Chapter One: Sonic's Adventure
Rainbow Dash trotted into the Starswirl the Bearded Wing of Canterlot's Magic School for Gifted Unicorns with a saddle full of books on her back. She felt extremely small every time she entered the great hall of the famous historical magician, like she lost a few centimeters in height every time she entered.
She turned and looked back. Firefly was waving goodbye to her, and casually she waved back, as she and her mother went their separate ways.
Rainbow Dash then turned her attention towards finding her way around. It was Thursday, the beginning of half a week in Canterlot studying magic with her new friends. The hall seemed empty, and not a sound could be heard. For a moment she thought she was actually early for once, but quickly noticed unicorn professors in the rooms nearby. A thought popped into her head and she began looking for a pink alicorn pony in the lounge room.
"Rainbow Dash? Rainbow, where are you?" called a calm, melodic young voice from the back of the lounge. It seemed be coming from a far away pinkish blob with purple, pink, and yellow striped triple toned hair.
Striding casually into the lounge, Rainbow noticed Princess Cadence and looked sorry, like she was waiting for her.
"Late again...?" she asked, her voice sounding like an admission.
Cadence simply laughed softly, straightening her ponytail out a bit with a hoof. "Just a little. It's no problem Rainbow...and besides, I'm just glad you're here so I can see if you can answer a little riddle for me! Ahem...What has wings and magic spells, but does not fly?"
"Does not fly...? Uhmm..." Rainbow pondered the question, but after quickly getting frustrated, decided she was stumped. "I got nothing." she smiled sheepishly.
Cadence leaned next to Rainbow's ear, smirked and whispered into it with a wink. "You're standing in it."
The little filly's eyes widened.
"Oooohh! You're so smart, there's no way I could get that." Rainbow lay her saddle full of books on the nearest couch, examining them. "And I'm supposed to be practicing my lateral thinking too, thanks for reminding me that I suck so bad at it." she admitted, looking crestfallen.
Cadence nuzzled Rainbow's cheek gently as she walked up to the couch, hugging her a bit with one of her wings.
"Not to worry, Rainbow," Cadence said gently, "The greatest geniuses are often the ones who have made the most mistakes."
Rainbow nodded.
"I haven't felt like much of a genius lately." she admitted solemnly.
Cadence sat down carefully on the couch and smiled at Rainbow. "Maybe you'll feel better after you get your present. Twilight Twinkle told me she wrote something special that she thinks you'll really like."
"Oh yeah, that's right. Twilight... uh, Sparkle told me her mom was writing a book, ever since the Rainboom when we met. Where'll I find her?" Rainbow then asked.
Following the directions as best she could, Rainbow soon found herself in the study room, looking for Twinkle.
Rainbow tried not to stare back at the ponies, all unicorns, who were looking at her with strange looks. Her tiny, underdeveloped wings made her a strange sight in some parts of Canterlot, especially here. She quickly found Twinkle, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Hey, Twinkle..."
Twinkle's mouth dropped in surprise as she quickly looked down at Rainbow and smiled cheerfully. "Oh, Rainbow! I'm so glad you made it...I'm sure you're going to love my latest novel!"
"Your latest novel? How many have you done by now?" Rainbow's head tilted quizzically.
Twinkle rubbed her chin, thinking, then laughed softly. "A bit too many too count. Though...most of them weren't too different from each other, you know? Lots of science fiction stories about heroes exploring space. This one...it's kind of like that, but I tried thinking a little outside the box for it. I think you'll find something really special about the hero in this story. I'm not sure how the public at large will respond to him, but I made sure he's not quite like anything anypony's ever seen before in an adventure tale," Twinkle explained, finishing with a smirk and a wink.
Rainbow nodded and took in as much as she could as her attention swayed between Twinkle and the room at large. Some ponies were still looking at her while others were chatting idly as they did, and Rainbow wondered what was going on.
"Oh, a new hero... cool." she smiled and nodded approvingly. "And a sci fi... I guess it'll be... interesting!"
"Righty-o!" Rainbow winked, picking up the book in her mouth and stuffing it in her saddlebags. "How long before you can get it out there, in shops and stuff?"
"I'm...not quite sure yet." Twinkle said with a blush and a small chuckle. "I'll need to keep making copies on my own first, and try to introduce it to a small test market. If enough ponies like what I've written, then I can finally get a big company to start mass producing it."
"You should get Twilight to make copies for you, with her magic!" Rainbow half-joked, chuckling to herself. She was unaware she was suddenly onto something, as she looked back at Twinkle.
Twinkle stared widely, wondering why she hadn't thought of that. "That's a brilliant idea, Rainbow! It would be so much faster than using the printing press, and, given that Twi's as crazy about books as I am, she'll love a chance to create more of them! You're really clever...it looks your studies are paying off!" Twilight exclaimed, before leaning down to ruffle Rainbow's mane with a hoof.
"Hee hee!" Rainbow grinned, feeling like a genius. "Oh, speaking of... I'd better go find her so we can share what we've learned. I'll seeya around!" she trotted off casually, past the larger adult ponies busily engrossed in their own conversations and stufdies.
"Have fun, sport!" Twinkle said with a wave as she watched Rainbow leave.
Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle was pacing the bookshelves of the Starswirl the Bearded wing anxiously, finding her unable at the moment to choose which of the many, many spell manuals to actually pick up and read.
Rainbow Dash trotted happily along, humming a bland tune to herself, proud of her idea.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm!" she hummed, noticing the familiar purple coat of her friend and doing a double take, walking towards the nearby bookshelf. "Hey, Twi!" she greeted.
Twi shook her head wildly as she stopped staring at one of the shelves, as if she were coming out of a trance. "Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said with a joyful smile as she looked at her friend's face. "You're looking really happy today!"
"Your mom just gave me a new book, plus I came up with an idea that she really liked, to get it published. How about you try learning a cloning spell, to copy her books?"
"Wow, learning a new spell and putting more books into this world! Is it my birthday!?" Twilight shouted, before leaping to her hind legs and clapping her front hooves in joy, giggling in anticipation.
"Maybe it is." Rainbow grinned.
"What's the title of the book? Maybe I can even tell what it's about just by hearing it!" Twilight cried out as she returned to all fours and started alternating all her hooves in a stomping dance with a big toothy smile in response to Rainbow Dash's own grin.
"Not this one, I don't think..." Rainbow put her saddlebags down and grabbed the book, revealing the cover. It showed a spiky blue creature standing on two legs, with arms and hands, a small black button nose and two black eyes. It wore thick white gloves and red shoes, both with a thick white buckle around them. "Sonic's Adventure."
That night, Rainbow lay awake in bed, a comfortable room in Canterlot overlooking the night sky. The full moon shone over her, but the filly had already hid herself under the covers, a tiny nightlight casting her silhouette. Time passed, and the battery ran out, forcing her to stop reading and go to sleep.
Morning came as it always did on another day of her Canterlot half of the week, and as soon as she was up she was hanging out with Twilight in their 'library', a nearby bedroom suite close to the Academy. The two were dropped off by Twilight's parents, Twilight Twinkle and Moonshine, who took the young pegasus in with them during her stay each week. The two spent the day studying, talking and occasionally having visits from Twilight's unicorn teachers, Rainbow's mother Firefly or even Princess Celestia herself.
