Author's Note

First of all, Merry Christmas! (even if it's a bit late) Second! Happy New Year (just in case it doesn't reach in time)! Third! I used a video from the intro of Sonic Unleashed, it's for those who haven't experienced the game yet, but it's one of my favorites!

Meeting a hero

The communication had ended, and Orbot moved the microphone aside while leaving the table aside, showing what seemed to be intelligent responses to the princesses' questions. "All set, sir. The princesses will be taking your offer into account about handling Sonic for you and also allowing you to search for the 'Power Emeralds.'"

CMC Club House

The trio of fillies gathered once again in their small clubhouse, only to realize that all three of them had long faces and looked discouraged.

"So... I think we're all down because of last night, am I right?" Scootaloo asked directly, thinking it was the right question to address everyone's mood. Her friends nodded without much desire to talk about the subject, but they couldn't hide it forever.

"It's not fair! Applejack said I should stay away from Sonic, she doesn't even know him! He saved our lives, but they treat him so unfairly just because they haven't seen him in action!" Applebloom shouted with a lot of annoyance in her voice, while also showing the warning her sister gave her, leaving it on the table for her friends to see.

"It's true! I told my sister, and even though I explained how he saved us, she still insists that as long as the princesses view him badly, she can't fully trust him... If she were saved by Sonic and saw what he's capable of, she would probably change her mind." Sweetie Belle said in frustration as she rested her face on the floor.

"Rainbow Dash came to see me this morning to say the same thing. I just told her everything Sonic did was 20% more awesome than anything I've ever seen! And still, she scolded me, telling me to stay away from him because he's dangerous, blah blah blah, blah blah blah."

Her friends stared at her wide-eyed, not recognizing that their friend, a fan of the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, was upset with the one she admired.

"What?..."

The three were upset, disappointed, and excluded from being able to say anything to defend their friend’s innocence.

The silence in their clubhouse didn’t last long as they heard a knock on the door. They looked at each other, knowing they weren't expecting anyone. Applebloom stood up and walked over to open it, only to be surprised by a smile and a familiar blue friend.

"Hey, little Apple! How are you?" That question was enough to make her smile and lift her spirits.

"So... Sonic!" She approached and hugged one of his legs gently, receiving strokes on her mane from him.

"Hey, I'm also glad to see that you and your friends are okay after that giant wolf incident."

After that, her friends came closer to hug him. They seemed grateful that he saved them and that he was safe, though they didn't know how to talk to him after what their sisters told them about him, or what to ask first after he had taken on the Timberwolf alone.

"Alright girls, I think it’s time we get to know each other better, don’t you think? After all, we’ve only met in dangerous situations, and we don’t know anything beyond our names. What do you say?"

With that, the fillies looked at each other and smiled, knowing that despite their sisters’ reasoning, they couldn’t be sure until they got to know him better. They all nodded, smiling at him.

"Well, I guess we can play a question game, one question for each of us," Applebloom suggested, receiving a smile from Sonic as he entered and closed the door behind him.

"Alright, but in return, you’ll answer a few questions I need to ask so I can learn a bit about your world too. What do you think?" The Crusaders smiled, and they all sat down on the clubhouse floor, each raising a hoof with lots of questions to ask separately.

Sonic chose Scootaloo for the first question. "How are you so fast? You don't have wings like the pegasi, but you're really fast for a land creature."

"My speed is something that came with me when I was born. It's completely natural, and there's no way to separate it from me. Next?" Now Sweetie Belle came closer, smiling to try to outdo Applebloom.

"You said 'our world', so that means you're not from here, right?" That question was direct and clever to learn more about their blue friend.

"Exactly! I come from a planet called Mobius. It's my home, and I protect it from the bad guys."

They all raised an eyebrow at hearing him say 'I protect it'. They were confused. Who was he to say he had that responsibility or what he was capable of to take the planet under his protection?

"So, you come from another planet, one that you protect? Are you like a superhero?" The last question from the trio came from Applebloom.

Sonic nodded while laying on the ground, smiling while lying on his back for comedic effect. "But I wouldn’t technically say I’m a SUPERHERO. I’m more like just the 'Hero of Mobius,' that’s all." He answered nonchalantly, as though it wasn’t a big deal, but the fillies realized they had someone pretty amazing with them.

