Inside Twilight's former friendship castle:

With things calm around Ponyville and Canterlot being watched by the former rulers of Equestria, it was now time for the Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, Trixie, and the anthropomorphic creatures to learn some things about each other.

Twilight: "Now then, I think it's time we finally introduce ourselves."

Sonic: "Agreed."

Rainbow Dash: "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus in Equestria, and one of the most loyal ponies you'll meet."

Rarity: "I'm Rarity, a generous unicorn who loves fashion."

Pinkie: "HI, I'M PINKIE PIE! I CAN BRING LAUGHTER WHEREVER I GO, AND I LOVE TO THROW PARTIES AND MAKE OTHERS SMILE! WANT ME TO THROW YOU A PARTY?" The Pinkie pony said quickly without taking a breath. This caused a nervous reaction to be on the faces of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. "Wait, you're not afraid of me, are you?" Pinkie asked with a bit of sadness in her voice. Sonic hesitated to give an answer, which started to cause the pony's mane and tail to deflate. Sonic then took a deep breath before answering her question.

Sonic: "We're not afraid of you, Pinkie. It's just that your hyper energy reminds us of a friend back home. She had old habits that made her terrifying at points. Can you just tone down your energy a smidge?"

Pinkie: Oh, okay then," Pinkie responded as her mane and tail poofed back to normal.

Twilight: "Don't mind her, this high level of energy is normal for her."

Tails: "Noted."

Fluttershy: "Hello. My name is Fluttershy. One of the kindest ponies you'll see."

Applejack: "Ma name is Applejack, a farm pony and an honest gal."

Twilight: "And I'm Twilight Sparkle, the princess of Equestria though I preferred to just be called Twilight. And this is my royal advisor, Spike."

Spike: "Hey there."

Trixie: "Ahem," the blue unicorn coughed.

Twilight: "Oh, and I'd also like for you to meet Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon. They're the headmare and guidance counselor for the School of Friendship."

Starlight: "Hello, there."

Trixie: "The great and powerful Trixie is intrigued by these new creatures."

Knuckles: "Lemme guess: you like to address yourself in the third person almost all the time."

Trixie: "Is it that obvious?" Trixie responded nervously while Pinkie and Rainbow Dash snickered at a volume no one else could here.

Sonic: "Don't worry about it too much," Sonic responded.

Pinkie: "So what are your names?"

Sonic: "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. Fastest thing alive and a guy who loves adventure!" Sonic said with confidence.

Rainbow Dash: "Fastest thing alive? Yeah right," Rainbow Dash said under her breath, feeling offended that someone else claimed to be faster than her.

Tails: "My name's Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails."

Pinkie: "Is it because of those two tails?"

Tails: "Correct." Tails then jumped and spun his two tails in the air, resulting in a surprised look on the faces of Twilight and her friends, except for Fluttershy who had a smile on her face.

Fluttershy: "Oh, my gosh!" The shy pegasus said excitedly, which was rare.

Tails: "Fun fact: It was Sonic who gave me the nickname 'Tails,' and I've just stuck with it since," the fox said before landing back on the castle floor.

Sonic: "It's true," Sonic said, supporting his friend.

Knuckles: "I go by the name Knuckles. I usually like to punch first and ask questions afterwards."

Tails: "Sometimes to our detriment," Tails said quietly, but not quiet enough for no one else to hear.

Knuckles: "That's not important right now Tails," Knuckles responded, resulting on some snickers from the ponies and Spike.

Starlight: "So who's your other friend?" Starlight asked while pointing at black hedgehog.

Shadow: "My name is Shadow, I'm the ultimate life form."

Sonic: "And 'friend' is not the word I'd use to describe him."

Fluttershy: "You two look quite similar."

Sonic and Shadow: "So we've been told."

Starlight: "So how would describe the relationship between the two of you?"

Sonic: "I think friendly rivals is the best way to describe it."

Shadow: "Agreed."

Fluttershy: "I've never seen a hedgehog or fox that looks like you guys before. I also haven't seen an echidna before today either."

Tails: "Well we haven't ponies before today."

Sonic: "And this ain't the first dimension me or Tails have been sent to."

Spike: "It's not?"

Sonic and Tails: "Nope," Sonic and Tails responded at the same time.

Tails: "Another friend of ours lives in an entirely different dimension, and she's a princess there."

Sonic: "We were kind of sent there to help her with something."

Twilight: "You know a princess from another dimension?"

Sonic: "Yep. And like you, she's not super fond by being referred to as 'princess' unless it's absolutely necessary.'

Spike: "Reminds me of some other friends of ours from another dimension," Spike whispered to Twilight.

Sonic: "Also, this isn't the first 'magical' dimension I've been in. I've also been a world filled with genies and a world of knights." Everypony in the castle (and Spike) had their jaws dropped not from what Sonic was saying, but also the tone he was saying it in.

Applejack: "Pardon me, Sonic, but how can you say all that nonchalantly?"

Sonic: "When you've been on the types of adventures that we've been on for long enough, you become used to it. However, I will say this is one of the nicer dimensions I've been sent to."

Pinkie: "Thanks. I bet your world is pretty nice too," Pinkie responded.

Tails: "Well it's nice when Eggman isn't trying to take over the world."

Twilight: "This 'Eggman' guy, did he send you to those dimensions with genies and knights?"