Today, both fillies were lying side by side engrossed in their books, Twilight's was a book about baby dragons, and Rainbow's a guide to simple flight maneuvres.
"So, have you figured out how to make that baby dragon you hatched talk yet?" Rainbow peered over her friend.
Twilight blushed with a slightly embarrassed smile as she looked up from her book at Rainbow. "Not...quite yet. I tried to teach him to say my name, but it just comes out as 'Bwiwight Spawkaw.' I hope I'll find something in this baby dragon manual about teaching them speech. At least he's a friendly little guy, though, heh."
Rainbow chucked, especially at the sound of Twilight's name pronounced like that.
"Ooh, do you want me to show you this move I've been studying?"
Twilight's eyes went wide as she grinned in anticipation. "I'd love to!"
Almost anticipating her response, Rainbow had already gotten up and started stretching her legs, before flapping her wings and hovering in the air a meter or so above Twilight, before pulling back and taking off in an upwards curl, attempting to narrowly miss the bookcase. Her head slammed right into it with a thud.
"Ow!" she fell back to the ground. The bookcase began shaking, its heavy books falling from their shelves as everything came crashing down. "Uh oh...!"
"Eep!" Twilight squeaked out, straining with much difficulty to keep the bookcase from falling over completely with the psychic aura from her horn. She closed her eyes, grunting hard, but still found herself unable to push the piece of furniture back in place, only just barely keeping it from toppling as it tilted in place, slowly but surely dropping by the second.
Rainbow's hooves were holding it up like a pillar, her wings flapping as she strained to lift it up. Suddenly the flapping caused her to lift into the air, pushing the bookcase until it was finally upright again.
"Phew... that was close!"
Twilight started in shock at the bookcase, then laughed, smiling up at Rainbow. "Wow, you're really strong, Rainbow!"
"Thanks...!" Rainbow puffed, her wings beating repidly before landing gently on the ground. "I didn't even know what I was doing! Sorry about the books, and the fact that we nearly died under a giant bookshelf."
"Actually it was kind of...fun, being in danger like that. I'm not real sure why," Twilight remarked with a toothy grin and a deep blush.
Rainbow looked at the pile of books around them.
"Maybe we should clear these up before anyone sees what happened."
"Oh, right!" Twilight spat out as she began hastily trying to user her horn to place books, one at a time, back in their proper order.
Rainbow picked one up in her teeth, flying up to look where to put it. It took her noticeably longer to sort books, but in minutes the only ones left to sort were the ones way up high that even Twilight's telekinetic powers couldn't reach.
Twilight giggled happily, watching Rainbow sort the last of the books on the final, highest shelf. "You're so good with your wings, Rainbow Dash!"
It took time, especially for the impatient winged filly sorting them, but eventually everything was placed back in order, and the two could get back to their reading. Rainbow glanced over her saddlebags, to the copy of Sonic's Adventure she was so desperate to read. She quickly grabbed it and placed it on the floor to continue reading. She's remained strangely quiet about the book ever since she received it from Twilight Twinkle, having said something about not wanting to spoil it and saving the explanations for when she was done. She had read plenty of books since coming to Cloudsdale to study for the first time, but this one was special in the way that she treated it like a rare and important treasure, said nothing about what she was reading and became totally engrossed every time she opened it up, barely stopping to eat. She sat down and read where she left off.
Twilight, meanwhile, returned to trying to find a way to teach speech to baby dragons. Mere minutes after the two had started reading, the surprisingly soft sound of metal boots clanging against the floor suddenly sounded through the hall. Twilight looked up from her book suddenly in shock, noticing that Princess Celestia was approaching.
Rainbow quickly hid her new book under the flying one, not keen on getting caught.
Celestia, feeling somewhat mischievous, used her telekinesis to pick Rainbow's new book and take a look at it. She laughed softly before placing the book right back where it had been. She could sense Rainbow's anxiety easily, and decided to try and soothe the young filly's emotions by dropping down to sit at Rainbow's level, and letting her whole body and spirit radiate a invisible, but very noticiable serene energy that seemed to flow throughout the whole room. "Stories about the adventures of imaginary heroes are very enjoyable, Rainbow Dash. I know this from experience. But remember to keep honing your own skills...the world moves quickly, and one must move quickly to keep up," Celestia explained in her impossibly soft and gentle voice, effortlessly smiling as she did so, before raising to her hooves again and giving Rainbow a playful wink.
Rainbow simply nodded, looking stunned, before chuckling softly to herself a moment later.
The following week, Rainbow was attending a special session of flight practice that she had been attempting to study for. She, her mother Firefly and Celestia were standing on a long, flat piece of cloud almost exactly where Cloudsdale had once been, now moved further away. The Princess was there for a special reason, to create a storm similar to the one Rainbow had flown through when she first landed in Canterlot. This storm, however, was to be much weaker, and be an illusion entirely under the Princess' control. It would form a thick fog while Rainbow and Firefly flew the distance to Canterlot together, an exercise in both surviving storms and sensing the psychic aura of others.
Twilight sat comfortably by a window in the familiar Canterlot library, lighting her horn up and smiling softly to herself as she watched the illusory storm in the distance, wondering if Firefly or Rainbow would be able to sense her psychic energy from so far away.
Firefly looked back at the Princess, standing with Rainbow at what was supposed to be the starting line. The setup looked like a bizarre race, but to the three of them it felt nothing like it.
Celestia smiled at Firefly as she noticed the pink furred pegasus looking over at her. "You may be begin when ready," the Princess said with complete calmness and composure.
"Well Dash? You ready for some high speed flying?" Firefly looked back at her daughter happily. Rainbow nodded.
"Ready, set... go!" Firefly announced, and the two were off flying through the grey sky, quickly disappearing into the stormy clouds. It was hard to see all but Firefly beside her, who began to glow bright blue, her whole body becoming a pony-shaped light. Rainbow flew close, feeling safe as long as her eyes remained fixed on her mother, but slightly ahead, watching for anything to follow.
From a distance, Twilight noticed the bright blue glowing energy, amazed at Firefly's speed and power, figuring that Rainbow would be close by the speeding blue dot. She kept her horn lit as she looked out the window, hoping the training exercise would play out as well as possible.
Rainbow and Firefly looked up, sensing something in the distance. They couldn't see anything, but they could feel as though Twilight were there somehow, watching them, and could feel her hoping things would go well. Moments of flying through grey cloud later, and they could both see a purple light in the distance, soon escaping the clouds and stopping in front of a balcony over Clousdale. The light came from a nearby window, and Firefly opened it up.
Twilight's horn slowly dimmed, as she watched Rainbow's mother begin to enter. She stared for a moment, not quite sure how to react at first, but soon a soft giggle escaped her lips. "Yay, you found me!"
"I was a bit slow that time..." Rainbow admitted as she followed Firefly in.
"Oh well, it wasn't a race." her mother said comfortingly.
"I'm gonna grab some books and we can hang out together til lunch, okay Twilight?" Rainbow turned to her friend.
"Sounds wonderful, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed as she rose to her back legs, clapped her hooves in anticipation, then dropped to all fours again.
