A golden ring flashed open atop a building. Through it, a tranquil forest could be seen. And from the ring, four figures jumped through and landed on the building’s roof. At the front of the pack, Sonic rose up. “Fellas… welcome to Canterlot City!”

“Wow!” gawked a kid with blonde white-tipped hair and a yellow-orange jacket. A yellow backpack was slung on his back, he wore orange-tinted goggles that rested in his hair, white fingerless gloves, white-red shoes, and a name tag reading “Prower” rested on the left side of his jacket. “This looks amazing!” His blue eyes shone in wonder.

“Not too shabby, blue,” commented a taller and broader violet-eyed boy in red. His crimson-dyed hair was tied into dreadlocks and he wore leather pants, a jacket, and spiked gloves wrapped in sports tape. “Looks like you had quite the adventure staying here.”

“So this is where you fought the Man of Shadows and saved South Island,” said a girl with pink-dyed hair. A hammer was slung over her back and she wore a maroon-pink outfit with gold rings on her wrists. “And it’s a good thing you did, too. Never again will he do to another place what he did to ours.”

“And there’s an upside to all this,” Sonic explained. “In between searching for the Gems of Miracles - er, Chaos Emeralds, whatever - and beating the blackness out of Stygian… I made some new friends here.”

“Whoa, really?” asked the boy in red. “You gonna introduce us?”

“That sounds like a great idea!” answered the kid in yellow. “After all, any friend of yours is a friend of mine!”

“Glad we’re all on the same page! Try to keep up, guys!” Sonic jumped down to the street below and took off in a blue streak. The girl pulled out her hammer and twirled it, her green eyes going to a streetlight. She jumped to it and latched her hammer onto it, swinging off with the grace of a ballerina.

The boy in red took a running start and jumped to the building just next to the one he was standing on. The spikes on his gloves stuck into the wall, giving him the grip he needed. With a grunt, he started to climb. The boy in yellow was all that was left, smiling as he watched his friends.

He lifted a hand to his backpack and pressed a hidden button on the right strap. Something within the pack whirred… and the contraption opened up. Twin orange helicopter-like rotors unfolded and stood at attention. Two rocket turbines painted yellow with white rims positioned themselves and fired up, engines hot with thrust power. The boy adjusted his goggles over his eyes, grabbed two joysticks that popped up at his sides… and jumped off the roof.

The rotors spun wildly until he reached a safe altitude. The rockets kicked in and sent the boy off across the sky at high speed. Soon enough, he was flying right overhead the blue streak. The boy in red and the girl jumped, balanced, climbed, and acrobatically swung after them into one of the city’s neighborhoods.

Like it always did when it had a magical crisis, the city moved on as if nothing strange had happened at all. This didn’t surprise Rainbow in the slightest. Well, it wouldn’t have even if she wasn’t feeling the way she was.

She wouldn’t admit it to anyone (at least, for now), but she missed Sonic. The person she had so much in common with. Not just the super speed, but the longing for adventure. The inability to sit still. The self-admiration. That boy was like a brother from another mother. And maybe even more…

Everyone else never forgot him, because why wouldn’t they? After all, they had helped him get over his fear of loneliness and reminded him that, even though he had left his old friends, he had gained some new ones that he could always count on.

At least he made his home safe enough to return. Maybe even if Rainbow wanted to, she’d visit it herself. He was probably reconciling with his old buddies, racing around the island just like he did as a kid-

A small sound and a quick flash disrupted her thoughts. She sat up in her seat with a curious expression. Was that just a trick of the wind, or was it…

Ding-dong.

With the sound of the doorbell ringing through the house, she stood and moved towards the front door. From the other side, Rainbow could hear faint, murmuring voices unfamiliar to her… save for one. Grasping the knob and turning it, she pulled the door open.

“Hey, Dashie! Long time no see!”

Her magenta eyes widened at the sight of the boy in blue before her. “Sonic?! I- wow, what… what are you doing here? I thought-”

“Uh-huh. Island saved, bad guys beaten, all is good in the world. But I thought it would be cool to stop by and introduce you to some pals of mine.” He pointed behind him with a thumb, allowing Rainbow to look at three other people on the porch. All of them were looking at Rainbow with calming smiles. One of them, a tall boy in red, whistled in an impressed tone.

“She does look like quite the runner, blue.”

A kid in yellow and orange clothing stepped forth, holding out a hand. “Nice to finally meet you,” he said. “Sonic’s told us all about you and your friends, so he decided to give us a little tour of this city before we meet everyone else.”

“Is it true that one of the restaurants has a never-ending pasta bowl?” asked a pink-haired girl with a hammer. At her words, Rainbow just chuckled and turned to the kid, shaking his hand and eying the nametag on his jacket. “Well, it’s nice to meet you too… uh, Prower.”

“Miles Prower,” the kid replied. “But please, call me Tails.”

Rainbow rose a brow. “Tails? Why that?”

