Author's Note

I know Dr. Eggman is the main villain in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, but in Sonic Boom, his personality is... almost anti-heroic. Plus, Lightning Dust is the main antagonist for this story arc, and I don't want Eggman to get in the way of that.

Chapter 3: The Next Ring

As the duo were running...

"So, where are we going?", Sonic asked.

"Well, the Green Ring was in the Dinosaur Jungle, right? The Everfree Forest is the closest thing we have to a jungle", Rainbow Dash answered. "And if those timberwolves aren't dinosaur-like, then I don't know what is!"

"Excuse me, what?", Sonic asked. "Did you say 'timberwolves'? What do they look like?"

"Like that", Rainbow Dash answered. A timberwolf was in their path. It roared.

"Alright! The bigger they are, the harder they fall!", Sonic said. He attacked the creature and it fell apart. "Piece of cake!" However, it reassembled itself! "Uh-oh." Suddenly, a beam enveloped the duo. It pulled them up just before the timberwolf leaped at them. "Eggman?"

"Step on it! That thing is ANGRY!", Rainbow Dash said. Eggman complied and flew off with the duo. The timberwolf howled, calling more timberwolves. They combined, forming a Timberwolf King.

"What are you bolt-brains doing?! ATTACK!", Eggman shouted. Orbot and Cubot fired weapons at the monster. With an annoyed sigh, Rainbow Dash threw a rock into the Timberwolf King's mouth, causing it to suffocate and explode. "You're lucky that your pink friend sensed you were in danger." Suddenly, a bloodied and beaten Lightning Dust appeared.

"Surprise!", Lightning viciously shouted. She bashed into the aircraft, causing the five passengers to fly out. She grabbed a fallen tree branch and mercilessly beat Rainbow Dash. She then turned to Sonic, but someone appeared in front of the hedgehog.

"No one kills him but me", Shadow said. He looked at the blue hedgehog and smirked.

"Argh! Another speedster?! I have ENOUGH OF THIS!", Lightning yelled. Sonic ran to Rainbow Dash's side. He wrapped his arms around the defeated and unconscious Wonderbolt and held her close.

"You're a monster!", Sonic shouted through tears.

"I know", Lightning responded. Shadow attacked her, but she felt no pain. She glared at the black hedgehog. Her injuries disappeared. Shadow glanced sympathetically at Sonic. The blue hedgehog gave Shadow the Chaos Emeralds, causing Shadow to turn into SuperShadow. Using a ring, Sonic teleported Eggman and his cohorts back to Mobius. Sonic didn't let go of Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, her wings wrapped around Sonic, and he hugged her tightly.

"I'm here. You're gonna be alright", Sonic whispered.

"I... love... you... S... Sonic...", Rainbow Dash weakly said.

"I love you too", Sonic replied. The defeated pony weakly put an engagement ring on Sonic's right ring finger. Meanwhile, Shadow and Lightning were still brawling. He saw the ring on Sonic's finger.

"I'm not letting you rip them apart!!!", Shadow shouted. He delivered a hard punch to Lightning's jaw. "Yo, Sonic!" Sonic gently let go of Rainbow Dash and joined his dark counterpart. He glared at Lightning. "Let's do this!" Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds and turned into SuperSonic. The two hedgehogs used their super-speed and rammed into Lightning, sending her flying.

"You rats!", Lightning yelled.

"We're hedgehogs!", the duo shouted.

"Whatever! I will always come back!", Lightning responded.

"Then I'll always track you down! Unlike Sonic, I can teleport without rings!", Shadow replied. "He's fast, I'm furious!" Twilight appeared behind the two hedgehogs and saw the defeated pony... then saw Lightning Dust. In anger, she blasted the villain, shocking the duo. "Well, that was anticlimactic." The duo reverted back to normal. Twilight saw the engagement ring on Sonic's finger and smiled.

At the hospital...

Sonic and Shadow were waiting outside Rainbow Dash's room. "So, she said that the Green Ring was in the Everfree Forest?", Twilight asked.

"Yeah, but we almost got killed by a Timberwolf King and Lightning Dust", Sonic answered. Using a ring, he returned to the Everfree Forest, determined to find the Green Ring. Eventually, he found it... except it was on top of a tree. "No problem!" He climbed the tree. "This is too easy!" He grabbed the Green Ring and put it on his left wrist, feeling a surge of its power. Lightning, who was still alive, flew towards Sonic, but he knocked her out of the sky using his newfound strength. He ran back to the hospital after sensing that his fiancée was awake.

"You found it!", Shadow said. He and Sonic fist-bumped. He walked into the room and saw Rainbow Dash. She saw the Green Ring on his wrist.

"What emotion does that Ring carry?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"Hatred", Sonic answered.

"Twilight said that Pinkie went crazy over the fact that you and I are getting married. She's already planning it", Rainbow Dash said.

"I guess some things never change", Sonic said with a chuckle.

"Which Ring is next?", Rainbow Dash asked.

"The Blue Ring, but we'll worry about that later", Sonic answered as he kissed Rainbow Dash. He got in bed with her.

"How many of these things are there?", Twilight asked.

"Seven. There's also a yellow one, a blue one, a red one, a purple one, a white one, and an aqua one", Shadow answered. "If those rings fall into the wrong hands or hooves, then the entire universe could be in danger." He teleported back to Mobius and Twilight left the hospital. The next day, Rainbow Dash and Sonic went to the Cloudominium.

"I was planning on proposing to you during a date, but our love is extremely powerful. It made the scorpion fall asleep!", Rainbow Dash said. "Plus, I felt like I was dying."

"Don't say that. You're still alive, aren't you? Plus, we have two of the Rings in our possession right now", Sonic replied.

"Heh. Yeah, I guess that's true. We make a pretty good team", Rainbow Dash said. "Who will defend Mobius now?"

"My friends. Tails will be the new leader", Sonic answered. "The fate of Equestria is in our hands and hooves." Unbeknownst to them, Lightning was spying on the couple. She flew off before she could be found out. "Why does Lightning hate you so much?"

"I ruined her chances of becoming a Wonderbolt, but it was the right thing to do", Rainbow Dash answered.

"Oh", Sonic replied.