"Good idea, we've got shopping to do while I'm here, but it can wait until you've had lunch. " Firefly told her, before walking away. "I'll see you then!"
"I'll go get my books. I'm trying to get to the end of the one Twinkle gave me." Rainbow explained, getting her saddlebags and looking at the bookcases for books. Eventually she had everything but the one she was looking for.
"Having some trouble, Rainbow?" inquired a familiar voice as the sound of metallic boots tapping against the floor filled the room. Princess Celestia walked slowly and gracefully among the bookcases as she approached Rainbow, making a leisurely stroll through the library as she made her way to the little blue pegasus filly.
"Uh, just looking for a book of mine..." she stammered awkwardly.
Celestia chuckled softly, whipping her face to a nearby shelf, and levitating one of the books from it with her horn's psychic energy. As she lowered it towards Rainbow, the cover made the identity of the book obvious.
"Oh, there it is..." Rainbow put it in her saddlebags. "I never have enough time to read it." she looked at Celestia for advice.
"An unfortunate side effect of the intensity of your training," Celestia said simply. "One that is necessary...unless, perhaps, you stumbled across a way to block the flow of the river time. But you and I both know that is impossible...don't we?" As Celestia finished speaking, she smiled and gave Rainbow a quick wink, before turning around and trotting out of the room, with as much grace and composure as she had possessed when she had entered.
Rainbow simply stared and looked baffled.
"Huh...?" she turned towards Twilight. "What was that all about?"
Twilight tilted her head, seeming very confused as well. "The Princess does seem to have an...unusual sense of humor sometimes."
The following day, Rainbow was back at the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Academy in the morning. She looked into the entrance of the main archives. Celestia's words to her yesterday were on her mind.
'Block the flow of the river of time...?' She thought to herself, repeating Celestia's vague remark. 'I don't know what she means by that, unless she meant something to do with...' trotting inside the main archive room, she kept her eyes peeled for anything that might help. Scrolls and dusty old books were piled in a disorganized mess, but Rainbow noticed something that didn't belong.
"Nah..." Rainbow shook her head. "I can't tell any of these apart. Have you seen anything to do with time around here?"
Twilight rubbed her chin for a few moments, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. She then looked back at Rainbow and shook her head. "Nope. Not a thing. Maybe somepony already checked it out?"
"I'll keep looking. Bound to be something around here, y'know." Rainbow quickly returned to her search.
Twilight chuckled. "Good idea. If I were you, I'd leave no stone...er, shelf unexamined."
Rainbow continued her search, as time passed. The room was messy, scrolls and documents were piled together without and proper organization. Nothing was arranged by name or subject. She simply didn't know where to look.
Behind her, a scroll magically appeared in the middle of the room with a silent flash of light.
As Rainbow searched a random shelf, she saw the title of a scroll in the corner of her eye, lying on the floor. She cleared some of the mess and read the title aloud.
"Latest Advances in the Field of Manipulating Time. By Doctor Whooves." she squinted, looking at the details. It looked old, and the date was written in a fancy, specialized style that she couldn't decipher. It was probably out of date, but it looked promising enough to her.
Meanwhile, Princess Celestia walked silently in the distance past the shelves, peering at the young filly as she levitated a cup of coffee to her lips. The Princess made a quick, simple grin to herself, before leaving just as quickly as she had came, continuing to sip her drink.
Rainbow then quickly scanned the contents to see what was there. Something about a time warp caught her eye. She grabbed the scroll and walked out, heading for her and Twilight's study room.
Twilight began to slowly walk behind Rainbow, tilting her head as she wondered what the spiky maned pegasus was planning.
Rainbow quickly entered her and Twilight's room, laying the scroll and her copy of Sonic's Adventure on the floor, reading the contents of the scroll. She grabbed some sheets of paper and a pen, arranging the paper in a circle and drawing a circle over them, creating a barrier with herself, the book and the scroll in the middle. She opened the book up at the page she last left it on, and read carefully the scroll's instructions, telling her to concentrate on the inside of the circle she created. Rainbow closed her eyes and focused on the book.
"Focus..." she murmured as the circle she drew began to glow. All around her, something strange was happening as everything warped, slowing down as strange, mystical energy wrapped around her, protecting her in a bright blue barrier. Wind blew the book wide open to the first page, and Rainbow suddenly felt herself falling.
Twilight stopped in her tracks as she saw bright light pouring through the study room. Having no idea what that meant, she obeyed her first instinct and rushed forward. "RAINBOW DASH!" she cried out as she zoomed forward at full gallop.
An endless vertical tunnel erupted below the pegasus filly, and she fell through a flowing blue portal with a yelp and a scream. She watched the book, the scroll and bits of paper falling with her, floating above, and as the heaviest thing there was, quickly started to fall faster and further than the book, which she raised her hooves to grab, holding it tightly in her arms.
Back in her room, the blue light disappeared, leaving the room empty except for sheets of paper arranged in a circle, all ripped from the inside of the circle Rainbow drew, leaving a perfect spherical shape inside on the floor. But there was no noise or any other evidence of the pegasus having been there at all.
"Rainbow, Rainbow?" Twilight blurted out frantically as she finally manged to enter the study. She quickly noticed the circles of paper on the floor, and ran right up to them, staring at them with blank confusion, before pulling her head up, looking in no direction in particular, and gulping down her saliva as a small shiver went down her spine.
"Oh dear...this is a pickle."
Strange sights and sounds assailed Rainbow Dash from all directions. Robots and strange creatures came out of nowhere to attack her as she fell, but she clutched her book even more strongly. As she fell, she thought she saw a dark pair of glasses and an enormous ginger moustache on top of a round, peach skinned face staring down at her with a sinister grin. The face laughed a mischievous laugh.
A moment later, Rainbow Dash fell on her flank in a green, grassy field, rubbing her aching head. It was throbbing and spinning for a few seconds as stars clouded her vision. When she rubbed her eyes, she realized she was in a field of checkered orange bricks and grass. In the distance, a blue river and tall, spiky mountains dominated her view, apart from the deep blue sky and fluffy white clouds. It was unlike anywhere she'd ever been or seen, but as she struggled to control her gaping jaw, she knew it was uncannily like the description of a place in her book. The very first page.
"This is.... Green Hill Zone."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Welcome to the Next Level
It had a been an exciting day for Amy Rose.
The pink furred hedgehog girl brushed a few stray quills out of her face as she turned a knob on the door to her bedroom, and shut the door behind her as quickly as she'd opened it. She walked to a corner of her room and set down her crossbow, unfastening the quiver of bolts around her green, white, and orange dress, and letting it lay beside her faithful firearm. Rubbing her chin with a gloved finger for a moment, she felt like she was forgetting something...but soon, she smiled to herself in realization, and reached beside her into what seemed to be a hole in nothing...out of the strange pocket came a large mallet, which she set aside with her other weaponry.
Placing her hands upon her hips, she smiled proudly at the tools she'd used to best a trio of Buzzbombers, quickly returning the strange bee-like cyborgs to the innocent woodland critters they had been. Amy's manic agility in battle had earned her the title "Rosy the Rascal" from both both friend and foe. She chuckled to herself as she decided she was done stroking her own ego, and quickly went to sit at her reading desk, glad that the warm Mobian sun was peering through her window.
