After some time had passed, everything needed for the race between Sonic the Hedgehog and Rainbow Dash was ready.

In the center of Ponyville:

Mayor Mare: "Greetings to all creatures that are here. Today we've got something special for you today. It's a race between two very fast creatures. The pegasus from Cloudsdale and a member of the Wonderbolts: Rainbow Dash!

Rainbow Dash: "Aw yeah!"

Sonic: "Wonderbolts? I'll have to ask about that after this race," Sonic said to himself.

Mayor Mare: "Her opponent will be one of our new guests in Ponyville who also helped save it from a robot attack that happened earlier today: Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic: "I'm always up for a challenge," Sonic said before turning to his best friend and asking him "Hey Tails. Can you take these upgrades off me?"

Tails: "Sure thing. I kinda forgot that you didn't take them off," Tails responded.

Sonic: "Don't worry about it. I want a fair race and to not be accused of cheating," Sonic told him while Tails took the upgrades off.

Tails: "Okay. Everything is off. Good luck, Sonic." Sonic simply gave Tails a thumbs up in response while Tails put the upgrades in his toolkit and went next to Twilight, Knuckles, Shadow, and the mayor.

Rainbow Dash: "You ready for this?"

Sonic: "I'm ready alright. I hope you're ready to give me a challenge."

Mayor Mare: "Are the contestants ready?"

Rainbow Dash: "I sure am, Mayor Mare."

Sonic: "I'm ready to blast through with Sonic speed."

Tails: "Hearing him say that brings back memories," Tails said to himself.

Twilight: "Each location the two of you have to reach has a sign at the entrance of said location."

Sonic and Rainbow Dash: "Thanks, Twilight!" The speedsters said at the same time.

Twilight: "If no further preparations need to be made, Pinkie Pie, will you start this race?"

Pinkie: "With pleasure," she said while Sonic and Rainbow Dash got into their running and flying stances respectfully. "On your marks, get set, RACE!" Both competitors ran quickly as the race had officially begun.

The two were off. Whitetail Woods was the first place to visit. Rainbow Dash had been in the forest before, but that didn't mean Sonic was at a huge disadvantage.

Rainbow Dash: "Not bad, but you'll have to run faster than that if you want to beat me," she said to Sonic while she was flying.

Sonic: "Actually, I've been jogging for most of this race. If you want me to actually start running, I'd be glad to."

Rainbow Dash: "What?" Rainbow Dash said, clearly surprised by his words, but she quickly shook it off and continued with the race. "Get a grip, Dash. He's only trying to get in your head," she told herself before flying ahead of Sonic.

Sonic: "Time to start trying," Sonic said before picking up speed. Unbeknownst to them, Tails had built a drone to track both of them to keep an eye on the race.

Twilight: "Both of our racers are neck and neck right now through Whitetail Woods," Twilight said.

Tails: "She has to be fast if she can keep up when he's just jogging."

Twilight: "Hold up, Sonic was jogging?"

Tails: "Sure looked like it."

Knuckles: "Doesn't surprise me. I've seen him go really fast while simply going on a jog."

Applejack: "You're saying that Sonic is fast even if he's not actually running?"

Tails: "Yup. If he goes fast enough while jogging, he can break the sound barrier the moment he starts actually running."

Fluttershy: "Oh my," Fluttershy responded, stunned by what Tails had just said.

Pinkie: "This is going to be so fun!" Pinkie said excitedly. In fact, she was so excited that she wasn't mindful of how loud she was until someone said something.

Shadow: "Would you mind not screaming into anyone's ears? I'd like to eventually leave this world with my hearing in tact."

Pinkie: "Oops. Sorry, Shadow," she said before smiling. All Shadow did was roll his eyes as he and the others continued to watch from the drone.

Back with the speedsters, Saddle Lake was the next stop. When Sonic saw the sign, he quickly was worried. Water had been his one true weakness ever since he traversed through a labyrinth that was half underwater. However, Sonic wasn't letting any water stop him from winning the race. The lake was in view. Rainbow Dash seemed more confident that she could take the lead.