"My turn. Explain a little how things work here. Who is the princess that showed up after you all escaped from the Timberwolf?"

Sweetie Belle moved closer, smiling. "She’s Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship!"

"Princess Twilight, huh? Well, then I’ll continue. I saw buffalo in the desert, but are there more creatures besides ponies and their different races and the buffalo?"

Applebloom stepped forward this time. "Yes! Lots more! Spike is a dragon, and he’s Princess Twilight's friend. There are also griffons, hippogriffs, minotaurs, changelings, and many more that we haven’t even seen or gotten to know yet, for sure!"

"So, I haven’t even traveled half of this world. That just makes it more exciting. Alright, my last question, what do you think of me regarding all this?" He rested his head on his hand, with his elbow on the ground, while his other hand showed his "wanted" poster.

The three of them looked behind him, noticing the poster was still there. So he must have gotten it from somewhere else, but the question was still there. What did they think of him now? He had saved them, but their sisters had given them reasons to stay away from him.

"We can’t exactly say what we think... but, we need to get to know you better. Is that alright?" Applebloom took a chance with that answer, hoping he wouldn’t get upset.

There was a few seconds of silence. The fillies were getting nervous, but Sonic remained with his eyes closed, concentrating on the response, then he sat up cross-legged as if meditating before looking at them and smiling. "Alright, Applebloom, you’re right about that, so then I can tell you some of my stories and answer all your questions so you can trust me. Does that seem fair?"

The Crusaders looked at each other, surprised by his kindness even after that cowardly response. They knew he had saved them the night before, but they couldn’t be sure of everything. They were stuck between the words of their sisters and the wall that was Sonic. One side made them doubt him and his trustworthiness, while the other side filled them with curiosity to know more about him to feel at ease.

"Alright, I’ll tell you one of my stories then. Is that okay?" Sonic stood up, grabbed some blank sheets of paper and some crayons from a corner, and sat back down in front of them. He began to draw on each sheet, illustrating different moments from his various adventures. One showed a planet split into pieces, another was him with two other beings, one yellow and the other red, another showed a dark-furred hedgehog with red stripes and a grumpy face, another showed him holding a sword, and one more showed him with a smaller version of himself.

"Sonic... what is all of this?" Scootaloo asked, pointing at each drawing while her friends took them and looked at each one.

"These drawings, my little friends, are like references to all my adventures so far, though I left out a few. These are some I can tell you about to make it quicker. Pick one, and I’ll tell you about that one."

"Ooooohhh..." The three of them began to look at each drawing he had made. They didn’t look perfect or professional, but more like they were quickly and simply drawn, too childish, as they would say, but still understandable.

Sweetie Belle used her magic to grab the one with the broken planet. "What does this drawing mean?"

"Oh, this was when my arch-nemesis, Doctor Eggman, used a space cannon to destroy the world. This drawing represents what he did because I had to travel around the planet with my friend Chip to restore every part of it and make it whole again. Would you like to hear that story?"

The three of them seemed fascinated but remained firm, thinking a lot about this explanation. "That sounds incredible!"

"How did you fix the world?" Scootaloo began shouting while jumping energetically.

"How did he destroy the world?" Sweetie Belle seemed most interested in the origin of the story.

Sonic just smiled and started drawing more on the paper to illustrate some scenes from the story. "It all started in space, above Earth’s orbit. My arch-nemesis, Doctor Eggman, was there with his space fleet and his army of robots, ready to conquer the planet..."

The Crusaders watched him draw and he dropped the completed drawings, showing the red and black space fleet above the planet, joining two sheets to represent the world’s horizon and the space army over it. "It looked like everything was going according to his plan, but he didn’t count on me being ready to stop him!"

Beginning of the story

The entire explanation of how that adventure began ended with the first drawing of the destroyed planet, a new friend with trouble remembering who he was, along with a wild and monstrous-looking Sonic.

Sonic looked at them, smiling, but they were left with their mouths open, trying to process everything that had happened. They couldn’t comprehend many of the words and things he had explained, from the technology, the Chaos Emeralds, how they could be in space, or if it was possible that he had divided the continents of an entire planet, and he had only just started.

"Uh... girls? A lot to process?"