The kid didn’t answer her verbally. Instead, he turned around to give Rainbow a view of the yellow backpack he was carrying. He pressed something on one of the straps, and before Rainbow’s eyes the accessory unfolded and transformed into a flying contraption of helicopter-like rotors and two thrust engines.

“Whoa!” Rainbow chuckled. “Okay, that is awesome! Do you use that thing to fly or something?”

“To keep pace with me when we were kids, yeah,” Sonic answered, ruffling Miles’ hair and earning a giggle from the younger kid. “The two engines look like two foxtails, and the nickname I gave him just stuck.”

“And he built that by himself?”

Tails turned back around and nodded, disengaging the contraption. “Along with lots of others! Not bad for a twelve-year-old, huh?”

“Yeah, not bad!” Rainbow flashed a thumbs-up in approval.

The boy in red stepped forward with crossed arms. “Name’s Kyle, but I like to go by Knuckles! And if anyone wants to mess with my buddies, they’re gonna have to go through me first!”

Sonic gave him a cheeky smirk and leaned close to whisper in his ear. “Unless they pull another dupe move on you.”

The boy spun on Sonic with an annoyed expression. “Hey! I thought you agreed to not bring that up!” Sonic just laughed. “Force of habit, rad red. Get used to it.”

Rainbow smiled before turning to the girl. “And you are-?”

“Amy Rose,” she replied charmingly. “The best hammer swinger on South Island. A pleasure.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Rainbow replied. “So, I take it all of you know what blue had been up to here, yeah?”

“Yeah, what was the deal with that science guy?” Knuckles asked. “What was his name? Robot Nick or something?”

“Robotnik, apparently,” Tails answered, gluing his eyes to a small handheld device. “And no matter how many times I search for evidence of him, I get nothing. It’s like he digitally wiped himself from existence or something. Totally strange.”

“That’s your typical shady mad genius for you,” Rainbow chuckled… before her eyes lit up. “Oh! I just remembered! The girls helped me put something together in case you decided to come back!”

Sonic looked interested at her words. “Oh, yeah? What would that be?”

Rainbow gestured for them to enter. “I’ll show ya.”

She led the group upstairs until they reached the door to the attic. She pulled it down and prepped the ladder, standing back once she was finished. “After you.”

Sonic climbed up the ladder and peeked inside the attic. Rainbow watched the curious faces of his friends while she just gave a knowing look at them. From above, a gasp of surprise left Sonic’s throat.

“Oh… my… are you kidding me?”

Tails was the first to speak up at his friend’s quieted tone. “Uh, Sonic? Is everything okay up there?”

Sonic disappeared into the attic. “I can’t believe it… R-Rainbow, how did you…?”

Anxious as to what the boy in blue was seeing, everyone else climbed up the ladder one at a time. Rainbow was the last to ascend, taking in the sound of the group’s delighted gasps and whispers.

“Oh, wow…” Knuckles gasped.

“This is incredible,” Tails whispered.

“How did you get all of this?” Amy asked. Rainbow stayed quiet as she stepped into the room and placed her hands on her hips. The attic of her house was no longer a dusty, dark space filled with boxes and collectibles. Now, it was a thriving bedroom.

A round skylight hung from the ceiling wall. Racing posters and a desk of pictures and trophies stood at the far end of the room. Road signs littered the walls, with speed signs spray-painted to add a little more velocity behind them. Among them, a license plate read “G0T2G0F45T”. It was positioned over a race-car style bed near a window, parallel to a small TV hooked up to a video game system. A pile of comic books and a pair of headphones rested in a corner, lying near a beanbag chair, a pair of nunchucks, and a tire swing. A stereo rested near the bed, complete with a box of music tapes. Lastly, a living area for a small pet- complete with a food and water dish and a running wheel- stood near the back closet.

“I… it’s all here,” Sonic breathed. Even his old hammock was restrung in case a guest came over. To add a little flair to the scene, strung-up lights shined with blue, red, and yellow colors. Looking proud at her work, Rainbow walked up to Sonic.

“Twilight found your old cave two weeks ago. It took us several days to relocate all we found in there… to here. So, what do you think?”

He gave no answer, although she saw tears welling up in his eyes. His mouth widened in the biggest smile she had seen on him… and then he laughed joyously.

“Look at this!” he shouted, shooting through the skylight and landing on the beanbag chair. He zipped all around the room in sheer excitement. “Are you kidding?! And the beanbag?! No way!” He played with both his paddle and his pair of nunchucks before trying on his ridiculously-huge hat. “How did you even get this?! Oh, this is so cool! Ha ha ha! I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it!”

He belly-flopped onto his new bed with a celebratory whoop and spread himself out. Everyone else gathered around him while Rainbow knelt beside him. “Welcome to your new home-away-from-home, Sonic.”

“Thank you…” Sonic whispered happily. “Thank you so much.”

Rainbow smiled again. “You’re welcome. The city’s been pretty lively since I last saw you, though.”

