A New Arrival (Edited)

Ponyville, for the most part, is a quiet town nestled in the heart of Equestria. Except on Tuesdays. Tuesdays are essentially chaos made into a day of the week in Ponyville, and it's usually the result of either the CMC trying to help someone get their Cutie Mark, Twilight freaking out over something again, Eggman attacking, or one God of Chaos doing what he does best, which usually ends with widespread property damage.

This became such a common occurrence that Princess Celestia mandated Ponyville to have its own team of professional construction workers permanently stationed in town 24/7. The town was given a big enough disaster budget that it could be rebuilt from the ground up three times over. It made sense, seeing as Ponyville was the place where the heroes of Equestria and Mobias resided. It essentially had a massive target painted in the middle of town, and every villain over the years has hit the bullseye every damn time.

So it's a little weird when the town is attacked by purple lightning clouds that create towers wherever hot pink lightning strikes, which in turn creates Storm Creatures from the late Storm King’s army.

On a Wednesday.

Leaves crunching and twigs snapping echo around the trees and foliage of the Everfree forest as something charges through it. A voice from under a cloaked figure mutters to himself.

“C’mon, c’mon! If I don’t get there before those clouds do, Ponyville won’t last long, even with them defending the town!”

The figure crashes through some bushes, making sure to dodge low-hanging tree branches, jump over roots, and watch for a specific patch of light-blue flowers. Seeing the trees ahead to be more tightly packed than before, he reaches an arm behind his back, grabs the handle of a blue bat, and swings it down on the branches blocking his way. The bat even changes shape, a green glow emanating from the hilt as a sharp blade emerges from the front of the weapon, letting it slice through the thicker branches like warm butter. Looking through the thicket, the figure sees the forest's edge and puts on an extra burst of speed. He finally bursts out of the woods, leaving a small trail of leaves behind him.

Coming to a stop, the cloaked figure pants slightly as he looks around, attempting to find his bearings. He finds himself on a hill above an inspection of a dirt path. Tracing it away from the forest, he spots the outskirts of Ponyville a few miles away. Looking closer, he’s shocked to see plumes of smoke rising from the town, magenta lasers slicing through the sky, and a purple mass of clouds hanging by the outskirts of the town.

“Aw, ponyfeathers, they’re already here?!” He exclaims, gripping his weapon tightly. “I hope I got here in time to help,” Taking a deep breath, he exhales heavily before sliding down the hill to the path and running full tilt towards the town, to what he can only imagine is chaos and destruction.

Screams echo around the buildings of Ponyville as ponies and Mobians, young and old, try to find someplace to hide from the Storm Creatures. But something was different about them, as it was like there was a near infinite amount of them coming from all directions, making them a formidable force that couldn’t be quickly dealt with. One such creature is chasing an orange Pegasus filly, her tiny wings buzzing at her side to propel herself forward. Her purple mane suddenly gets in her face, and she trips over her hooves. She tumbles to the ground and looks back in horror as the creature gains on her.

“Rainbow, help me!” She screams, curling into a ball and waiting for the inevitable.

“YO, FURBALL!” The Storm Creature stops in its tracks and, upon looking around, spots a blue ball of spikes making a beeline for it. The Storm Creature can only accept its fate, and the ball of spikes slams square in its face. The impact sends it flying into a cabbage cart, crushing much of its contents and sending the survivors flying. The Storm Creature twitches momentarily before it fades away in a cloud of purple mist. The ball uncurls, revealing a blue hedgehog standing on two feet, wearing white gloves with a gold ring on his right ring finger and a thundercloud with a lighting bolt etched into the band. On his left wrist is a silver bracelet, designs engraved into the precious metal, a green orb holding the two ends together. He wears red shoes with white fasteners and grey bottoms, gold buckles holding them tightly to his feet. His arms, belly, the insides of his ears, and muzzle are peach-colored, a smirk plastered across it.

“HA!” He laughs, folding his arms across his chest. “That’ll teach you not to mess with a hedgehog!” Turning around, he smirks at the filly, giving her a two-finger salute. “Hey, Scoots! You alright?”