Rainbow Dash: "Ha! I can fly over the water. If he goes around the lake, he'll definitely fall behind, and it's not like he can run across the water," she said to herself in confidence. However, she just made the mistake of underestimating Sonic. Before, they reached the water, Sonic started to pick up speed. Eventually, he was going so fast that a a blue semi-circle appeared in front of him. He was going as fast at the speed of sound.

Sonic: "Hey there, Dash," Sonic said to the pegasus," startling her.

Rainbow Dash: "What? How are you running across the water?"

Sonic: "It's not the first time I've done this," Sonic answered as he boosted across the water, passing Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash: "He's not going to beat me that easily," she grumbled to herself. Meanwhile, Tails' drone was watching from above both racers.

Twilight: "Sonic can run on water? How is that even possible?" Twilight asked, just as surprised as Rainbow Dash was.

Tails: "If he runs fast enough, he can actually run across water without sinking."

Rarity: "How fast is that?"

Tails: "The speed of sound." The Mane 5, Spike, and Trixie were shocked by what they at heard.

Trixie: "That blue hedgehog can run at the speed of sound?"

Knuckles: "That's just one speed he can reach."

Applejack: "Just one?"

Tails: "Yep."

Shadow: "And he's not the only one who can go that fast."

Twilight: "Can you go that fast, Shadow?"

Shadow: "Sure can. I'm one of the few who've actually been able to keep up with that hedgehog in a race."

Mayor Mare: "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but how's the race going?"

Tails: "Sonic and Rainbow Dash are currently neck and neck."

Mayor Mare: "How is your device able to keep up with them?"

Tails: "I made a drone to track Sonic's speed a while ago. It was a 'just in case' invention."

Twilight: "You've made stuff like that drone before?"

Tails: "Yup. I can tell you more about later." While the rest of the group looked at the footage from Tails' Miles Electric, Trixie wondered where her best friend was.

Trixie: "Um, does anyone know where Starlight Glimmer is?" Trixie asked.

Twilight: "She's somewhere else waiting for Rainbow Dash and Sonic."

Trixie: "So she's helping with the race?"

Twilight: "Exactly."

Trixie: "Oh. The great and powerful Trixie is satisfied with that answer," she said before continuing to watch the race from the Miles Electric.

Back with the racers, the two have approached some hilly meadows. Rainbow Dash could fly above them with no problem. Sonic had no problem going over them either, but he did it his own way. He slowed down to let Rainbow Dash pass him, which the pegasus saw as him maybe giving up. Instead, he slowed down, so he could pick up speed again to jump over all the hilly terrain. When Rainbow Dash looked behind her, she didn't see the hedgehog.

Rainbow Dash: "What happened to Sonic?" Her question was soon answered as soon as she turned around to see her competitor in the air, above the hills. She quickly flew faster to catch up to him. Soon enough, they both reached Starlight Glimmer at the edge of said meadows.

Starlight: "Hey Rainbow Dash! Hey Sonic! Just pass me and then run back the way you came," she yelled at them so they could hear. The speedsters did pass her and then started heading back. However, Sonic went so fast that her mane was all messed up and poofy like. He also slowed down after passing her so he could turn around more easily. "Well, that happened," Starlight said after seeing her mane before teleporting back to Ponyville.

Rarity: "Darling, what happened to your mane?" Rarity asked her unicorn friend.

Starlight: "Sonic was going a bit too fast and accidentally made my mane all poofy."

Twilight: "Yeah, Rainbow Dash made my hair all poofy when I visited Ponyville for the first time."

Pinkie: "I like it. Nothing is wrong with poofy hair."

Starlight: "Thanks for the compliment, Pinkie. However, I like the way my old mane looked when I became friends with you."

Knuckles: "You had a different hairstyle before you became friends with Twilight Sparkle?"

Starlight: "It's a long story."

Rarity: "I can fix your mane after the race."

Meanwhile with our racers, Sonic was tied with Rainbow Dash heading back into Whitetail Woods. Rainbow Dash was both impressed and frustrated with Sonic's speed. Impressed that someone else could keep up with her but frustrated that she could potentially lose.

Rainbow Dash: "You might be a fast creature, but that doesn't mean you're the fastest thing alive!" She said.