Sonic: "Nope. I was brought there cause someone in those dimensions needed my help. The world of knights was more fun, but it did have a consequence I didn't see coming."

Twilight: "What was it?"

Sonic: "So after Merlina, this wizard who summoned me there in the first place, used a spell to send me back to my world, and I thought everything was good. However, I eventually saw a friend of mine who wasn't happy with me."

Rarity: "Who was that friend?"

Sonic: "Another hedgehog named Amy Rose. During a prior adventure, I agreed to go on a date with her."

Rarity: "Ooh, how romantic."

Pinkie: "Are you two like a couple?"

Tails: "Don't get ahead of yourselves. They aren't."

Pinkie: "But Sonic just said he agreed to go on a date with her."

Sonic: "I did. However, I was pulled into the world of knights around the time that the date was supposed to happen. By the time I got back, she was there waiting and thought I had forgotten about the date."

Rainbow Dash: "So what did she do?"

Tails: "She came at Sonic with her Piko Piko hammer." The ponies and Spike then gasped at that.

Applejack: "She has a hammer?"

Sonic: "She does, and she's good at using it too."

Rainbow Dash: "I hate to interrupt this story, but how does your two tailed friend know about this?"

Tails: "I was the first one he told about his adventure, and Amy's anger when he got back."

Fluttershy: "Did you make it up to her?"

Sonic: "I eventually did, but I had to wait a few days for her to calm down."

Fluttershy: "How'd you make it up to her?"

Sonic: "I took her out to see a movie, and I let her pick the movie to make up for missing out the first time due to my summons."

Twilight: "You said you got summoned into a world of knights. What was it called?"

Sonic: "The place was called Camelot."

Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie: "Camelot?" The equestrian group asked.

Twilight: "That sound a lot like Canterlot."

Sonic: "I know. I laughed when I first heard that name."

Rainbow Dash: "What's so funny about the name? Camelot isn't exactly much better," Rainbow Dash responded, a bit offended.

Twilight: "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said to the pegasus. "Sorry about that response," she then said to Sonic.

Sonic: "No worries."

Shadow: "This Camelot sounds interesting."

Sonic: "Well there is a knight version of you there. You two would get along well."

Shadow: "If you're trying to make a joke, then stop trying right now."

Sonic: "I'm not joking, Shadow."

Tails: "There was also a knight version of Knuckles."

Knuckles: "I'd probably give him a good fight," Knuckles said confidently while cracking his namesakes.

Tails: "The swords might make it a challenge."

Sonic: "It's almost like they're the same echidna."

Pinkie: "So what was the movie about?"

Sonic: "I think it was about someone who had a strong dislike for the holiday season and was confronted by his past, present, and future." This made Starlight a bit nervous. Thankfully, this didn't go unnoticed.

Trixie: "Starlight, are you okay?" She whispered to her friend.

Starlight: "I'm fine. It's just that the movie Sonic described reminds me of an experience I had while I was Twilight's student. Not a bad one, but it did bring up memories," Starlight responded.

Trixie: "Well as long as you're okay, then so is Trixie."

Pinkie: "Future," Pinkie then said while doing a sit-up on the floor. "What? Sonic mentioned the future," she then asked while everyone was staring at her.

Tails: "Is this type of behavior also normal by her standards?"

Applejack: "Yup."

Sonic: "We'll keep that in mind while we're stuck here."

Twilight: "Speaking of that, how exactly did you, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow get end up in Canterlot in the first place?"

Sonic: "That's quite the long story, and we've already told it to someone else, so we'll try to keep it short and sweet," Sonic replied before Pinkie jumped in.

Pinkie: "You were battling this 'Eggman' guy who was trying to power a machine to other worlds, but the machine malfunctioned and sent all of you here?" Pinkie said quickly, leaving Sonic and crew a bit stunned.

Sonic: "I'm not even going to ask how you guessed that."

Pinkie Pie: "Lucky guess, I guess."

Rainbow Dash: "Eggman? What kind of name is that? Sounds ridiculous."

Sonic: "His real name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik, I just started calling him Dr. Eggman to mock him."

Tails: "Eventually, he just changed his name to Dr. Eggman."

Rainbow Dash: "Interesting."

Twilight: "How exactly did Eggman's machine malfunction to the point of sending you all to Equestria?"

Sonic: "It might have something to do with this," Sonic answered while pulling out a blue gem.

Spike: "I remember that gem," Spike said after he and the other ponies gasped.

Twilight: "That gem fell into the Canterlot Castle earlier today."

Rainbow Dash: "What are you doing with that? You probably don't even know what that is," Rainbow Dash said accusily.

Sonic: "That's where you'd be wrong, Rainbow Dash. The four of us know what this is, and it's no ordinary gem."

Spike: "So what is it?"

Sonic: "This is a chaos emerald." Right after Sonic said that, a mysterious voice was heard inside the friendship castle.

???: "Chaos emerald? You have me intrigued, blue hedgehog." While the voice was foreign to Sonic, his friends, and friendly rival, it was very familiar Twilight and the others.

Shadow: "Who's there? We know that someone's here, so show yourself," Shadow demanded whoever was talking.