“Yeah, thanks to you, Sonic,” Scootaloo breathes a sigh of relief. Getting to her hooves, she shakes her mane and coat free of dust.

“Alright then, let’s get you down to Twilight’s castle,” He grins, pulling her to her hooves. He dusts her shoulder off, then ruffles her mane. “Your aunts are probably worried about you.”

“HEY, SONIC!” Another voice draws this and Scootaloo’s attention to the sky, where a cyan blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail hovers down to them. Light reflecting off the golden band just above Rainbow Dash’s fetlock draws their attention to the simplified picture of Sonic’s face etched into the gold. Landing, she pecks Sonic’s cheek before ruffling Scootaloo’s mane. “Hey there, Scoots! What’re you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be with the rest of the CMC?”

“Hey, Rainbow!” She giggles, hugging her idol. Dash pulls her in for a winghug, which Scootaloo tries to reciprocate, but her tiny wings can’t do much. “I don’t know where Applebloom or Sweetie Belle went when the attack started. We got separated almost immediately by one of those weird towers popping up out of nowhere.”

“One of those dudes was chasing her,” Sonic adds, stretching his hamstrings. “I was about to take her to Twi’s castle where the rest of Ponyville should be. Something up, Dash?”

“Nah, I was just looking for you,” She says, shaking her head. “Twilight and the girls need your help. I don’t know where her husband ran off to, but I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

“If I had to guess, he’s probably running around and making sure nopony’s been left behind and getting them to safety,” As he says that, a blur of blue electricity boosts past them, whisking Scootaloo with it. Her surprised shout quickly turns into screams of delight as she and the blur blitz down the street. Sonic smirks, jabbing a thumb at the blue streak and screeching filly heading toward Castle Friendship. “And I was right. Always helping others before dealing with the problem.”

“It’s who he is,” Dash chuckles, taking flight. A cocky grin appears on her face, and she crosses her hooves across her chest. “Now come on, let’s see if you can’t beat my seventy-one combo!”

“Oh, it is on!” Sonic grins, accepting the challenge his wife gave him. Revving his feet, he boosts deeper into the town. “I’ll break that record faster than you can say, ‘chilidogs’!”

“We’ll see about that, Blue!”

In the courtyard near the Town Hall, five mares stand back to back in a circle, surrounded by Storm Creatures. One rushes at the group, claws extended from its paws and ready to rend into the ponies’ flesh. The lavender alicorn sees this, quickly knocking it back with a bolt of magenta magic, knocking it back into two of its companions. The impact destroys them, but four more take their place.

“My, these rapscallions are stubborn, aren’t they?” The unicorn says, firing a bolt of light-blue magic, vaporizing another one. “They never seem to send!”

“Ya got that right, Rarity,” The orange Earth pony agrees. She gallops toward a group of Storm Creatures and jumps. She slams her back hooves into the ground, creating an orange shockwave that destroys them. “They jes’ keep comin’ and comin’! And what is up with those haydarn towers that keep poppin’ up everywhere?!”

“I don’t know, Applejack,” Twilight replies, blasting a trio of Storm Creatures, destroying them. “It’s great that they’re easy to take out, but if this keeps up, we’ll get overrun.”

“Well, as long as those towers don’t do anything else, we should be fine!” Chirps the bubblegum pink Earth pony. “OOH, maybe I could use them as a disco ball for a party later!” Pulling a party cannon out of her tail (somehow), Pinkie Pie fires it with a deafening *BOOM*, covering one unfortunate soul with a mix of confetti, taffy, and cake batter. It stumbles backward, struggling to remove the incredibly sticky candy cake batter from its face, but its paws stick to it, making it impossible to do anything.

“Maybe we should worry about what’s happening now and not that, Pinkie,” Whimpers the cream butter pegasus, shaking like a leaf in the wind as she crouches behind Twilight. “We have our hooves tied at the moment, and - EEP!” A Storm Creature swipes at her, causing her to backpedal into Twilight, startling her into firing another bolt. This one misses its target, soaring above the Storm Creature’s head. It looks behind it in bewilderment, wondering why Twilight had missed. It watches the bolt bounce off the flagpole of the Town Hall and ricochet off a window, then zips across the courtyard to another window, which flies towards a bipedal figure standing on the roof.