After a few minutes spent detailing her adventure of the day with pen and ink, Amy placed the letter in an envelope, licked it shut, and placed another of her custom heart shaped stamps upon it. Placing in it a rather large stack, she reminded herself to walk to the post office in the morning...Amy wasn't going to let anything get in the way of sending tales of her latest exploits to her crush, the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog.
Amy gave a longing sigh as she smiled out the window. She knew it would probably be a long time, if it even happened at all, but maybe she could grow into almost as much of a hero as Sonic himself, he'd ask for her hand in marriage.
Amy then looked to the other side of her desk, across from her garguatan tower of letters, and noticed her tarot cards. She giggled softly, remembering when her special deck had lead her to meet Sonic for the very first time. She decided that she'd try her hand at predicting the future once more. As the young hedgehog picked up the deck and arranged the cards carefully, she relaxed, and allowed her mind to listen to the energies of the universe, eager to learn from them.
Meanwhile, in another time, and another place, Twilight Sparkle had rushed into the throne room of Equestria's ruling monarch. The two armored guards beside the throne looked a bit uneasy as they saw the familiar youth rushing into the room in a panic, but held their places.
"Princess! I can't find Rainbow Dash anywhere!"
The mouths of the guards stood agape, worrying that one of the Princess's prized students had been abducted, or worse.
Celestia simply nodded understandingly, before smiling to her two loyal defenders. "All is not is not as it seems," Celestia said to the guards, before walking down to the purple unicorn and nuzzling her cheek gently.
"I...I don't understand!" Twilight exclaimed in confusion.
Celestia chuckled softly, giving a mysterious smile, that, in spite of everything, Twilight found strangely comforting. "Magic works in mysterious ways, Twilight Sparkle. Worry not...you shall see Rainbow safe and sound before you know it. In the meantime...do you like tea and biscuits?"
"Um...well...yeah, actually." Twilight said with a small smile and a deep blush, gradually beginning to calm down, feeling her fur no longer standing on end like it had been just moments before.
Firefly walked through the massive halls of the Throne Room, with important business on behalf of New Cloudsdale. She wondered if she could take the opportunity to catch up on her daughter and the new friends she made.
"Hi, Twilight. How's Rainbow doing?" she asked from behind the unicorn's back.
Twilight shook a bit, startled, whirling around and seeing her friend's mother in the flesh. "Uh...it's...sort of complicated."
Celestia snickered a little as she watched Twilight and Firefly, but quickly put her playful mischief aside and regained her royal composure, smiling reassuringly at Firefly. "Rainbow has gone on something of a mystical journey, Firefly. With luck, she could very well have revolutionized magic as we know it before day's end."
Twilight's eyes shot up to Celestia as the last words of the Princess ran through her ears, wondering if such a major upheaval of the way magic was practiced could truly be in the works, and if somepony so close to her would indeed be the one to put it in motion. True, Celestia did have an odd sense of humor...but something about the Princess' tone seemed entirely sincere.
Even Firefly was taken aback slightly by the explanation Celestia gave.
"Oh... well, wish her luck from me!" she exlaimed happily. Secretly she hoped Rainbow was safe, wherever she was right now, and that the Princess wasn't simply using her as a guinea pig for something. She turned to Twilight, kneeling down to her level. She could tell the filly looked worried. "The Princess and I have important things to discuss, Twilight, so we'll see you later, okay?" she winked.
Firefly watched her go, hoping that Twilight wouldn't be forced to wait and worry about her friend. An adventure together would be the perfect way for the two fillies to form a bond with one another. More than that, her thoughts turned to Rainbow Dash, wondering where she could possibly be right now.
Rainbow's wings were beginning to ache. She flew for what felt like miles, and it had been longer than she cared to guess since she had arrived. The further she went, the more she was convinced this was the same world that her book was set in, or something identical to it. As excited as she wanted to be, she couldn't help feeling lost, afraid and alone. The air was cold and breezy, making flight more exhausting than ever. Her eyes drooped, opening and closing, and as she yawned she realized she needed to rest somewhere, before she fell out of the sky.
A two story house on the horizon caught her eye. It was sitting on the edge of a forest, near the river she was following. She landed in front of the house, weakly stepping up to the front door and baning it with her hoof. Just then, her tired eyes noticed a sign on the door, reading "Chaotix Detective Agency."
After loud crashing and banging, she heard someone come towards the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Just hold on!" Came a gruff voice on the other side. The door was opened by a large reptillian creature, with a long snout and several spiky teeth. He wore headphones and a gold chain around his neck, plus black gloves and boots. "Who do we have here?"
"I uh... I think I'm lost." replied Rainbow. "I've been flying for hours, but I can't find him..."
"Find who?"
"Oh... I'm looking for Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. Have you seen him?" the filly asked, her voice trailing off in a mumble before yawning.
"Sonic? I'm not sure I've seen him around here in a while. Looks like you're not going anywhere, though."
Rainbow shook her head. Everything was getting way too weird for her to handle, and as she rubbed her eye, she wasn't sure if she was doing it because she was tired or weepy.
The reptile in front of her gave her a sympathetic look, the sight of the lost little pony getting to him. "Why don't you come inside, and take a nap with us? We'll find who you're looking for."
Rainbow nodded and followed him inside. She was lead into a room that looked like an office, with filing cabinets and lockers and all manner of information, as Rainbow half expected to see. She suddenly remembered who the owner of the house was. His name was Vector, and he was a crocodile. He was the leader of a group called the Chaotix Detective Agency, and their house also doubled as their headquarters.
"Charmy! We've got company! You in there?" he opened one of the locker doors.
Immediately, a large round shape flew out of the locker, zipping through the air in a frenzy. As soon as the shape slowed down, Rainbow could see that it was some sort of insectoid being, around her size, wearing an orange jacket and a black helmet with hot pink highlights. Whoever this new creature was, it seemed excited to see her.
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, company, I love company!" Charmy yelled out as he did a few figure eights as he hovered in the air, just before landing right in front of Rainbow Dash.
"You're a pony! A blue pony! No, a blue rainbow pony! I love, love, love rainbows, but I've never seen a blue pony before! Never seen one with wings either, nope nope nope! I bet you're special, really special! I'd pet you, but Vector says that clients need their per...son...nal...personal space! Yeah! But you're pretty, really, really pretty! I like pretty people and pretty things! Like flowers! Flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere, ding dong diddly doo! WHEE!"
As Charmy finally finished speaking, he looked right into Rainbow's eyes, a big toothy grin on his face as if he'd just won his weight in gold.
"Oh brother..." Vector sighed.
"You're Charmy Bee, right?" Rainbow asked. "I uh... I think I heard of you guys. Where's Espio?"
"Right behind you. A true ninja never lets his guard down." came a soft, soothing voice as a purple lizard creature familiar to Rainbow suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Like Vector, he wore black armored gloves and shoes. "You should be more careful who you bring into our house, Vector. She could be a spy for Doctor Eggman, or a thief or something."
"Aw, come on Espio. Just take a look at her. She's not gonna harm anybody!"
'Don't count on it...!' Rainbow thought to herself.
"Why did you come here? Do you have a mission for us?" Espio asked.