???: "I heard the word 'chaos,' which automatically means that I should be involved in it." The one behind the mysterious voice then appeared out of a puff of smoke. It was a creature that looked to be made up of a little bit of multiple other creatures. It was Discord, the Lord of Chaos and disharmony.

Spike: "Wasn't expecting to see him this way."

Discord: "What do we have here?" Discord said before snatching the chaos emerald out of Sonic's hands. "This is an intriguing gem."

Shadow: "I suggest you give that back," Shadow said in a threatening tone.

Discord: "You think you can take this gem from me, strange hedgehog?"

Shadow: "I know I can." Twilight and the others then gasped, concerned for Shadow. They saw some of what Sonic and company were capable of against Eggman's minions, but the ponies and Spike knew how powerful Discord was.

Discord: "It'll be entertaining to see you try," Discord responded, eager to see what would happen. Shadow then warped from where he was standing to in the air in front of Discord and used his fists to hit the draconequus on top of his head. He then warped behind Discord and kicked the emerald out of his claw. Sonic then quickly grabbed the emerald before it hit the floor and Shadow warped back to where he was before.

Shadow: "That was too easy."

Discord: "Let me make it challenging for you then." Discord then launched a laser at both hedgehogs, but nothing was there except for the marks left by the attacks. "Now that was easy."

Sonic: "You're right, it was easy, easy to dodge your attack," Sonic said from behind them, with Shadow standing next to him.

Discord: "How did you dodge so easily?"

Tails: "One has super speed."

Knuckles: "The other can warp from wherever he wants."

Discord: "You shouldn't underestimate me," Discord said, which started to worry Fluttershy and the others.

Sonic: "And you shouldn't underestimate us," Sonic responded confidently. Discord then charged up another attack, but was interrupted by friends of his.

Twilight: "DISCORD DON'T!" Twilight said to him.

Fluttershy: "They aren't hostile," Fluttershy said, trying to stop the draconequus from attacking further.

Discord: "You've met these guys before?"

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow: "You know who this creature is?"

Twilight: "Yes to both questions. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow, meet Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony. Discord, meet Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow."

Sonic: "Discord? A fitting name for someone with your appearance."

Spike: "He's also a reformed villain."

Tails: "Reformed villain?"

Discord: "The dragon speaks the truth. Twice had I taken control of this town and made it into the chaos capital. That was until I was thwarted both times by the current Council of Friendship and the old rulers of Equestria."

Knuckles: "Chaos capital?"

Discord: "Yup. With my chaos magic, I can do plenty of things. However, I later learned that what's the fun in having power if you have no friends to enjoy it with?" Discord said, looking at Fluttershy after saying the last part.

Shadow: "So you're a creature of chaos who can do nearly anything he so chooses?"

Discord: "You are correct."

Sonic: "Interesting. Not mind blowing or anything, but interesting."

Discord: "What do you mean by not mind blowing?"

Sonic: "I mean is that me, my friends, and friendly rival next to me have dealt with crazy things in our life time, so someone like you isn't that much different than what we're used to." Discord was going to get mad, but he instead cooled down before responding.

Discord: "I think we'll get along just fine as long as you don't get me mad."

Shadow: "I think we can say the same about you."

Discord: "Well before I go, I have a gift for the princess of Equestria and her friends." Discord then gave Twilight a card before teleporting away. The princess of Equestria them opened the card and confetti blew in her face.

Twilight: "Dear Twilight Sparkle, congrats on 1 full year of taking care of Equestria. I'd be surprised if you haven't freaked out since you became ruler. Regardless, I'm seriously impressed by you and your friends, Discord. P.S. it was Pinkie's idea for the confetti," Twilight read the letter.

Pinkie: "He seems to have been taking notes."

Fluttershy: "Having him as a friend definitely makes our lives more interesting."

Rainbow Dash: "Sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse."

Shadow: "You're actually friends with that thing?"

Sonic: "To be fair Shadow, one of your friends/comrades is a robot made by Eggman."

Shadow: "Touche."

Twilight: "By the way, you said that you, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow have dealt with crazy things in the past. Were they the result of Dr. Eggman?"

Sonic: "Most of the time they were, and believe me: he's done crazy things to try and get what he wants," Sonic said while he and Shadow walked back towards Tails and Knuckles.

Rarity: "And what are these crazy things that he's done in the past?"

Shadow: "He almost took over our entire world using a gemstone and a mercenary."

Tails: "He drained the energy of an alien race to power a machine in order to control our world."

Knuckles: "He woke up and angered an ancient water god to try and build this 'Eggmanland' on top of a town."

Sonic: "He eventually did build Eggmanland by draining the chaos emeralds to power a massive cannon, which broke apart a planet into several pieces and woke up a gargantuan creature before it was supposed to be woken up to then harness energy from said creature." The Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie unsurprisingly had their mouths wide open since what Sonic, his friends, and his friendly rival described were night and day compared to their own experiences.

Starlight: "You guys had to deal with all those things?"

Trixie: "Trixie is at a loss for words."

Twilight: "That makes two of us," Twilight responded.

Spike: "You mentioned chaos emeralds. Is that what Discord has in his claw?"

Sonic: "That was in fact one of the chaos emeralds," Sonic answered before showing the emerald he still had in his hand."

Rarity: "And you said 'emeralds.' Does that mean there are more of them?"