His blue hair, at closer inspection, is actually tightly packed quills, just like Sonic’s, and styled upwards, with a few wayward spines in between the larger ones and one that curls above his forehead. He sports a dark navy blue scarf with a golden ring at the end and stripes of pink and purple going through the middle. His shirt is black, except for the blue edges and the symbol in the middle, which is a simplified, all-blue picture of his head, besides his face. His fingerless gloves are light gray, making it easier to see the gold ring on his right ring finger and the six-sided star placed on another etched into it. His pants are deep blue, with a stripe of lighter blue on the sides to contrast the darker color. He wears similar shoes to Sonic’s, but with two strips of white cloth fasteners instead of one, angled at the middle of the shoe, a golden buckle holding them in place.

His eyes turn the same color as the neon blue electricity that erupts from his body, and in a blur, he grabs the bolt. Letting its momentum move for him, he spins around and lets go. The magenta mana bolt zips back at the same creature it was intended for, blasting through his head and a few others behind it. They stand still for a moment before fading away into mist.

“Careful there, Twilight!” He shouts to the purple alicorn, rolling his shoulder. “Ya nearly blew my head off with that thing!”

He jumps off the roof and curls into a ball, seemingly defying gravity as he spins in place. Charging it to the desired speed, he shoots forward and rams into a Storm Creature with a loud *SMACK*. It's sent flying back, knocking down its companions that were behind it like bowling pins before they disappear into mist.

“Tionic!” Twilight exclaims, galloping over to hug the Spark once he lands. She pecks his cheek and nuzzles it. “Sorry about that. Fluttershy bumped into me right as I released the spell."

“It’s alright,” He chuckles, bopping her forehead with a finger before returning the kiss. “Just be careful next time.”

“I will,” She rolls her eyes, giggling as she does so. “As much as I would love to kiss you, we’ve got bigger matters to deal with now.”

Looking around, Tionic can see that there indeed is a bigger matter right now - the continually growing horde of Storm Creatures. They’re surrounded, and with no way out but up, they don’t have the option of retreating.

“Fastball Special?” Tionic grins, glancing back at Twilight.

She grins back. “Fastball Special.”

Tionic curls into a ball again and spins in place, rolling faster and faster the longer he revs it. His powers spark to life, signaling Twilight to encase the Spark in her magical grip. With a flick of her horn, she lifts him into the air, and another flick sends him rocketing around Twilight and the girls at supersonic speeds. She guides Tionic’s spinning form around herself and her friends, clearing an area around them and giving them some breathing room. Once they have sufficient space, she switches tactics and sends him flying into the crowd, blasting through them like paper. He reaches a building on the other side of the courtyard and, with help from Twilight, pulls a one-eighty to fly back through his enemies. He repeats what he did on the other side, and before long, Tionic blitzes the entire horde, leaving behind a fog of purple mist. Once the last one was destroyed, Twilight releases Tionic, and he slid to a stop in front of the girls.

They’re about to celebrate their victory when pink lightning strikes everywhere, and to their shock and confusion, nearly double the amount of Storm Creatures from before flood the courtyard.

“Are you kidding me?!” Tionic groans, slapping his hands to his face and dragging them down. “Where the buck did they just come from?!”

“That doesn’t matter right now!” Twilight growls, flaring her wings and magic. “We have to stop them!”

“Mind if we help, then?” Rainbow and blue blurs slam into the horde, bouncing a few times before stopping in front of the Mane Six, showing Sonic and Dash with cocky smirks on their faces.

“Took you two long enough to get here!” Tionic says, gut-punching a Storm Creature and sweeping the legs out from under another one. “Were you two going at it back there or something?”

“No, traffic was a little tight on the way here,” Sonic calls back, jumping over a swipe. A devious grin then appears on his face. “But I bet you wish you were going at it with Twilight, eh?”

“SHUT,” Tionic commands, backhanding another that tries to sneak up on him with great force, glaring at Sonic as he does so. “Now is not the time for that kind of joke.”