It seemed like the three of them had synchronized so perfectly that they were raising their hooves to ask something, but then they stopped, bringing them to their chins, then lowering them, and finally lifting their gazes with big smiles as they spoke in unison, "And what happened next?"

This caught Sonic by surprise, but not too much. He just smiled at their enthusiasm to keep hearing the story. Sonic spent the rest of the hour telling them how he and his friend Chip repaired the world in every continent they traveled to with his best friend Tails’ plane. He explained how Chip regained his memories and who he was, how they stayed together until they reached the final Gaia temple, and how the last Chaos Emerald made sure to restore energy while the temple placed the continent back in its proper place. He also explained how they faced Eggman for the last time and then when Dark Gaia arrived.

How Sonic lost his wolf-hedgehog form and then Chip, who summoned all the temples to form a colossus to face his destined enemy every thousand years. They would awaken again and again to battle. But this time, with Sonic, they both defeated the God of Darkness, sealing him in the center of the planet along with Chip. Sonic was sent by his friend to the surface to continue having adventures, accompanied by his friend who would be by his side every step of the way on the planet.

"E... that's so sad... he sacrificed himself so... you could stay alive... and save the world..." Sweetie Belle was already crying, with tissues by her side wiping her tears.

"It was... so beautiful and sweet... but it’s a shame about your friend..." Applebloom felt hurt knowing that their friendship didn’t even last a year, just to save the whole world.

"He was... a small, brave, and really cool guy..." Scootaloo was trying to hold back her tears to appear tough, but it was hard for anyone to hear that story and not get emotional.

Sonic showed a calm and sympathetic expression as he watched them react to what had happened during that adventure. He placed his right hand on his spikes, looking for something. "You don’t need to worry, he promised me he would always be with me wherever I went." He pulled his hand out, revealing a bracelet with a green pearl on it, then brought it closer to the fillies for them to see it up close. "He’s always with me."

They all admired the silence of the object from the story. It was exactly as he had described, a white bracelet with a jewel that looked like a large pearl but was green. They really seemed to understand more about what had happened. Chip hadn’t gone anywhere; he would still be with him. After all, the fastest living thing on Earth still had a lot of ground to cover, and knowing that his friend was with him beneath his feet made everything feel more peaceful.

"Well, does anyone have other questions they’d like me to answer?" Sonic called their attention and then put the bracelet back on his spikes.

"What are those emeralds you mentioned?" Sweetie Belle asked, knowing that if her sister were there, that would be the only thing she’d care about. But she needed to find out why they seemed so important.

"Oh, those are the 'Chaos Emeralds,' there are seven in total." He showed five fingers from one hand and two from the other, emphasizing the exact number, then drew each one with the same appearance and their respective colors on a full sheet of paper.

"What makes them so special? They just look like regular gems that Spike could eat and that Sweetie Belle’s sister could use for her clothing designs." Scootaloo vaguely said, not seeing much importance in them.

"Didn’t you hear how this whole adventure started? Those gems give superpowers! And her enemy uses them for evil purposes! He literally divided the continents of his planet with the power of those gems." Applebloom exclaimed, frustrated that Scootaloo didn’t understand how dangerous they were.

Sonic stayed silent, waiting for the discussion between the fillies to continue. On one side, Scootaloo seemed to not see the value in the Chaos Emeralds, but on the other side, Applebloom defended how important they were. Sweetie Belle just stayed there, watching them argue with Sonic by her side. Both exchanged looks and shrugged.

"If I could see one of those gems, then I’d believe it!" Scootaloo responded directly to the situation. Upon hearing these words, Sonic pretended to cough to get the fillies’ attention, and they all turned to look at him.

He had his hand on his spikes and pulled out the green Chaos Emerald, which he had gotten from the giant Timberwolf. "Oh! You mean one like this?" Sonic teased as he tossed it in the air and caught it again in an endless cycle.

The CMC approached, admiring the shiny emerald. The closer they got, the more they could feel it emanating a huge amount of energy. It felt warm and peaceful because Sonic held it in his hand. "This is one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. I need you to keep this a secret, okay? I know I’m trusting very secret information to such young fillies, but I once was in your... in your shoes and had to face the bad guys. Nobody asked me or denied me, but I did it for good reasons. Now I want to trust that you won’t say anything about the emerald we just talked about, okay?"