"Well, I was lost in the green hills looking for Sonic, and I guess I got lost." Rainbow tried to explain. She hoped they wouldn't ask what she was doing before that.
"Sonic, huh? You're a fan of his?"
"Yeah." Rainbow scratched her back and smiled. "I'm a big fan of Sonic's! I wanted to show off my flying moves to him, but I guess I missed him or something."
"Sonic's a pretty wild one, ya know. What made you think he would be coming here?" Vector then asked.
"Oh... just a hunch." the pegasus replied awkwardly.
"Sonic's fun! Crazy stuff tends to happen a whole, whole lot when he's around!" Charmy said with a giggle as he took wing and start flying upside down in a circle around everyone else in the room. "Like that one time last week when Vector ran right into him! Literally! You're real, real smart, Vector, but you should really, really learn to watch where you're going!"
Meanwhile, back in Equestria, Twilight Sparkle roamed back to the study, wondering if she could find any clues among the sheets of paper Rainbow had left arranged in a circle. She looked over the pages carefully, wondering if the writing on them would give her a lead.
"Always pay attention to something running towards you at mach speeds, I've learned that much." Vector admitted, rubbing his stomach. "Say, little girl... you never told us your name."
"Oh, it's Rainbow. Rainbow Dash!" the filly announced. The three looked at her quizzically, like it was an especially strange name.
"Hmm, you sure sound like the type to be a Sonic fan to me." Espio told her. "You must have a certain need for speed, just like him."
"Yeah, pretty much...!" Dash felt like being modest. "Say, how fast can Charmy go when flying at full speed?"
The other two Chaotix members looked puzzled.
"We uh... never thought of that." Vector told her. "Whaddya think, Charmy?"
Charmy turned right side up, landed in front the rest of the group, and thought for a few moments, his manic energy having died down while he thought about Vector's question...it had, admittedly, not been something he'd thought about much.
Luckily, something sparked in the bee boy's mind, and he smiled proudly. "Well, I can't fly anywhere near as fast as Sonic can run, but Amy timed me once when I was flyin' at full blast and I was goin' a hundred kilo-whatevers an hour! Zip, zip, zowie!"
"A hundred kilometers an hour, huh? Impressive!" complimented the rainbow-maned speedster. She yawned as talk of flying and speed reminded her of her long flight in search of help today. "That reminds me, I've been flying for miles, I could do with a nap. We can look for Sonic when we're all rested, right?"
Vector nodded. Espio looked at him with a sigh.
"Vector's pretty lazy. I think you'll fit in well around here, if you're staying." Espio told her.
"Looks like it... well, goodnight... er, day... whatever." Rainbow yawned, looking for a place to nap, and lying on a couch nearby. Vector, noticing that she took his resting place before he had time to lift a finger, sat down at his desk with his arms behind his back and started napping. Espio simply stood leaning over the nearest wall.
Hours later, after the sun had set, Amy Rose had fallen asleep at her desk, her body leaned back in her chair as she snored and dreamed of Sonic.
"zzz...shoo...glad you liked the cake Sonic, I baked myself...zzz," Amy mumbled as the scene in her subconscious mind continued.
Outside, Rainbow trotted carefully up to the door as the Chaotix waited behind a nearby bush with a torch. Vector gave the filly a thumbs up.
"Are you sure this is right?" Espio questioned the leader.
"Sure, I heard Rosy the Rascal is obsessed with Sonic, and she even met him. Well, she told me so."
Rainbow' hoof knocked the door three times, louder and harder than she meant to. It was hard with hooves to be gentle knocking on doors.
"Is she even in tonight?" she asked herself.
"Umm...ummm nah?" Amy said to herself as she blinked herself awake. "Coming, coming," Amy cried out weakly as she hopped out of her chair, walked to her door, and opened it. The half asleep hedgehog girl looked at the shape in front her curiously, and her brain managed to recognize it as the closest familiar thing she could compare to.
"Sonic! So nice of you to come by and visit me tonight...hee hee hee!" Amy exclaimed happily as she leaned over and hugged Rainbow tight, nuzzling the filly's cheek like there was no tomorrow.
"Yah!" Rainbow squirmed in her grip. "I-I'm not Sonic...!"
"Huh?" Amy leaped back now suddenly fully awake. "Wuh...wow, you really aren't Sonic! You're...hmm...you're a little girl." Amy rubbed the back of her quills, feeling very embarrassed. "I'm really sorry about this, I should have waited to wake up all the way before I checked for guests."
"I'm kinda looking for Sonic, know where he might have gone?"
"Not exactly, but wherever he is, I should be able to find him for you. I've kind of got a sixth sense about this kind of thing...some call it 'Sonic Radar'," Amy said with a confident smirk.
"Oh, uh... cool." Rainbow looked over at where Vector's group were watching, and decided not to try giving a thumbs up with her hoof.
"So, whatcha need Sonic for? Need him to help you with something, or are you just a big fan?" Amy said as she stretched her arms, letting out a small yawn as she finished speaking.
"I kinda need his help with something, big adventure stuff, ya know? It's a long story." Rainbow tried to explain.
Amy giggled and gave Rainbow a wink. "I understand. It's funny, that's exactly the kind of thing Sonic always says."
"So, that special sense you mentioned... care to elaborate inside? I hope it's not too late."
"Sure! Come right in, and I'll have us ready in a flash!" Amy said as she starting walking to the kitchen. "You want anything to eat or drink? I've got lots of soda pop, and I think I still have a few slices of chocolate cake in the fridge."
"Not just now." Rainbow followed her with a yawn. "I just woke up from my nap, and now it's getting late. I think this is what they call Jet-lag."
"You're from out of town, huh?" Amy said a she popped open a can of strawberry soda for herself, and began heading towards her living room couch. As she made it there, she tapped on one the cushions cheerfully, inviting Rainbow to sit beside her.
"Something like that. I was doing flight practice when I got majorly lost. Found myself out here." she explained, though she tried to cover up the 'using a magic spell on a book and getting sucked inside into the world of Sonic' part. She sat on the couch, and looked out the window at the open sky. She wondered what Twilight was doing right now, and whether she was already panicking and trying to look for her.
As it turned out, back in the study room in Canterlot, Twilight was pacing in circles, still examining the sheets of paper Rainbow had left behind. She'd learned a lot about the spell that had been cast, but hadn't figured out how to recreate it yet.
Just then, Twilight Twinkle opened the door to the study, and was great surprised. She knew her daughter loved reading just as much as she did, but reading random sheets of paper on the floor was new.
"Uh...Twi...are you okay? Is...this some kind of weird- I mean, special lesson from the Princess?" Twinkle sent gently, looking at Sparkle with concern.
Sparkle blushed as she looked up at her mother. "Kind of. It's a long story...I think you might want to sit down for it."
"So... what happens now? I mean, how do you find Sonic?" Rainbow suddenly asked. She was weak and drowsy, which seemed to have started as soon as she sat down.
