume her last piece of breakfast, tens of hundreds of flaming projectiles started to fall from the sky. Sonic was the first to see this as his ears twitched slightly.
"Look out!" Sonic then dove across the table and knocked Apple Bloom to the ground as the object smashed into the ground beside them.
Getting up from the ground, Sonic took a look at the bits of flaming projectile skewered around the area. After further inspection, it turned out to be Sonic's couch exploded into hundreds of pieces. Sonic sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I wanted to stay in bed today, but I didn't want the bed to to stay with me."
At that very moment, a ringtone went off from Apple Bloom's wrist communicator. "Hello?"
"Apple Bloom!" Applejack called out from the phone line. "We've got Moon and Star Troops surgin' into Earthbound territory. I'm sorry to say this, but they've gone and destroyed your workshop.
"WHAT?!" Apple Bloom was in complete shock and disbelief. The workshop was where she lived. It was where she pored all of her heart and soul into her inventions. It couldn't be gone, could it? "You're lying! It can't be gone! It can't be gone! They must have destroyed something else!" Tears welled up in the young mare's eyes as she struggled to not throw her wrist communicator on the ground and smashing it.
"I'm not lyin'. You're no longer safe 'round here. I'm sorry." Applejack continued, urgency present in her voice. "You need to high-tail it out of here as fast as you can. The Moon and Star troops are tearing apart all our facilities looking for you. Stay safe, little sis."
With that, her wrist communicator died out as the young mare looked up at Sonic who was staring at the explosions going off in the distance. His fist clenched at the thought of this senseless violence. He took a moment before turning to Apple Bloom. "They just made this personal." he growled.
"S-Sonic?" Apple Bloom whimpered. She had never seen Sonic lose his cool like this before. It was a scary sight to behold as the hedgehog seethed with anger.
He then took a sigh and turned back to the girl. "But, I can't just run in there and leave someone defenseless. They're gonna pay. I'll make sure of it." He then flashed a playful smile to Apple Bloom before narrowing his eyes. "But right now, we don't have time to lose. Better kick things up a notch!"
"Sonic, what are thinking?" Apple Bloom asked with a nervous tone.
"Hang on tight!" In the fraction of a second, Sonic grabbed Apple Bloom's hoof and started to run away from the town. His speed instantaneously doubled as a blue cone-shaped aura enveloped around the two as they barreled through the area at high speeds.
"Oh applesauce!" Apple Bloom screamed from the thrill and fear she gained from this experience. As they continued to run through the wasteland, a figure from above looked down upon them.
"The little blue savior. Run while you still can. You're demise shall come due time."
Sonic Forces: Equestria Divided
"Man. There really aren't many good places around here to lay low for a while." Sonic sighed. Ever since they left Earthbound territory, Sonic and Apple Bloom had ran past miles upon miles of desolate land ravaged from the war. By now, they were far out of the desert and were instead in an area that somewhat resembled peaceful plains and winding hills filled with lush green trees. Well, as peaceful as you can get in a war zone.
Sonic had set her down not long after getting out of the city and into where they were now. He had slowed down to allow the pony to keep up at a brisk pace.
As Sonic continued forward, he stayed completely oblivious to the uneasy look Apple Bloom held on her face.
"You wanna take a break, Sonic?" Apple Bloom suddenly asked.
"Um... Sure." Sonic took a small hop before skidding his feet to a stop. He then took the time to look around the area. There wasn't much to work with besides a few trees and some scattered bushes.
"Hey, you see anything to eat 'round here, Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom?" Sonic looked around for the young pony and soon found her wandering off on her own. Sonic caught up with her within a few seconds and turned to her. "Where are you heading off to?"
Apple Bloom made no response and soon stopped when they had reached a large body of water. Sonic took a pause and watched as she stared down at a lone flower floating in the water.
"This a special place for you?" Sonic questioned.
Apple Bloom remained staring at the body of water. She took a deep breath before speaking. "This was my old home before the war broke out. This place used to be known as Ponyville before groups of pegasi flooded the area. It caused hundreds of deaths and only further divided the world."