“Alright, alright!” Sonic raises his hands in mock fear, chuckling. “I’m just messing with you!”

“I know, but you can mess with me later, bud.”

Shaking his head, Sonic holds his right hand out, and Tionic accepts it. But instead of shaking their hands, the two spin around each other and create a Double Spindash. The two charge ahead, carving large swathes out of the horde, giving their friends and loved ones room to breathe before jumping. Reaching the pinnacle of their jump, they uncurl and drop to the ground with individual Dropkicks. The attack is devastating, cracking the ground and sending dozens of Storm Creatures flying. The electricity from Tionic’s powers ripples through a dome of electricity that his powers created after the attack, destroying all Storm Creatures within it.

But even with the insane skills and kill count of the speedsters and the girls (bar Fluttershy, of course), thirty minutes later, they’re still outnumbered 8-1 and no closer to finishing the horde off than when they started.

“How do they keep coming?!” Dash groans, dodging and weaving between opponents, punching and kicking too fast for the naked eye. “I’ve taken well over three hundred out, but it’s like we haven’t made a dent in their numbers!”

“I don’t know!” Twilight pants, rapid-firing attack spells like there was no tomorrow. At this rate, that may come true. “It’s like they’re endless!”

“If this is how I go out, I will not be satisfied!” Rarity exclaims, alternating between firing mana bolts and throwing haymakers that would make Knuckles proud. “I knew I should have taken more time to make myself look good this morning!”

“Well, ah’m glad that we can go out together,” Applejack says solemnly, bucking another Storm Creature to dust, only for another to fill its spot immediately. “Ah wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Change of plans,” The unknown voice makes everyone freeze, even the Storm Creatures. Upon looking around, they spot a cloaked silhouette on a nearby rooftop, leaning on a blue bat. “You girls and speedsters aren’t going anywhere. These guys, however...”

He jumps off the roof without warning, shocking The Mane Eight. The hilt flashes green as it morphs into a giant hammer, and he raises it above his head.

“…have reservations for a one-way trip to Tartarus!”

*THOOM*

The shockwave generated by the hammer is ten times as large as the ones Applejack was throwing around earlier, and it blasts the entire horde off its feet, sending most multiple blocks down the road and a few flying into buildings and roofs. The wind from the attack also kicks up a massive plume of dust into the air, obscuring the mane Eight’s vision. Through the dirty haze, they see the silhouette of their unknown savior stand up, his giant hammer morphing back into a bat with a green flash.

“And I suggest you stay down there!” He shouts, pulling off the cloak that hid his figure and throwing it off to the side. “You don’t want to find out what happens when I come down there DOOM style!”

As the dust settles, the Mane Eight get a better look at their savior and gasp. Standing before them is a creature that looks very similar to Tionic - well, minus the quills for hair. His dark blond hair is styled up and over to the right, the back and sides of his head long and curly. He wears a grey hoodless jacket, the front end open to reveal a pure blue shirt beneath. He also sports navy blue jeans with tight pockets, black shoes with three white stripes on the sides, and white bottoms. The creature inspects his handiwork, giving off a low whistle. “Dang, I didn’t expect to do THAT much damage! Am I really that strong?”

“W-who are you?” Twilight stammers, shocked that a human of all creatures had saved them. “Are you a… a human?! But that’s impossible! Any human that comes to Equestria turns into a pony!”

“Yeah, I’m human,” He nods, facing the lavender alicorn. “Although I definitely can’t explain why-" He stops mid-sentence when he sees a certain Blue Blur.

“Wait- i-is that… S-Sonic?” He stammers, pointing a shaky finger at Sonic. His dropped jaw morphs into a massive grin, and his eyes sparkle. He looks like he’s about to explode with excitement. “Sonic THE Hedgehog? As in the fastest thing alive?!”

“The one and only,” Sonic states, flashing his trademark grin. “Though I never imagined I’d be talking to another human from the Mirror World here, of all places. How’d you get here?”

“The Mirror World?” He repeats, raising an eyebrow. He shakes his head. “No, I’m not from there. I’m actually from a similar place called Earth.”