Shadow: "As a matter of fact, there are more," Shadow answered before pulling out two more chaos emeralds. Oohs and aahs came from the ponies and dragon.

Rarity: "My my. Those are fine looking gems."

Twilight: "What are chaos emeralds?"

Sonic: "The chaos emeralds are very powerful gems. They can allow you to perform all types of amazing feats."

Tails: "Having just one of them can give you loads of power, but having all of them can give unimaginable power."

Spike: "How many of these chaos emeralds are there?"

Knuckles: "There are seven in total, and there's another gem that can control all of them at once: the master emerald."

Applejack: "Master Emerald?"

Knuckles: "That gem can control all of the chaos emeralds, and I'm it's guardian."

Applejack: "You think it's in Equestria?"

Knuckles: "It can't be cause I left back home."

Twilight: "Interesting. What are some of these things that the emeralds can do?"

Sonic: "With just one emerald, you can slow down time, stop time entirely, or manipulate space."

Rainbow Dash: "Manipulate space?"

Shadow: "It allows you to teleport yourself to other locations. Warping time and space is better known as chaos control."

Twilight: "Is that what you were using to reach Discord when he was here?"

Shadow: "Not exactly. That was chaos snap. It's like chaos control, but it only allows me to travel short distances."

Starlight: "Can the others use it?"

Shadow: "Only I can use it because chaos energy actually flows through my veins."

Twilight: "How is that possible?"

Sonic: "You can thank Eggman's grandfather for that."

Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie: "Grandfather?"

Sonic: "Yup. His name was Gerald Robotnik. Unlike his grandson, he wasn't really a villain."

Shadow: "Why exactly are you the one talking about my backstory?"

Sonic: "Because it's been brought up before. If you want to tell the story, then be my guest."

Starlight: "It's easy to tell that they aren't necessarily friends," Starlight whispered to Trixie.

Trixie: "Kind of like me and Twilight," Trixie whispered back.

Shadow: "Professor Gerald Robotnik created me with the intent of curing Maria, his and Eggman's granddaughter."

Fluttershy: "What was wrong with her?"

Shadow: "She had a condition that made it impossible for her to live on our planet, so she was taken to a space station called Space Colony Ark to try and develop a cure."

Rarity: "Was she ever cured?"

Shadow: "The cure was never finished," Shadow said, starting to sound a bit sad, which Sonic and the others noticed.

Rarity: "How come it wasn't finished?"

Shadow: "A military group known as the Guardian Units of Nations saw what Professor Gerald was doing as a threat to our own planet, so they raided the Ark and shut it down."

Sonic: "They wanted to make sure that no trace of Project Shadow was left," Sonic said, sounding serious. It was something that the ponies and Spike noticed too.

Spike: "Project Shadow?"

Shadow: "That's what Professor Gerald called it."

Spike: "How did you escape that space station?"

Shadow: "A old friend put me in an escape pod and sent me to the planet called Earth so I wouldn't get captured by G.U.N."

Rainbow Dash: "The abbreviation is called G.U.N.?" Rainbow Dash asked before being kicked in one of her legs by Applejack.

Sonic: "Yeah, not the most creative acronym of all time."

Twilight: "What happened to your friend and Professor Gerald?"

Shadow: "My friend didn't survive the raid and she. . ." Shadow paused before finishing ". . . died on the Ark that day."

Pinkie: "That's so sad."

Starlight: "We're sorry that happened to you, Shadow."

Shadow: "Thanks, but it's not that big a deal anymore. I've put my last behind me long ago."

Sonic: "As for Eggman's grandfather, he was taken to a place called Prison Island where he was later executed. And if you're wondering what happened to Shadow after escaping the Space Colony Ark via the escape pod, he was captured and sent to Prison Island where he'd be put into suspended animation for 50 years."

Twilight: "50 years? That's a long time."

Spike: "How did you get out?"

Sonic: "Eggman released him with the intention of world domination."

Tails: "And to think that the worst that Eggman used to do was simply capture flickies and use them to power up his badniks."

Fluttershy: "He did what?" Fluttershy asked, with tears starting to form in her eyes.

Sonic: "It's true. He used to capture little animals just to make them work against their will."

Tails: "Then he stopped doing that decided to do it again, then not do it anymore."

Fluttershy: "What kind of monster would do such a thing?"

Sonic: "The same one who threatened you guys earlier today and threatened our planet with a cannon."

Spike: "Whoa."

Twilight: "And how long have you four have been fighting him for?"

Sonic: "Well it's mostly been me, Tails and Knuckles who fight him. Shadow tends to do his own thing."

Twilight: "Well we want to help you stop this Dr. Eggman guy."

Spike: "Yeah!"

Knuckles: "You sure?"

Applejack: "Absolutely! Equestria is our home, and we aren't going to let some power hungry villain take over without a fight!"

Twilight: "Not only that, but we've saved our world plenty of times before, and as it's current ruler, I absolutely have to at least try to stop this threat."

Sonic: "Well, if you're willing to put help us fight Eggman, then we're willing to accept it."

Shadow: "But you've also got to help us get home."

Twilight: "How can we help with that?"

Sonic: "The chaos emeralds. One of the things they can do is create a portal between worlds and dimensions. If we find them all, we can make not only stop Eggman, but also make a portal that'll take us back home."