"I follow my nose," Amy said with a laugh. "Well, okay, not really. I've always had a little bit of uh...clairvoyance, since I was a kid. Like...a kind of special way of seeing and feeling things most people don't. For anything complicated, I'd be consulting my special deck of cards...but we won't need anything like that. I'll just walk right out of the house, feel for Sonic's energy, and we'll find him, just like that. I've done it a million times, no joke, hee hee." Amy then raised an eyebrow, as if she'd just remembered something important. "Oh, by the way, I really don't want anything to happen to a nice kid like you, so I'll bring my weapons along, too. There's been some dangerous robots running and flying around here a lot lately...but where there's robots, there's usually Sonic, too."
"Yeah, good point." Rainbow smiled and nodded. Dangerous robots sounded appealing to her. "My uh... parents don't think I'm old enough to fight them yet. But this is my chance to show 'em what I've got!" she punched the air with her hoof enthusiastically. "Uh... I'll follow right behind you."
"Hmm...I have a feeling Sonic's going to get along just fine with you," Amy said, taking a sip from her soda can and smirking playfully at the rainbow maned girl beside her. Finishing her drink, she rose up and tossed it into a bin labeled "recyclables," then headed off to grab her weapons, looking behind her to shoot another quick wink at Rainbow before leaving the room.
"I sure hope so." Rainbow nodded, before trotting behind her hedgehog friend.
Outside, the Chaotix watched for them to come outside. They could hear something that caught their attention.
"So, what do we do now?" Espio asked straight away.
"Just act casual, like we're just passing by. Then we can help Rainbow and Amy, nice and convenient."
"Yeah, yeah, nice and convenient!" Charmy repeated, miraculously managed to keep his voice calm despite the increasing urge to fidget his limbs and wings.
Once Amy had her quiver slung over her dress and her bow and hammer in their "special" compartments, she began walking towards the front door, checking behind her from time to time to check on Rainbow.
"I have a good feeling about this," Amy said cheerfully. "We've just met, but I feel like I've known you a long time. Well, off we go!" Opening the door carefully, Amy stopped and stood behind it, smiling at her new friend. "After you!"
Rainbow trotted by, looking to see what the Chaotix were doing. She spotted them standing around, whistling innocently.
"Oh, hey guys!" Rainbow said as she spotted them.
"Hi Rainbow, hi Amy! We're just... taking our Charmy for a walk, don't mind us." Vector tried to look innocent as best he could.
"Arf, arf, bow wow wow wow!" Charmy barked, doing his best imitation of a dog.
Amy quickly wound up snickering. She wasn't sure why the Chaotix were there, but couldn't find much reason to care about the reason. "Well, if you're not too busy, I don't suppose you all would like to come with me and little Rainbow here on a journey?"
"Rainbow's got a job for us? Sure! We'll help!" Vector smiled awkwardly. "Well, let's go!"
"Whee, a job!" Charmy cried out as he took wing and did a loop in midair.
"Come along guys, I'll lead the way!" Amy exclaimed as she charged ahead. Rainbow trotted briskly behind.
Back in Rainbow and Twilight's familiar Canterlot study room, Twilight Sparkle, after several minutes of curious reading, suddenly lifted her head up from the circle of pages beneath her and smiled to herself.
"...Find out anything champ?" Twinkle remarked calmly as she noticed the look on her daughter's face.
Turning her body towards Twinkle, the same confident grin still on the young filly's face, Sparkle proudly began to explain the situation. "I know where Rainbow disappeared to! After fully reading her notes, I learned that she was performing a special time spell." Twilight suddenly blinked in realization, rubbing her chin for a moment, looking at the ceiling. "Oh...so that's why she was asking. But...moving on!" Twilight said as she smiled proudly in Twinkle's direction again. "As it turns out, this spell can be powerful enough to make simple books into doorways other places on the space time continuum!"
Twinkle began to stare blankly into space as Sparkle finished her explanation, as if the older unicorn had seen a ghost.
"Um...Mum, are you feeling alright?" Twilight said curiously as she looked up at her mother with a concerned face.
"Well I...hmm," Twinkle stammered out as she smiled awkwardly and shifted her eyes from left to right. After a few moments, she took a deep breath, exhaled, walked out of the room, and then returned, levitating a copy of the novel she had written, and placed it into the center of the circle of pages. She then walked in front of her purple coated daughter and smiled more calmly. "When I was as small as you are now, Rainbow's mother told me a legend...something about a spell that could make fairy tales a reality. I didn't believe her at the time, but...looking back from where I am now...I've learned that Firefly's intuition is spot on much more than it's off. From what you've told me...Rainbow Dash is now walking among the characters I've created."
Now it was Sparkle's turn to stare in blank shock. "Mum...that makes no sense."
Twinkle chuckled softly, and put a hoof gently on Sparkle's shoulder. "Twi...lots of things don't make any sense at first. That's what makes magic fun."
Twilight Sparkle stared in wonder for a few moments, her mind processing Twinkle's words, and then she smiled contently, nodding up at Twinkle. "I think I understand now...I need to follow Rainbow into your story, like you followed Rainbow's mum along on all those adventures."
Twinkle smirked playfully as she lifted her hoof from her daughter's shoulder. "You catch on quickly. Just remember, trust your instincts, and trust your friends."
Twilight nodded again, grinning in determination, before walking into the center of the circle of pages, looking down at the copy of "Sonic's Adventure" below her. She then looked back at Twinkle, looked worried for a few seconds, then slowly smiled once more. "I'll tell you all about it...if...when I see you again!"
Twinkle nodded, her smirk softening as she watched Twilight disappear, before covering her face with her hooves, the mystical explosion of light having grown too bright. As she looked back at the circle, both Sparkle and the book were now gone, and Twinkle sighed, feeling a little exhausted. "The world keeps getting stranger and stranger."
As Twilight Sparkle fell through the vortex, she hoped the strange glowing tunnel would let her land somewhere safe...luckily for her, after several minutes of screaming, a particularly dense and soft pile of leaves broke her fall.
Rainbow Dash flew towards the vast mountain on the horizon until she realized she was flying on water. The ground beneath her stopped at a cliff and in the distance the mountain had become a vast island floating in midair. She stared in amazement and recognition, and turned back to the others. She found them further back down the hill, waiting for her to return.
"I just found Angel Island!" Rainbow exclaimed excitedly. She didn't care to mention she had never seen it before, only read about it in a fictional book. "Why don't we check it out?"
"Oh yes, yes, yes, fun fun fun!" Charmy blurted out as he did a figure eight in mid air.
"Hmm...sounds just like the kind of place Sonic would go," Amy said with a chuckle. "Lead the way Rainbow," the pink haired girl remarked with a nod of approval.
Meanwhile, at a very long distance away, Twilight felt her face brushing against leaf after leaf as she slowly realized that her limbs were instinctively clinging to something below her. As it turned out, it was a long, but very, very thin branch of an extremely tall tree. Twilight gasped as she slowly took in the sight of the vast expanse of fog below her that never seemed to end. She looked up again with a gulp, but saw nowhere else to turn except for more and more branches of the many, many trees that surrounded her.
"Great, just the wrong time for me to remember that I'm afraid of heights...okay, okay, I've just got to stay calm...and not look down again!"
Rainbow was transporting Amy on her back, flying over to the edge of Angel Island, and dropped her off.
"Wow, that was fun!" Amy cried out as she straightened out her dress. "You may be small, but you're really fast and strong!"
"Uh... thanks!" Rainbow smiled. "Let's get going!"