“Wait, you mean you’re from another world separate from that?!” Twilight exclaims, her brain going into overdrive. “What?! Then that means Starswirl’s theory on the multiverse was -!“

“As much as I would love to sit down and talk about how the multiverse works, Twilight, we have more pressing matters at hand,” The human gestures to the new wave of Storm Creatures heading towards them. “Sweet Chaos, these guys are insistent on destroying you, huh?”

“Yes, but how do you know my -“

“Kid’s right, Twi,” Tionic says, laying a hand on her shoulder. “We’re gonna need to work on taking care of these guys before we do anything else.”

Twilight’s face scrunches up in disappointment and annoyance, but she knows her husband is right. They don't have time to ask questions while Ponyville is under attack. She groans, then glares at the human. “Fine, but I want some answers later!”

“You got it, Princess!” He gives her a two-finger salute, then gestures for the Mane Eight to follow him. Leading the charge through the horde, they leave a mist trail behind them as they cleave through them.

“You see those purple towers that have sprung up everywhere?” The human points to a nearby tower. “Those are what we need to concentrate on. They’re why they seem endless - they keep making more of these guys. Take the towers down, stop the continuous waves.”

He makes a beeline for a nearby tower that looks more worn than the others, squares and cubes of itself jutting out. With a glint in his eye and a grin on his face, the human charges towards it and jumps, raising his bat above his head. At the apex of his jump, the hilt flashes green and turns the bat into a hammer again, and he brings it down on the top of the tower with all his might.

*CRACK*

The tower cracks along the cubes and squares, pulsing as plasma dances violently across its surface. The human jumps off the tower and lands by the Mane Eight to watch it explode in a shower of lavender light and dull, purple crystals. The shards lose their luminance as they fly, and they fade away like dust before hitting the ground.

Once the tower was destroyed, a large chunk of Storm Creatures immediately vanished. The Mane Eight stare in shock, surprise, and dumbfoundment at how easy it was to keep the horde in check. Shaking it off, they realize they could finally thin out the crowd without worrying about new ones coming in to replace them, and everyone charged into the horde with renewed vigor. Going around Ponyville, they take the towers out one by one, all while efficiently dealing with the remaining Storm Creatures. About twenty minutes of tower destroying and Storm Creature eradicating later, only one was left, and without its horde, it turns tail and ran for the hills.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” The human mutters. Slamming his bat into the ground, he cracks it to pull out a baseball-sized rock. Looking down the road, he aims and heaves the piece of earth into the sky. “YEET!”

The arc of the throw is massive, and though it seems like the fleeing Storm Creature escaped, a few seconds later, the rock plummets back to the ground and smacks into its head, knocking it down and destroying it. The human snorts. “Fragile little bastards.”

Turning to the group, he notices that they’re in shambles. Hair, fur, and quills stick out in various places, bruises dot their bodies, and they’re all out of breath. “Is everybody alright?” He asks worriedly, eyeing some of the worse injuries. “You guys look like you took a beating out there.”

“Pfft, we’re fine,” Dash scoffs, waving it off. “Nothing a little R&R can’t fix.” The human looks at the cyan Pegasus with a raised eyebrow, taking note of the many scratches covering her body and the slight but noticeable twitch her left wing made every so often.

“Out of everyone, you seem to be the most damaged. What were you doing out there, anyway? It almost looked like you were fighting like a crazed banshee.”

“That’s Dash for ya,” Sonic chuckles, shaking his head. “Always going headfirst into things without thinking first.”

“You do the same thing, Sonic,” She fires back, glaring at him.

“…touché, Dash.”

“By the way, how did you know my name earlier?” Twilight wonders, curious to know the answer to her earlier question. “We’ve never met before, and didn’t you say you were from another world?”

“I guess introductions are in place,” The human agrees. “But why I know your names is… confidential for now. Until I know I can trust that you guys won’t freak out when I tell you, I can’t tell.” Everyone is surprised by the statement, especially Twilight, but moves on quickly.

“Now, as for my name,” He says, gesturing to himself.

“My name is Real.”

Author's Note

Tionic the Hedgehog is my creation, so don’t try to mooch of him without my permission.

All other characters belong to their respective owners.