Sonic: "You're pretty fast yourself. However. . ." He stopped talking before Rainbow Dash turned to see him not only ahead, but running backwards faster than she was currently flying. "It seems that you have quite a ways to go before you can reach my top speed," he finished before continuing to dash ahead. Twilight and the others watching from back in Ponyville were once again shocked. Not just with Sonic's speed, but how he seems to be having fun and not taking this seriously.

Twilight: "How can Sonic just run backwards like that? Is he not taking this seriously?"

Tails: "He is taking this race seriously, but he likes to have fun with his opponents. Even Shadow can attest to that."

Shadow: "Tails is right. As annoying as it tends to be, I have to admit that Sonic has guts to try and do that against me."

Fluttershy: "Sounds like you take these races much more seriously than Sonic."

Shadow: "That's because I do. Sometimes, it seems like he doesn't take them seriously at all," Shadow said, starting to get a little upset.

Tails: "Despite how it might seem, Sonic always takes these races seriously."

Rainbow Dash: "That's it. Time for me to pull out the big guns," Rainbow Dash said before taking to the skies.

Sonic: "What's she doing?" Rainbow Dash then started to pick up speed and have a semi-circle appear around her like it did around Sonic. The pegasus thought that it would catch the blue hedgehog off guard. However, Sonic knew what was coming and already had a way to counter. "She's about to perform a sonic boom. Well then, it's time for me to start trying a little harder," he said before picking up speed again. Both speedsters were getting faster and faster until two loud BOOMS were heard from Ponyville.

Tails: "Did Rainbow Dash just perform a sonic boom?" Tails asked while looking at his Miles Electric, still startled from the loud sounds he just heard.

Fluttershy: "Actually, she performed a sonic rainboom."

Tails: "Is it just a sonic boom but there's a rainbow involved?"

Twilight: "Pretty much."

Knuckles: "I don't know about you, but I heard two loud sounds."

Twilight: "Two? How is that possible?"

Tails: "That means both of them pulled of a sonic boom."

Mane 5, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie: "WHAT?"

Tails: "Yup. And by the looks of it, he could pull off a second one," Tails continued while looking at the footage via the Miles Electric. However, while Sonic and Rainbow Dash were finishing their race, a robot had been watching part of it.

Dr. Eggman: "Mecha Sonic, return to the Egg Carrier 4X. We have plenty of data," Eggman told one of his powerful robots. Mecha Sonic then sneaked off and used the jets on his back to return to the flying fortress without being spotted.

Rainbow Dash: "Aw yeah! I've got this race in the bag," Rainbow Dash said with confidence. Unfortunately for her, that confidence wouldn't last long.

Sonic: "I'm really impressed, Dash," Sonic said from below, causing her the pegasus' jaw to drop. "Too bad for you, I'm about to end this race real soon," he finished. Rainbow Dash then noticed that Sonic's feet were now in a figure eight/infinity shape. She also noticed that there was a semi-circle around him. After 3 seconds of slowly increasing speed, he broke the sound barrier again and zoomed past Rainbow Dash. In the process, he also eclipsed lightspeed until reaching Ponyville less than two seconds afterwards. When he saw the town, he slowed down as soon as he reached the center of it so he wouldn't run into anyone. Everypony (and Spike) was stunned with what had just happened. For the ponies, their manes had been messed up because of how fast Sonic had traveled.

(End music)

Tails: "Wow, even by your usual standards, that was impressive, Sonic," Tails said to his best friend, breaking the silence.

Sonic: "Thanks buddy."

Tails: "By the way, me and Twilight were using my drone to track you and and Rainbow Dash to see how you were doing."

Sonic: "Interesting. Did pick up our speeds too?"

Tails: "The drone in fact was tracking your speeds, and here it comes now," Tails said while the drone was approaching with Rainbow Dash right behind it, a bit winded.

Mayor Mare: "Well everypony and every non-pony, the winner of the race is Sonic the Hedgehog!" The mayor announced.

Ponies were hesitant given that they barely knew the hedgehog, but they slowly but surely cheered and congratulated him (they figured it would be rude to not do so).

Sonic: "Thank you every. . . creature. I love myself a challenge," he addressed everyone before turning back to Tails. "So Tails, what were our speeds?"