Starlight: "Those gems can perform that kind of magic? Impressive."

Tails: "While it is impressive, it's not magic."

Twilight: "Well while you're staying here, can we at least offer you a tour of Ponyville and Canterlot?"

Sonic: "I'm up for a tour."

Tails: "I'm also up for a tour."

Knuckles: "It'll be nice to see what these places look like without robots or robot parts everywhere."

Shadow: "Sure. Why not?" The ponies and Spike then cheered in response.

Sonic: "It's tour time," Sonic said while he and Shadow put the emeralds away.

Trixie: "Um, where exactly did you put those chaos emeralds?"

Sonic: "Hammerspace, don't worry about it." Everyone then went outside to start the tour.

Twilight took charge of the tour, showing the guests some noteworthy locations in Ponyville.

Twilight: "This is Sugar Cube Corner," Twilight said as she showed Sonic and the other guests the bakery.

Pinkie: "It's a bakery and a confectionery, though I don't know what that second one means."

Twilight: "A confectionery is. . ." Twilight started before someone else joined her.

Twilight and Tails: "A place that sells candy." The ponies and Spike then looked at Tails, wondering how he knew that.

Tails: "I know a thing or two about shops like these."

Rainbow Dash: "We might have two nerds in Ponyville now," Rainbow Dash said quietly, but not enough to go unheard.

Tails: "I guess I am a bit of a nerd, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash: "You heard me?"

Tails: "Yes I did. Don't worry, no offense is taken."

Rainbow Dash: "Cool, sorry anyways."

Pinkie: "I also live and work here!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

Knuckles: "She both lives and works in a place filled with sweets?"

Sonic: "This might contribute to her energy levels being high so much."

Pinkie: "You're not wrong, it does contribute." Everyone then went inside the bakery and saw two ponies at the counter. One was a yellow pony with orange hair, an orange tail, and cakes on his flank. The other one was a light blue pony with pink swirly hair, a pink swirly tail, and cupcakes on her flanks.

Mrs. Came: "Hello everypony. Good to see you here," she greeted everyone.

Pinkie: "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cake! It's good to see you again," Pinkie said back while giving Mrs. Cake a hug.

Mr. Cake: "Princess Twilight! What a nice surprise to see you back here. Both you and Spike."

Twilight: "It's good to be back in Ponyville. We also have some visitors." Twilight then showed the Cakes Sonic and the others.

Mrs. Cake: "You're the ones who helped these ponies saved Ponyville from that robot attack earlier?"

Knuckles: "That was us alright."

Sonic: "Correction: We helped those ponies and Spike the Dragon save Ponyville from that robot attack."

Spike: "Thanks for the mention." Sonic simply replied with a thumbs up.

Mr. Cake: "So what can we do you for?"

Pinkie Pie: "One cupcake for everypony and non pony here, please."

Mrs. Cake: "Coming right up." Mrs. Cake then looked at Sonic and asked him and the others "For the four of you, does it matter what flavor you get?"

Sonic: "Surprise us," Sonic replied.

Mrs. Cake: "Alright then, just give us a two minutes max, and we'll have them ready."

(1:52-1:54)

Mr. Cake: "Okay, the cupcakes are ready."

Mrs. Cake: "They're also on the house."

Twilight: "Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Cake." The bigger box was for Twilight and her friends while the smaller box was for Sonic and the others.

Mrs. Cake: "I hope you don't mind my asking but what are your names?"

Sonic: "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."

Tails: "You can call me Tails."

Knuckles: "The name's Knuckles."

Shadow: "I'm Shadow the Hedgehog."

Mrs. Cake: "Well then, Sonic has the chocolate cupcake, Tails have the strawberry cupcake, Knuckles has the lemon cupcake, and Shadow has the cinnamon roll cupcake."

Pinkie: "So how are the Cake twins doing?" Pinkie asked.

Mr. Cake: "They're doing well, and it's nice that you can babysit more often," Mr. Cake answered.

Mrs. Cake: "So how do all of you like the cupcakes?"

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie: "Delicious!"

Applejack: "Amazing!"

Fluttershy: "Delightful for my taste buds."

Starlight: "They taste great!"

Trixie: "The great and powerful Trixie agrees with Starlight and everyone else."

Spike: "I definitely missed these."

Twilight: "They taste like I remembered them."

Mr. Cake: "What about you gentlemen?"

Sonic: "This cupcake is amazing!"

Knuckles: "It's really good!"

Shadow: "I like what I'm eating."

Tails: "It's superb!"

Pinkie: "I think for Tails, it's exstraw-diberry!" Pinkie said while she somehow had a drum set with her.

Sonic: "Oh I get it! Because Tails had a strawberry cupcake, and it's a play on extraordinary" Sonic said while laughing at the joke.

Pinkie: "I'm glad someone got the joke."

Twilight: "Okay, let's move on to a different location." The group then went to a farm called Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack: "This is is mah farm and mah home: Sweet Apple Acres."

Tails: "An apple farm? That's something we haven't seen."

Spike: "You've been on crazy adventures, but you've never seen an apple farm before?"

Sonic: "Just because we've to many locations, it doesn't mean we've been to the common ones."

Spike: "Fair point, Sonic." They all then entered the farm and saw three fillies approaching them. One was a yellow earth pony, one was an orange pegasus with small wings, and one was a white unicorn.