Sonic stayed silent and then took a glance at the water as well and soon noticed a lone faded light grayish-brown blindfold with thin brown lines decorating the piece of fabric. A smile slowly crept over his face as he scooped it out of the water.
"What's in the past can't be changed. What we gotta do is look towards the future."
"I'm not sure how we're gonna do that. It's two of us against the world and that's not much of a good future." Apple Bloom sighed.
Sonic then started to wring out the piece of cloth and positioned it above his head. "Hope. That's what we'll use. As long as there's hope, that's all I'm gonna need to keep fighting. That's all we'll need to keep on going. You'll be surprised what a small group of friends can achieve."
Apple Bloom finally flashed a smile after hearing this. "You really know how to keep a pony's spirit up."
"No problem." Sonic replied, turning his head back to the piece of cloth. "What do you think this thing's doing out here?"
Apple Bloom took a look at the cloth herself and spoke. "It probably belonged to a pony that lived here before the flood."
"This thing's definitely seen better days. Of course, it's just a normal piece of cloth, not really much else to it. Would be kinda cool if there was, though." Sonic continued.
Without warning, the cloth started to dawn a golden glow. "Okay. Not normal!" Sonic said as the cloth floated out of his hands.
"Whoa!" Apple Bloom gasped. The cloth's golden glow radiated around the entire area as similarly colored sparkles filled in the air. Slowly, yet surely, the golden aura started to turn into a heavenly white glow. After a few seconds, the cloth vanished into thin air as a patch of small white sparkles took its place, soon disappearing as well.
The two stood there, completely stunned by what they had just witnessed. "Okay, that was kinda neat." Sonic chuckled lightly.
Apple Bloom, on the other hand, had many more questions to be answered. How did this ordinary piece of fabric just start glowing and disappear at the drop of a hat? This defied all scientific studies done on magical objects and artifacts. There was never any mention of an enchanted piece of fabric in any history book or archive. Regardless, she too calmed down and took a step forward. With this action, she heard the faint clanking of mechanical parts and whirling gears. She froze in place once more, not daring to make another move. At least, not yet. "Sonic, did you hear that?"
The hedgehog gave an affirming nod. "Sounds like trouble. We better go check it out!" Sonic then opted for Apple Bloom to grab onto his hand, but she took a pass on the gesture. If it was going to be anything like her first experience, then this wouldn't be the only time she would decline that offer.
It was mere minutes later when they had neared the source of the sound. Sonic started to pull farther ahead as he caught sight of what was in the distance. The structures in this area seemed ancient and full of mystery with six pillars of rock protruding from the ground and a stone circle in the middle.
More importantly, there was a light scarlet mare adorned in a white headdress and slightly transparent dress. Partially hidden under her clothes was a dark arctic blue mane with moderate turquoise stripes in it. Finally, a pair of wings were folded neatly against her sides outside of her dress and the cloth from before rested beside her. However, she was not moving and instead seemed to be unconscious for some reason.
Unfortunately, she was not the only one there. Surrounding her was a group of metallic grey metal robots with black joints taking the place of their arms and legs. A black visor was attached to its circle body with a glowing red light inside the rim. Their most prominent feature were that their hands were instead arm cannons which were currently pointed at the pony. As they closed in on her, a form of yellow energy started to emerge from their weapons.
Without anytime to waste, Sonic initiated his boost and launched forward at blinding speeds. As he closed in on the three, he took a big leap into the air and curled up into a spiky ball with a glowing blue aura. Sonic then rocketed down towards the robots and struck one of then. The machine exploded as he darted towards the other two, destroying both in a similar fashion. He then landed back on the ground, his aura dissipating almost instantly as Apple Bloom finally caught up.
She was completely stunned and amazed by the feat Sonic had preformed. Apple Bloom knew that Sonic could utilize his speed in various ways, but she never thought that it could be turned into a bouncing ball attack.
After a moment or two, the pony slowly started to open her eyes, revealing her grayish blue-violet irises. She gave a slight groan and looked up to find Sonic standing above her. She stood there in confusion and slight fear as a small whimper escaped her mouth.