Tails: "Well Rainbow Dash actually broke the sound barrier when she performed that sonic rainboom at the end of the race."

Sonic: "I knew it was a sonic boom when I saw her pick up speed. Is it a rainboom due to the rainbow?"

Tails: "From what Fluttershy told us, yes. Speaking of her, are you okay, Dash?" Dash was still a bit shocked by how the race ended, but she still managed to form actually sentences.

Rainbow Dash: "I'm okay, but I have to ask: How did Sonic beat my sonic rainboom and eventually pass me?"

Knuckles: "I might not always be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think it's because Sonic pulled off a sonic boom of his own around the same time that Rainbow Dash did hers."

Tails: "Knuckles is right. Not only did Sonic perform a sonic boom, he performed a second one in less than 10 seconds."

Rainbow Dash: "A second one? That fast?"

Sonic: "Not the first time I've done two within a few seconds of each other."

Tails: "By the way, for most of the race, you were going between 'slightly slower than lightspeed' and 'slightly faster than lightspeed,' if you can believe it."

Sonic: "I'm a bit surprised, even by my standards."

Twilight: "Hold up, you can go at lightspeed?"

Sonic: "That's right. I've been getting faster and stronger with each adventure," Sonic told Twilight. "So how fast was I going at the end of the race?" He then asked Tails."

Tails: "Well according to my Miles Electric, you were going slightly faster than lightspeed just before the second sonic boom. After that, you were going way faster than lightspeed until you came to a screeching halt." The Mane 6, Spike, Starlight, and Trixie had their jaws dropped for what seemed like the 100th time today.

Shadow: "I must admit, Sonic: I am impressed with how you performed."

Sonic: "Shadow the Hedgehog giving me a compliment? You don't see that everyday."

Shadow: "Don't get used to it."

Sonic: "I had no plans on doing so." Sonic then looked at Rainbow Dash, who was a little bit disappointed in herself. "Hey there, Dash. Don't beat yourself up. You gave me a real challenge," he told her.

Rainbow Dash: "Really?"

Sonic: "Yeah. I don't get to have much fun with most of my races since they're usually with someone who has something against me for some reason." Shadow just rolled his eyes, knowing that Sonic was referring to him as one of those opponents.

Rainbow Dash: "You're being serious?"

Sonic: "Absolutely! You're one fast pony, Rainbow Dash, but I think you now know why I'm called the fastest thing alive."

Rainbow Dash: "Yeah, I guess so," Rainbow Dash responded before giving a hoof bump to Sonic. After seeing that, most of the ponies had left and continued on with their day.

Pinkie: "Well that was fun. Let's have a party to celebrate!"

Rarity: "Darling, the sun is setting real quickly. We should be heading to our homes soon."

Pinkie: "Oh, I guess you're right."

Fluttershy: "Hey Twilight, why don't you and Spike spend the night in Ponyville for old times sake?"

Twilight: "We'd love to, but we should probably head back to Canterlot."

Spike: "We are the ruler and royal advisor of Equestria after all."

Sonic: "Not only that, but Eggman's still around, and there's a good chance he'll attack that place again."

Starlight: "I didn't even think of that."

Applejack: "In that case, we should all go to Canterlot to help."

Twilight: "I appreciate the offer, but I think it's better all of you stay here."

Applejack: "What? Why?"

Twilight: "Dr. Eggman could very easily attack here and he'd have a head start on us. It's better for the seven of you stay here."

Starlight: "Alright Twilight, we trust you."

Rainbow Dash: "But what about you? You and Spike may not be enough to handle another invasion on own, even if Celestia and Luna help."

Sonic: "Why don't me, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow come to Canterlot with them?"

Tails: "Yeah. We need a place to stay while we're in Equestria anyways, assuming you two don't mind."

Spike: "I'm fine with them staying with us."

Twilight: "I'm fine with that too."

Knuckles: "Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer to be more out in the open than being in a stuffy castle. No offense, Twilight."

Twilight: "None taken."

Applejack: "You can stay with me an my family if you want. Our barn has plenty of room."

Knuckles: "I'm fine with staying in a barn."

Tails: "Well Knuckles, do you have your stuff?"