The three of them looked away from the emerald to look at Sonic, noticing his kind smile and a calm expression. "Sonic, why are you telling us something so important? Aren’t you afraid we might betray you? We don’t know each other very well." Sweetie Belle asked uncertainly while she and her friends lowered their gazes.

"I can see in you that you’re not bad girls, and I don’t think you have bad intentions toward me. Back in the forest, you were scared and needed help, and I saved you because I couldn’t let anything happen to you. I don’t care if we don’t know each other well, the reasons are the least important when someone is in trouble. You would do the same if you gathered the courage to face whatever it takes to do the right thing."

"You’re so cool and wise at the same time." The trio smiled in unison while Sonic put the emerald away and made his characteristic gesture of scratching his nose, smiling proudly at himself.

"Yeah, I have my moments. But enough about me! What do you think about going on a short but intense trip?"

The three of them jumped up in excitement, shouting "YES!" in unison as they began preparing their things for the trip. Sonic watched them run back and forth at top speed, gathering food, water, and some saddlebags. After hearing the story, they had an idea of how wild and crazy this adventure with their new friend would be.

It seemed like trust wouldn’t be earned just through the story, but by knowing what he had lived through in his adventures. They’d be able to get attached to the fastest one more quickly than they’d ever expected. Trust would only show itself when it was really needed in new friendships.

From the Other Side of the Story

Twilight had already informed her friends about Princess Celestia's plan. Discord would handle Tirek, while she would try to stop Sonic in the best way possible, but that would have to wait after their last encounter. Now, everyone had gathered with Discord, who was feeling proud of being assigned to such an important mission for his very embodiment of chaos.

"Well, girls and Spike, I must take my leave, I have an extremely important mission to attend to!" He simply disappeared as if he were an illusion in front of Twilight and her friends.

"Finally, some peace to calm the atmosphere," Rainbow said, stretching while staying airborne.

Quickly, Discord reappeared behind the whole group, surprising everyone. "By the way, I’ve been very aware of your situation with a certain blue creature who moves like the wind. I must say, watching you fail at either befriending him or simply talking to him was quite fun! He seems more capable of being someone kinder to everyone than your attempt to stop him when he arrived. But aside from that, he’s still here and there, wandering through our lands." He made a small wooden puppet of Sonic, which he controlled with strings, making it run in its characteristic way on the ground in front of the ponies and the dragon.

"If you were aware of his existence, why didn’t you stop him? You could have made things easier for everyone," Twilight yelled at him, confronting him while he nonchalantly filed his claws, and the wooden puppet was moving on its own, eventually climbing onto Twilight's head and sitting there.

"And take all the credit for something that has been your responsibility since his arrival? How kind of a friend would I be if I did that? Besides, he hasn’t done anything dangerous or chaotic to catch my attention and stop him by my own means."

"Wait a second! You’ve been watching him since he arrived?" Applejack approached the herald of chaos, feeling upset by the fact that he could have done something for everyone’s safety.

He simply nodded, and a book and a beach chair appeared, lying on it.

"You didn’t stop him because you found it amusing to watch him travel through Equestria? Where’s the fun in running wild?" Pinkie said as she emerged from the book when it opened, holding her face with her hooves.

Discord simply picked her up, hugging her with his tail and bringing her to the ground with her friends. "He’s such a curious being! He escaped from the gala, went to Ponyville, arrived at Sweet Apple Acres the same night, ate an apple, and slept between the trees. He befriended the little Crusaders after saving them from the Timberwolves. Now, who knows what he’ll be doing next?"

While recounting all this, Spike felt Twilight call him using her magic to pull him towards her and whispered, "Spike, go with the girls, okay? Make sure they’re okay, and if anything happens, send me a letter."

The young dragon nodded, feeling honored by the small mission, and hurried off at top speed.

"And I was a little busy with an interesting read. I’ll let you see the best parts; you’ve already marked them. Enjoy your break while I have more important things to do. Ta-ta!" Before disappearing in a confetti explosion, he handed the book to Twilight, which was one they all knew very well.

"Our journal? Hmm… let’s go, girls, we need to figure out how to open the chest the Tree of Harmony left us."

"To the Castle of the Two Sisters!" Rainbow shouted, totally excited by the idea, as if she were leading the group.