"Easy there! Everything's cool." Sonic greeted, extending his hand for the pony to grab. She took a second before grabbing it as Sonic pulled her up onto her hooves.
She looked around at her surroundings before speaking."Who are you? What has happened?" the confused pegasus asked. She spoke with a middle eastern accent and in a surprisingly calm tone.
"I'm Sonic and this is Apple Bloom." The young farm pony gave a polite wave to her. "I don't really know what happened. All I did was pick up a piece of cloth and give a small speech about holding onto hope. Then it started glowing and vanished. After that, we heard a loud noise that brought us here and there you were." Sonic explained.
The mare's eyes widened slightly as she cracked a light smile. "Did you say hope?"
"Yeah." Sonic replied. "It's gotten me out of a lot of sticky situations in the past and still does today."
"That is very good to hear. I am Somnambula and I embody the Element of Hope." The mare continued smiling and picked up the cloth from the ground. "This blindfold is from my greatest feat where I rescued Prince Hisan from an evil spinx. This blindfold was put on me before I walked across a narrow bridge to the prince. I held onto hope that I could complete the challenge and I prevailed in the end."
"Not bad." Sonic said, growing a small smirk on his face. "While holding onto hope, I've put a planet back together, corrected the flow of time, saved the Arabian Nights and saved a bunch of aliens from an interstellar amusement park, just to name a few of my accomplishments."
Somnambula let out a small giggle. "It does me good to know that my element lives on in everyone. But a quick question. How long have I been gone?"
"It's 2017." Sonic replied.
Somnambula flinched at his answer before composing herself. "Then it has been a thousand years since I have been trapped in Limbo along with my fellow Pillars of Equestria."
"A thousand years? Man, that's gotta be rough." Sonic commented.
"Wait. Pillars of Equestria?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yes. I was not the only one trapped in Limbo. There is Rockhoof, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Mage Meadowbook, and Star Swirl the Bearded." Somnambula replied. Apple Bloom suddenly grew an over-the-top toothy grin.
"ROCKHOOF IS REAL?!" she exclaimed with excitement.
Somnambula nodded. "Yes. He is as real as you and me."
"I can't believe it! Rockhoof is my favorite legend. I never ever considered that he was real!" Apple Bloom continued to keep a wide grin as Somnambula continued.
"We sacrificed ourselves for the protection of Equestria. I assume that the realm has remained at peace during my absence?"
Both Sonic and Apple Bloom faltered at the question. "Well... The world might be in a state of war with each other for the past fifteen years." the bow-wearing mare replied nervously.
"I see. And what side are you on?" Somnambula asked once more, keeping her calm tone in the process.
"We're not affiliated with anyone. Apple Bloom and I are working to stop the war, but judging by what I saved you from earlier, I think we've got bigger problems." Sonic explained.
Somnambula took another look at the ground to find the scattered remains of the robots Sonic had smashed. "What is this?" She asked, picking up a piece of scrap.
"One of Eggman's goons. Or, at least, what's left of it after I smashed it." Sonic said.
"Eggman? Is that the mad doctor you told me about before?" Apple Bloom questioned.
Sonic nodded. "Yeah. If anything, this just made everything a lot more complicated."
"I believe we must attend to our current problem." Somnambula interrupted, drawing the other two's attention towards a figure who's identity was obscured by a shadow.
"Hey! We can see you, so you can come out now." Sonic called out. The three held the guard up as the creature started out of the darkness and into the light.
Sonic Forces: Equestria Divided
Hey guys! The support for this story is absolutely amazing and I can not thank you enough. As such, I wish to provide the best I can for you all. This story will still be up for now, but there will be another in which I have rewritten several parts. This is due to the discovery of several inconsistencies in the story and I feel certain things needed more explanation or changed entirely. I hope you can all understand and wait for a bit while I work on updating the story. Let me repeat. This story is NOT going to die. Thank you for your time. I should be able to get the first chapter out sometime today. No promises, though.