“In what way?”

“I've heard that three guys are moving a detective business downtown soon. Fluttershy met a little girl at the animal shelter that wanted to adopt a rabbit, and Sunset saw someone coming to town on a black-and-red motorbike. Plus, a gang of daredevils calling themselves the Rogues are gonna be hitting the local skate park and I wanna see what they’re made of.”

“I guess we came just in time for the party, then,” Knuckles replied. “So, when are we gonna meet the rest of your friends?”

“Soon. Soon enough,” Rainbow answered. “But first, I figured you might wanna stay for a while.”

Sonic sighed happily as he stared up through the skylight. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day…”

Elsewhere

As the cries and hoots of animals echoed through a vast jungle, a hand set down a sharp stone. The figure it belonged to turned to a small pool of water, gazing at his reflection: a bald head with a wild long mustache. Nothing but a pair of goggles laid atop the bare skin of his forehead.

“My grasp on sanity remains… absolute,” spoke Doctor Eggman, his voice notably deeper than his last encounter with Sonic. “Even after days and weeks of solitude in this harsh, unforgiving environment. Isn’t that right, Agent Stone?”

His attention turned to a small rock that looked similarly to a face. It gave no reply, but Eggman picked it up and heaved it into his arms. “Why don’t you get a headstart…”

With a grunt, Eggman chucked the rock further into the foliage and heard it hit the ground rolling. “...and do some rock-connaissance!” Immediately after those words, he burst out into heavy laughter.

“HAHAHAHA! ROCK-CONNAISSANCE!” he bellowed to the nearby plants. “COME ON, that’s hilarious!” He jerked his head towards a large mushroom, giving it a good thwack that made the fungus vibrate. “What’s the matter with you? I thought you were supposed to be a fun guy! HA! Fun guy! Is that gold or what?!”

Eggman picked up a small component from a bag he stitched together: a satchel that held the remaining parts of his demolished aircraft. “Doctor’s Log,” he spoke into it. “It’s been eighty-seven days since my arrival into this jungle. Limited resources are at my disposal, as are limited supplies… and a method of vacating this untamed ecosystem. Heh. A lesser man would die here… but me?”

He took something else out from the bag and held it in front of his twisted, grinning face. It was a glass container holding a long blue strand of hair that crackled with energy. “I’ll be home in time to steal Christmas. End of entry.”

He tucked the hair away and turned in a mechanical fashion, hiking off into the jungle with robotic movements. He mimicked mechanical buzzes and clanks as he did so, reaching down to pick up the rock he had thrown earlier.

With a loud grunt, he threw the rock further into the forest and bellowed out into the wild. “ROCK-CONNAISSANCE! HAHAHAHA! Come on, cheer up!”

In the woods outside Canterlot City, a short tree stump started to hum with an eerie rhythm. From the ground beneath, something broke through the base of the stump: a crimson light.

And if one could investigate the stump and look closer at the source of the ominous pulsing, they’d find an odd gem sticking out of the ground. Budged near the base of the stump and shining with energy. A crimson gemstone lodged into the ground, its surface flickering and constantly changing. A magenta ruby icosahedron in shape.

A ruby that gave off an eerie tone and appeared to distort the very air around it, coating it in a crimson hue as its hums continued to emanate. Silently it sat, waiting to be found by an unlucky soul…

Author's Note

CAST:
Walker Scobell - Sonic
Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle, additional voices
Ashleigh Ball - Rainbow Dash, Applejack, additional voices
Andrea Libman - Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, additional voices
Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity, additional voices
Rebecca Shoichet - Sunset Shimmer, additional voices
Cathy Weseluck - Spike, additional voices
Lee Majdoub - Agent Stone
Donna J. Fulks - Longclaw
Iain Armitage - Miles "Tails" Prower
John Boyega - Knuckles
Alexandra Daddario - Amy Rose
and Jim Carrey as Dr. Ivo Robotnik/Dr. Eggman
Bill Newton - Styigian/The Man of Shadows, additional voices
Benjamin L. Valic - Sonic (young)
Andrew Francis - Shining Armor, additional voices
Matt Hill - Soarin, additional voices
Michelle Creber - Applebloom
Claire Corlett - Sweetie Belle
Madeleine Peters - Scootaloo
Kathleen Barr - Trixie Lulamoon, additional voices
Vincent Tong - Flash Sentry, additional voices
Kelly Metzger - Spitfire, additional voices
Nicole Oliver - Additional Voices
Shannon Chan-Kent - Roadhouse Waitress, additional voices
Garry Chalk - Roadhouse Thug, additional voices
Eric Bauza - News Reporter, additional voices

Thank you for joining me on this awesome adventure, everybody! And thank you DareDreamer for making this fantastic story, too!

Comments, reviews and opinions are appreciated, thank you.

Note: I don't own My Little Pony: Equestria Girls nor Sonic the Hedgehog.