Applejack: "Well hey there, sister. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, this here is my younger sister Apple Bloom. These two other fillies are her best friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle."

Apple Bloom: "Howdy y'all. Um, what exactly are y'all supposed to be?"

Tails: "I'm a fox."

Knuckles: "I'm an echidna."

Sonic and Shadow: "I'm a hedgehog."

Apple Bloom: "Y'all look very different from creatures we've seen before, and we've seen plenty."

Applejack: "That's because our guests come from a different world entirely."

Scootaloo: "An different world? No way."

Sonic: "It's true. You're Scootaloo, right?"

Scootaloo: "That's right. #1 fan of Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash: "That's right."

Sonic: "Interesting. Well Scootaloo, I may not know much about ponies, but I don't think ones who can fly are supposed to have wings that small for someone of your age. No offense."

Scootaloo: "None taken, Sonic. I've had these small wings my whole life, but I learned to not let that get me down."

Sonic: "That's something I like to hear, you not letting a disability of yours stop you from doing things."

Scootaloo: "Thanks, Sonic."

Sweetie Belle: "Question: has anyone ever thought that you and Shadow look like the same creature?"

Shadow: "Not this again."

Scootaloo: "What's his deal?"

Sonic: "We actually have been thought to be the same hedgehog before, but that was long time ago. I'm glad there's no more confusion on which hedgehog is which."

Apple Bloom: "Well it's nice to meet you, Sonic. Hey Big Mac, Granny Smith, we have some guests on the farm," she called to her family.

Granny Smith: "Now what did you have me get up from my nap for?"

Apple Bloom: "We have some visitors."

Granny Smith: "Who/what are they supposed to be?

Apple Bloom: "They're Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow. They aren't from around here," she answered while Sonic and the others waved.

Granny Smith: "Well as long as you aren't causing problems, it's fine by me." The elderly pony then walked back to the rocking chair she was sleeping on to continue her nap.

Tails: "That's your grandma I assume?"

Twilight: "Around here, we say grandmare."

Knuckles: "So who's this red stallion and the pink unicorn right next to him?"

Applejack: "This red stallion is my older brother, Big MacIntosh, and that unicorn is his wife Sugar Belle. Big Mac and Sugar Belle, say hello to our guests."

Sugar Belle: "Hi. It's nice to meet you."

Big Mac: "Howdy."

Sonic: "Your brother isn't one who talks much, is he Applejack?"

Applejack: "How can you tell?"

Sonic: "The way he said howdy."

Shadow: "I might actually like him. Unlike you, he doesn't say much."

Sonic: "Very funny," Sonic said sarcastically.

Sugar Belle: "Hi Starlight!" Starlight then noticed the unicorn from her old village and smiled.

Starlight: "Hey Sugar Belle!" I haven't seen you since you invited me to the Sunset Festival. Since when do you live here?"

Sugar Belle: "Since I started doing baking lessons with Mrs. Cake and since I married Big Mac."

Pinkie: "So that's why I see you at Sugar Cube Corner sometimes."

Spike: "And to think I just made that up in an attempt to cheer up Big Mac."

Tails: "You're going to have to tell us that story."

Sonic: "Agreed."

Spike: "If I get the chance, I will."

Twilight: "Well this has been enjoyable, but we should probably continue the tour." Everyone then waved goodbye and walked back to the main part of Ponyville. The group walked towards a carousel looking building called the Carousel Boutique, and one unicorn was ready to talk plenty about it.

Rarity: "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. It's not only my home, but also my place of work."

Pinkie: "Like me with Sugar Cube Corner."

Knuckles: "A boutique?"

Applejack: "Yeah, it's where she makes and sells clothes to those who want/need it."

Tails: "Amy would probably be in a place like this for a good while," Tails whispered to Sonic.

Sonic: "I know she would. The girl once dragged me to a mall in Central City. She said that she wanted me to try on a suit. I only went with her because she would have kept begging me to go if I said no."

Fluttershy: "Um Rarity, has that window always been broken?" Everyone then noticed that one of the windows was partially broken.

Rarity: "AHHH! What happened to my glorious window?" She screamed, making everyone cover their ears.

Sonic: "Does she always scream loudly when something bad happens?"

Rainbow Dash: "Not always. Usually, she just faints on something, usually a couch."

Twilight: "How did that window break?"

Shadow: "I can answer that," Shadow spoke up, making everyone turn towards him. "One of the chaos emeralds smashed through that window and landed in your shop. Nothing else looked damaged."

Twilight: "Well at least it was just the window, and it can be fixed easily."

Rarity: "True."

Sonic: "I assume that one of you has a spell to fix the window."

Rarity: "I certainly do. Allow me to show you." Rarity then cast the spell and made the window look good as new.

Sonic: "Nicely done," Sonic said with a thumbs up.

Rarity: "Why thank you, Sonic," Rarity replied while also bowing.

Tails: "Speaking of the emeralds, do you think we could also get a tour of Canterlot?"

Spike: "I don't see why not."

Twilight: "Neither do I. Starlight, Trixie, you coming with us?"

Starlight: "I think we'll sit this one out. Somepony has to watch your old castle."

Trixie: "And we happen to be those ponies."