"Right behind you!" Amy said cheerfully, pumping her fist in the air.
A short distance from where Rainbow and Amy where standing, a enormous cloud of smoke was visible as a blindingly quick blue blur zipped through it, bright yellow sparks appearing in its wake, as loud noise filled the air, as if something was being sawed apart.
Soon, the cloud began dissipating, revealing countless piles of blue, red, and silver metal, from which rose up crowds of rabbits, squirrels, and birds, fleeing the scene in a panic. A figure walked out from amidst the center of the commotion, fists at his side, and a look of complete confidence and composure on his face. He slicked back his long spiky hair as he looked silently back to his accomplishments behind him.
Back in the mysterious forest she had found, or rather, uncomfortably jettisoned herself into, Twilight Sparkle kept her gaze looking forward at the other trees in her vision, not daring to look upon the perilous drop below her in the foggy depths, her shivering body a reminder that she needed a way out of her predicament as soon as possible.
As luck would have it, a large crimson object was approaching the purple unicorn. Twilight jaw dropped, believing for a few moments that she was to be devoured by a large, red, quadruple winged dragon. Quickly, however, her mind regained it's rationality as the object drew closer and she saw it for what it was...a simple flying machine of some sort, with a pilot. Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight waited for what she hoped would be a rescuer.
As it turned out, Twilight was soon treated to a full view of her visitor. He- it was a boy, she was sure of this somehow- looked up at her curiously out of his flight goggles, seeming concerned. At least she hoped he was concerned, rather than hungry. Twilight desperately hoped she had no reason to fear the boy's somewhat canine facial features.
"Hey! Little girl! It's okay, I'm here to save you! Just jump on!"
Twilight suddenly looked at the boy like he was completely mad. "That's very kind of you, but where am I meant to jump? You only have one seat in that thing! I'd land on top of you, and just wind up killing us both!"
The boy blinked in realization, blushing a bit, embarrassed that he'd accidentally made this strange girl think he had a death wish. He'd become used to odd encounters, however, and quickly his gaze became cheerful and generous. "Not to worry, ma'am, the wings of this plane are stable enough to carry your weight."
Twilight, left with no other choice, decided to trust the boy with the bright orange fur coat, and, closing her eyes, made a leap of faith...instinctively, after the sound of her hooves firmly tapping metal filled her ears instead of that of her skull cracking apart , she let out a belly laugh. "Ha ha ha...heh! Thanks...whoever you are!"
"I'm Miles! But most people call me Tails. I can show you why later! What's your name little girl?"
"Twilight Sparkle...Or just Twi if you like. I'm...looking for a friend."
Rainbow looked at the figure inside the smoke in shock and awe, standing between Amy and Vector, with Espio and Charmy in tow. She quickly tore ahead, realising who it was. She stopped in her tracks, landing her flank on the ground as she skidded to a halt, looking up at the spiky figure.
"Sonic...?" her mouth almost hang open in a gasp as she spoke his name.
Sonic turned around slowly, looking down at Rainbow curiously for a moment, before smirking and crossing his arms. His lips parted, making it seem like he was about to speak, but he merely widened his smirk into a toothy grin and gave a nod.
Rainbow sat there thinking of what to say. She imagined meeting him would be a lot more glamorous, but instead she felt ignored by the aloof hedgehog. She also had a lot of explaining to do.
"Don't you think should at least try saying hello, Sonic" Amy said in a mildly displeased tone as she ran towards her crush.
"Heh...come on Ames." Sonic said simply, noticing Amy coming towards him and smirking at her...before, less than a second later, showing up behind her, much to the pink hedgehog girl's shock.
"...gimme a bit more credit than that," Sonic said with a laugh, pulling an arm out behind him and revealing none other than Rainbow herself in the palm of his hand.
Rainbow gulped, feeling uneasy. It was a sudden shock to her to suddenly be held out in midair, and she could almost feel herself giving way, about to fall to the ground.
"Gyah! Put me down!" she yelped, waving all four hooves in the air haplessly.
Immediately, Sonic placed her upon the ground softly, kneeling down and looking Rainbow in the eye with a smile that still seemed mysterious, but a little less so than the cocky smirks he had been giving. There seemed to a bit of a softness in his face, as if he were letting some of his guard down.
"Guess I spooked you a bit, huh? What's your name, kid? Don'tcha worry 'bout a thing...I can tell you're all right, Amy may be kind of a pain sometimes, but she knows a friend when she sees one."
"Hmmph, well, at least it's a partial compliment," Amy said a smirk and a friendly, teasing bit of pride.
Rainbow quickly shook her head, making sure the contents were alright. As she looked up at Sonic, she blinked. She still couldn't believe it was him.
"Uh... Rainbow, Rainbow Dash. I've come a long way to find you, y'see I kinda need your help to get back home."
Sonic stood up for a moment, tapping his foot, and looking skyward with a stoic frown, thinking for a few moments, and then quickly knelt down again, once again with the same strange gentle look. "Rainbow Dash, huh...I kinda like that, sounds like a fun name! You look fun, too...wherever you're from, it must be pretty cool! Don't worry buddy, I'll help you out!" Sonic then stood up again and crossed his arms, looking down with a cocky grin, his teeth gleaming a bit. "It's just what I do!"
"Okay." Rainbow uttered, the first word that came into her head. "Thanks!" she smiled up at him. "Yeah, it's a long way from here... not exactly sure how long. Really long."
"No prob, I do toooooons of travel," Sonic remarked calmly as he placed his hands on his knees and started stretching his legs.
Rainbow quietly wondered how she was going to tell her story... the story of him being a story she was reading and accidentally got sucked into. She looked around and then up at the sight of Angel Island's tallest mountain, and the ancient temple that dominated it. In the center, on top of the stone steps of the temple, a giant crystal, perfectly shaped, gleamed bright green. Her thoughts turned to another subject as she remembered who guarded it.
"Where's Knuckles?" she asked.
Sonic stopped stretching and laughed as he flicked his nose with a finger a bit. "So you've heard of him. Ol' Knucklehead is probably guarding his piece of rock candy...you're looking at it right now. "
Rainbow nodded. In her book, Sonic and Knuckles first met here. She wondered how much time had passed since then.
"I'm just jokin' around of course, kid. I'll let you know what that thing really is when the time comes."
"Do you guys hear someth-" Amy was suddenly interrupted as a golden shape rushed by Sonic and Rainbow...something about it gave Amy the shivers, and so she immediately drew her crossbow and held it at the ready.
"Woah! What does Robotnik want now? Is he after the Emerald?" Rainbow asked out of nowhere, not thinking about how surprisingly knowledgeable she sounded.
Sonic's face was one of total surprise for a brief moment, but he quickly regained his composure. "Heh...you must get around a lot, Rainbow. Buttnik's either after the Master Emerald, or he's out to get me...either way it doesn't matter, 'cause I ain't letting him have either!"
The gold figure had stopped, revealing itself to be a slender, yet somehow also vaguely egg shaped mechanical replica of a cheetah, complete with painted spots. It stood and roared at Sonic, but no sooner had it made a sound had he curled into a ball and rammed his sharp quills into its face...not a single dent was made, but it was pushed back several meters before Sonic 's shoes touched the ground once more.