Knuckles: "Everything I had when we went through that portal is in the bag currently on my back," Knuckles answered showing everyone his bookbag.

Spike: "How did we not notice that until now?"

Sonic: "Probably because it's red like he is."

Twilight: "Well if every creature has everything, then it's time for me Spike, and three of our guests to head back to Canterlot." Everyone waved goodbye as she teleported herself, her royal advisor, along with Sonic, Tails, and Shadow back to Canterlot while everyone else went to their respective homes.

Later at night:

Twilight: "And that's just about everything there is in Canterlot Castle," Twilight said, finishing up a tour of the castle.

Sonic: "This place is pretty snazzy."

Shadow: "It's not bad."

Celestia: "Why thank you. Me and my sister have so many memories while we ruled."

Luna: "Both good and not so good, but the good memories outweigh the bad ones."

Tails: "What are these pictures on the stained glass windows?"

Twilight: "These show very important events throughout Equestria's history."

Celestia: "That one is me and Luna sealing Discord in stone the first time," Celestia said, pointing to a picture on the far left of the castle window.

Tails: "How long ago was this?"

Luna: "Quite a long time ago. I don't even think Twilight and Spike were born yet."

Sonic: "Wow. What's that picture on the opposite side if this hall?"

Spike: "That's me getting the crystal heart and saving the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, a once evil tyrant who ruled over it."

Shadow: "Crystal Empire? What's that?"

Twilight: "It's a place where crystal ponies live. I also have family that lives there."

Shadow: "Interesting."

Luna: "I think that's enough touring for one night. Me and my sister have to get back to Silver Shoals."

Celestia: "Agreed. Farewell Twilight and Spike. It was nice to see you two again."

Luna: "And farewell to you as well Sonic, Tails, and Shadow." Luna said before she and Celestia teleported away.

Sonic: "Is Silver Shoals like a retirement home or something?"

Spike: "It's mostly that, yes."

Twilight: "Alright, now let's have some dinner. You three must be starving after all that adventure you've had."

Sonic and Tails: "I could eat right now," Sonic and Tails said at the same time.

Spike: "Wow, you two are kind of like brothers."

Sonic: "Well the two of us are so close that we are kinda family."

Shadow: "Let's have dinner before this gets unnecessarily wholesome."

Sonic: "Alright Shadow. Chill out." After dinner, arrangements were made for Sonic and Shadow to sleep in Twilight's room while Tails roomed with Spike.

Twilight: "Are the two of you comfortable?" Twilight asked Spike and Tails.

Spike: "I'm good."

Tails: "I'm good too. Thanks for letting us stay in the castle while we're stuck in Equestria."

Twilight: "It's no problem. Good night you two."

Tails and Spike: "Good night, Twilight." Twilight then shut the door in their room. She then escorted Sonic and Shadow to her room.

Sonic: "Your room looks fancy. Being royalty has its perks."

Twilight: "I guess that's true. Are you two comfortable?"

Shadow: "I'm comfortable enough."

Sonic: "I'm plenty comfortable. Thanks for letting us sleep here, and thanks for dinner. It was great."

Twilight: "Glad you enjoyed dinner, and good night to you two," Twilight said as she went to sleep. Shadow went to sleep soon afterwards, but Sonic still had something on his mind.

Sonic: "As great as it's been with our new friends, I think I'll do some self exploring tomorrow. Nothing against them, it's just a part of me," Sonic said to himself before closing his eyes and going to sleep for the night.

Author's Note

That wraps up the sixth chapter. This is currently the shortest one I have written so far, but that could change in the future.

The only noteworthy references in this chapter are Sonic saying "blast through with Sonic speed" which came from Sonic Heroes and Sonic running backwards, which of course was first seen in the TV show Sonic X.

Also, the chapter is being published on 1/8/2025 but it says 1/9/2025. Not sure why.

Next time, we will see what Eggman has been up to since chapter 4. I figured we should see some of what the mad scientist has been planning. Also, I'll be taking a slightly longer break between this chapter and chapter 7. Instead of two days, it'll be three (this just means I'm taking a break of at least 72 Hours before I start working on the next chapter). I'll still try to work on it as fast as possible.

See you then!