Twilight: "Well okay then. As for everypony else/every other creature, let's go to Canterlot." Twilight then teleported herself, the rest of the Mane 6, Spike, Sonic, and the others back to her hometown while Starlight and Trixie headed back to Twilight's old friendship castle.

When they all arrived in Canterlot, the place had been cleaned up. Not just ten streets, but some of the buildings and shops as well.

Tails: "Whoa!"

Sonic: "This place looks much better than when we first arrived."

Twilight: "Well having a cleaning crew certainly helps with that. Spike, remind me to thank them first chance we get."

Spike: "Noted." Two voices were then heard from the Canterlot Castle balcony. When everyone looked to see where it was coming from, they saw two ponies with wings and a horn, just like Princess Twilight."

Twilight: "Celestia and Luna!" She said while she and Spike went over and hugged them.

Celestia: "It's good to see you again, Twilight. You too, Spike."

Luna: "So how's ruling Equestria going?"

Spike: "It's going well, but you know how you told us to expect the unexpected?"

Celestia: "Yes. Why?" They both then pointed to the anthropomorphic creatures that came to Canterlot with them.

Luna: "Who exactly are these creatures?"

Twilight: "Celestia and Luna, meet Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails the Fox, Knuckles the Echidna, and Shadow the Hedgehog."

Spike: "Sonic and other guests, this is Celestia and Luna, the former rulers of Equestria."

Luna: "This was the important business that Spike spoke of in the letter?"

Spike: "That's right."

Twilight: "They helped us when this mad scientist invaded Canterlot and Ponyville, so we decided to give them a tour of both place minus the robots."

Celestia: "Well it's nice to meet all of you," Celestia greeted with a bow.

Luna: "We thank you for helping the princess and her friends," Luna added while also bowing.

Sonic: "No prob, it's kind of our job."

Pinkie: "Ooh, that rhymed."

Sonic: "So I'm guessing that Celestia was in charge of the sun and other day stuff."

Tails: "And I'm guessing that Luna was literally a night pony."

Celestia: "Why yes. How did you two figure that out so quickly?"

Sonic: "One of you is a white pony with a picture of the sun on her butt, and the other is a dark blue pony with a picture of the moon on hers."

Tails: "By the way, what you call a pony with wings and one with wings and a horn?"

Knuckles: "And pony with neither? I know it might seem obvious, but I still want to know."

Celestia: "Me, my sister, and Princess Twilight are alicorns."

Luna: "A pony with just wings in called a pegasus."

Rainbow Dash: "Pegasai is the plural version."

Applejack: "And by the way Knuckles, ponies without wings or a horn are just called Earth ponies."

Shadow: "Alicorns? Interesting."

Sonic: "Well thanks for letting us know.

Luna: "Twilight, would you and Spike mind if we joined you on this tour?"

Twilight: "I don't mind if you join us."

Spike: "I'm okay with it." Everyone then walked over to start the tour in Canterlot. They visited the School for Gifted Unicorns, where Twilight explained that this school is the main reason she has a love for learning. Next, they visited the Canterlot Art Gallery. While inside, everyone took notice of some of the creations in said gallery. One of them was a painting of The Mane 6 and Spike.

Sonic: "Hey everyone, come look at this," Sonic called to the group.

Rainbow Dash: "Check it out, it's us."

Rarity: "Twilight, is this painting new?"

Twilight: "Yes it is new."

Spike: "Someone wanted to make a painting of us as a thank you for saving Equestria so many times."

Applejack: "It's incredible."

Knuckles: "If you ever come back with Rouge, you need to keep her far away from this place," Knuckles whispered to Shadow.

Shadow: "I normally don't like those not in charge of me telling me what to do, but you actually have a point. I don't need to be dealing with law enforcement again like when I first met Sonic," Shadow whispered back. Twilight planned to take them to the Canterlot Library of Magic, but Sonic tried to change her mind when he first saw where they were heading.

Sonic: "Twilight, I'm sure you love books, but I don't think everyone else here has that same passion." Twilight then thought of a different and more interesting place to go and teleported the whole group there. Everyone was now at the Sculpture Garden and Hedge Maze.

Applejack: "Well we haven't been here in a while."

Knuckles: "By any chance does that Discord creature have something to do with when you were first here?"

Fluttershy: "How'd you know that?"

Knuckles: "Just a lucky guess."

Sonic: "Knuckles using his brain power. It may not be rare, but it's still a surprise when it happens," Sonic said to Tails.

Knuckles: "I heard that," the echidna said in response.

Shadow: "Discord brought up that he was thwarted twice before. How did that happen?"

Celestia: "We used powerful artifacts called the Elements of Harmony."

Luna: "My sister and I used them to defeat Discord the first time by sealing him in stone. However, we had to keep them in a tree in a place called the Everfree Forest."

Tails: "The Everfree Forest?"

Knuckles: "I think that's where we ended up when we first arrived in Equestria."

Twilight: "You landed in the Everfree Forest?"

Sonic: "That's right."

Rarity: "How ever did you escape and find your way to Canterlot?"

Sonic: "While in that forest, we saved a Zebra named Zecora and she told us about it. We also saw Eggman's ship heading in that direction."

Shadow: "So how did Discord escape the first time?"

Twilight: "That we still don't know. But we do know that me and my friends eventually sealed him in stone again after he escaped."