"Sonic! Robotnik's back, and he...!" came a voice as a red furred figure came running out of the woods. Knuckles watched the attack, for a moment not knowing what to do. "Too late." He scolded himself before rushing forward to help, not caring to identify the others until they were safe.
Rainbow looked around, noting the presence of Knuckles the Echidna, wanting to do something. A moment later she saw Knuckles land a fierce blow on the Cheetah-like robot, his arm raised as it flipped back.
High in the sky over Angel Island, a massive, round metal shape floated in the air. It was round like a ball but with a cockpit, and a pair of huge metal hands, clearly designed for heavy lifting and possibly even causing serious harm. Inside the cockpit, the occupant was a round, egg-like human being, grossly overweight and with a round, bald head, almost hidden by a huge pair of orange whiskers sprouting from his red nose, and a pair of round black glasses. He wore a red tunic with a simple yellow cape draped over it.
"Hmmmph..." the man growled, his voice gravelly and rough. "The plan isn't working. The Egg Cheetah should have reported back by now."
Behind him flanked a dozen mechanical insects, like giant bees. The man in the cockpit pushed a button and they began to nosedive into the forest in attack formation.
"Hmm. Not bad Knux, so nice of you to soften it up for me!" Sonic said as he rushed towards the downed Egg Cheetah and laid into it with his spin attack once more. Noticing that it was now struggling on its back, he aimed for his belly, causing the feline machine to roar in pain, just before picking itself up.
"So that's the trick...gotta trip it and go right for the gut!" Sonic said with a chuckle as he landed and skidded backwards a little, keeping a hand on the ground for balance.
Amy looked towards the sky suddenly, investigating a strange noise. "Buzz Bombers incoming!" Amy shouted as she tried to hit one with a crossbow bolt. She then remembered that Rainbow Dash was nearby, and open to attack. "Rainbow, quick, get behind me, I'll cover you!"
"Uh, okay!" Rainbow hid behind Amy, watching the action unfold.
A second later, the dozen Buzzbombers appeared in the sky, flying through the trees and swarming around Sonic and Knuckles.
After she finished watching Rainbow move to safety, Amy looked back towards the sky, and noticed that the Buzzbomber she hit was damaged and sparking, but not yet neutralized...she aimed her weapon at it as it dived towards her, but all of sudden, a blur slammed into hit from behind.
"Diddly doo, I'm a bee too!" Charmy shouted out as he gripped the badnik tight around it's neck, causing its head to fail wildy, its body making awkward loops through the air as it became more and more disoriented, eventually sailing straight towards the ground.
"Whee!" Charmy yelled out as he jumped from the robot's body right before it exploded. Smiling and walking up to the wreckage, Charmy notices a small rabbit climbing out, that had once been the machine's brain.
"Thanks for the ride, little guy!" Charmy said with a wave and a giggle as the lagomorph hopped up.
"That was a bit odd, but it worked...thanks Charmy!" Amy said with a salute and a smirk before returning to providing cover fire for Rainbow.
Charmy nodded excitedly, glad to be helping in the fight against Robotnik yet again.
Suddenly, Sonic was right in front Amy, smirking and pointing behind his back with his thumb. "Got one of your old fastballs in ya, Amy?" Sonic said as Amy looked behind and noticed the Egg Cheetah approaching at a blinding rate.
Chuckling and swapping out her crossbow for her hammer for the time being, Amy readied her swing. "I've always got one!" With that, Sonic jump and curled up into a ball, and Amy slammed her hammer right into him, sending his spiny body colliding with the feline badnik's face, knocking it on it's back once more.
"All right Knux, get ready, and let's finish this golden dork together!" Sonic cried out as he landed, rocketing himself towards the Egg Cheetah and aiming a spin attack at its belly.
"Ha-haah! Not so fast, hedgehog!" A voice called out as wind blew from above, blowing in the faces of the defenders. A flying metal pod brushed trees aside, hovering beside the Egg Cheetah, its occupant laughing and aiming its massive limbs outward in Sonic's direction.
Rainbow, meanwhile was paralyzed with shock until she saw Sonic clearly falling into a trap. She raced forward to stop him, calling out his name.
"Sonic!!"
The man in the cockpit controlling the arms saw her straight away.
"Agh, who's this? No matter, I'll grab you instead!"
Sonic quickly turned and saw Rainbow fall into the same trap, the giant metal grabbing arms going for her instead.
"Hey kid, watch out...!!!" He called out. A moment later a spray of light shot from under the Egg Cheetah, forming a bright glowing net made of energy, which wrapped around Rainbow Dash's body, trapping her in place.
Rainbow screamed as she struggled hard, but somehow her energy was disappearing. The world around her seemed to spin as everything went dark.
"Aw, too bad." Mocked the controller of the flying cockpit. "I was hoping to catch you with this simple little trick, but I'll take the little horse girl if that's all the same to you. she should prove quite useful in my latest experiments, and maybe I'll even use her against you! Thanks for the offering, Sonic! Au revior!" he chuckled as his pod started hovering away, and the Egg Cheetah disappeared, running into the woods.
"Get back here Doctor Robotnik, you jerk!" Amy yelled out loud the name of Rainbow's captor. She was about to run forward and take a few shots at the pod with her crossbow when Sonic stopped her with a simple gesture.
"Cool it, Amy. We can't do anything to save her just yet. Besides, hitting Robotnik would just dump both of them in the sea."
"I hadn't thought of that, heh heh..." Amy looked sheepishly at him.
Sonic looked stern for a moment as Robotnik's flying contraption flew into the distance. "I've got to rescue your new friend. He may be plannin' ta put her in one of his Badnik machines or something like that." he scratched his head. "New experiments... sounds bad, I'd better hurry!"
"Want me to come with?" Amy asked, concerned but excited.
"If it's not too much trouble. From you, I mean. I was waitin' for Tails to show up in the Tornado, he said he'd meet me here today."
"Oh, right..." Amy felt a little irked by Sonic's comment, but the thought of flying on the Tornado raised a question in her mind. "How'd you get here, anyway?"
"I sorta... hitched a ride, was followin' Robotnik's minions and managed to beat them into a metal pulp until you came along. All 'sept for that slippery Cheetah thing."
Knuckles looked up at the Master Emerald still positioned on top of the temple. "That thing had better not come back, or I'll have to teach it a lesson!" He cracked his knuckles.
"I doubt it, it was only lookin' for me anyways." the hedgehog replied.
A moment later, Vector, Espio and Charmy came running from behind carrying the remains of their Cheetah-shaped enemy.
"We got it, we got it!" Charmy sqealed. "Vector bust it up good!"
"Job's taken care of Sonic! I'll just put it on your tab!" Vector grinned proudly. He suddenly noticed Sonic was looking less than thrilled, and the new pony girl was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, what's goin' on?"
"Rainbow's been kidnapped, we've gotta go rescue her!" Amy told him enthusastically. Sonic was standing still, scratching his head and thinking of a way off the island if Tails didn't show up anytime soon. Time was ticking, and patience wasn't one of his major virtues.
"Aw man, I hope she's okay." Vector replied with a sorry expression.
"Don't worry guys. We'll get her." Sonic smirked confidently.