Knuckles: "So what led to him being freed again?"

Celestia: "That was my idea. Back when me and my younger sister were ruling, I figured that Discord could use his chaos magic for good instead of evil."

Twilight: "He did eventually reform completely and is now a friend of ours."

Sonic: "And I assume that you used these Elements of Harmony to unseal him."

Twilight: "That's right."

Tails: "So how did you convince to give up his evil ways?"

Spike: "You can thank Fluttershy for that."

Fluttershy: "It's true. After I showed him kindness and friendship, he realized it was something he didn't want to lose. Now we're really close friends."

Sonic: "So you killed evil with kindness."

Fluttershy: "I guess so." The group them continued the tour around the garden. After some time had passed, Tails noticed that one statue looked very different from the rest.

Tails: "Umm, Twilight? This statue looks like three creatures are trapped in there."

Twilight: "The reason for that is three creatures actually are trapped in this one statue."

Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow: "Say what now?"

Celestia: "She's right. That's Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. They tried to take over all of Equestria and they divided the three tribes of ponykind."

Luna: "They would have succeeded if not for the power of friendship that spread across Equestria and beyond."

Knuckles: "I have a feeling that 'my friends are my power' is used a lot here."

Spike: "Yeah, it is."

Pinkie: "But It's used a lot for a reason: it's super effective!"

Sonic: "Why does one of them looked like a filly pegasus?"

Twilight: "That's because one of them is. Cozy Glow manipulated everyone at our School of Friendship and almost drained magic from all of Equestria. When she came back, she came back stronger."

Celestia: "It was decided that turning all three of them into stone was the only way to ensure they didn't cause anymore trouble for the time being." Sonic then put on a noticably more serious face than what he's had the entire time since he's arrived in Equestria.

Spike: "What's wrong, Sonic?"

Sonic: "I understand that she was trouble, but turning a child into stone seems excessive. Did you even give her a chance to change her ways like with Discord?"

Twilight: "She seemed too evil to have any shot at being reformed."

Sonic: "Even so, that seems like a fate as bad, if not worse than death."

Pinkie: "Weird, I think some fans have said that too." Most of the group looked at her weird but ignored her comment. However, Shadow and Sonic looked at the frozen pegasus for a it longer before another comment was made.

Shadow: "I don't care what other say, being turned to stone is not worse than death. At least you're alive," Shadow said in a tone that made it clear he was upset about something.

Fluttershy: "Shadow, are you okay?"

Shadow: "It's fine. Let's just continue the tour." The ponies and Spike were concerned about Shadow, but decided to not address it and continue the tour. Team Sonic, however, knew why Shadow said what he said.

Eventually, the tour had come to a close. Sonic and the others had been showed most of the important landmarks of Equestria's capital.

Twilight: "So what did you think of the tours?"

Shadow: "It was okay."

Knuckles: "I liked it."

Tails: "Me too."

Sonic: "Me three. Now that I have a better understanding of where we are, I can better explore this place in ten seconds."

Rainbow Dash: "Just what do you mean by that?"

Sonic: "I mean that I can run through these places really quickly."

Luna: "Pardon me, Sonic, but Canterlot and Ponyville aren't exactly small locations."

Sonic: "Maybe not, but when you're the fastest thing alive, you can travel anywhere in no time."

Rainbow Dash: "No offense Sonic, but you can't be the fastest thing alive. That title belongs to me."

Sonic: "Have you ever raced against anyone who can match your speed?"

Rainbow: "No, but that's because no one has been able to match my speed. What about you?"

Sonic: "I've had a few challengers who came close, but none of them could outpace a hedgehog who can run faster than light." Twilight and her friends gasped at what Sonic had just said while Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow were used to this.

Rainbow Dash: "If you think you're faster than me, then prove it. You and me will have a race. Whoever wins holds the title of fastest thing alive forever!"

Sonic: "Challenge accepted, Rainbow Dash."

Twilight: "Does Sonic normally act like this?" Twilight asked Tails.

Tails: "If you mean his confidence, then yes. And thankfully, it's rarely been a problem. Is Rainbow Dash always like this?"

Twilight: "She use to, but she's thankfully toned it down over the years."

Sonic: "So where will the race take place?"

Rainbow Dash: "Ponyville. Twilight and the others can help with setting up. You'll help with that, right?"

Fluttershy: "As long as Twilight and Spike are okay with it."

Twilight: "I guess we'll help set up your race."

Rainbow Dash: "Aw yeah!" Twilight then teleported herself, her friends, and the anthropomorphic creatures while Celestia and Luna stayed to keep watching over Canterlot.

Author's Note

Chapter 5: Completed!

First off, I accidentally pressed the publish button before I even finished writing the chapter, so the actual date for this chapter's release is 1/3/2025.

Second, from now on, "Sonic and the others" will refer to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow since the Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie know who they are now. "Sonic and everyone else" includes the Mane 6 and Spike.

Third, I put a SpongeBob SquarePants reference in this chapter. See if you can find it.

Fourth, I wasn't expecting this chapter to be 7000+ words like Chapter 3, but it is.

Last, one of Shadow's line is almost exactly the same as one of his lines from another Sonic game. Can you figure the line and the game that the line came from?

See you in Chapter 6, where Sonic and Rainbow Dash will have a race for the ages!