Chapters Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
Somewhere around supposedly 5:30 AM at dawn, a feminine voice called out, “Hey, wake up!” from who knows where. Sonic and Rainbow Dash opened their eyes as Sonic yawned and said, “Boy, is it that late already? What time is it?” He reached to grab the clock to check the time, but he grabbed a mysterious ring that wasn’t there before.
“Huh? Where’d that come from?” Rainbow asked, “I don’t wear jewelry. That’s Rarity’s fashion choice.”
Before Sonic could say anything, a wisp of smoke emanated from the oversized ring. It somehow said, “You’re the blue hedgehog and the rainbow pegasus,” and it formed into a woman in strange clothes. She was looking at Sonic as he and RD exclaimed saying, “What the…?!”.
“Don’t be alarmed!” she said, looking worried that she scared them. “I am Shahra, the genie of the ring. You know, like ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp?”
Rainbow looked confused. “Don’t think I’ve read that one before.”
Shahra’s eyes widened. “What? You’ve got to be kidding me! It’s the best story of all the Arabian Nights! Or at least the second best. But that’s beside the point. Please, look at this.” She opened the book to show the two one of the pages.
Rainbow seemed confused and said, “Hey, the page is blank! But I just read half that book last night!” she said as the words on the next page were…fading away? They both looked in shock at the spectacle on the page.
Shahra sadly gave the answer to that, “Our world, the world of the Arabian nights is vanishing.”
“Vanishing? But how?”
“This is the work of and incredibly dark spirit…the Erazor Djinn.”
Sonic was still in wonder, “Erazor Djinn?”
“Yes. He used his evil magic to become even more powerful. He could not bear to simply remain in the book any longer. And so he has begun to set the inscriptions free, absorbing the power of the book itself.”
“The power of the book?” Rainbow Dash was beginning to get annoyed from Sonic repeating almost everything Shahra said.
“If our world ceases to exist, then not only will those stories be silenced forever, but the Erazor Djinn will then be unleashed into your world.”
“That definitely sounds like trouble,” Rainbow cut in, “But what do you want us to do?”
“I want you both to stop him. You must stop the Erazor Djinn. Only you two, the blue hedgehog and the rainbow pegasus, can do it.”
“Hmm, so this guy needs someone to put him in his place, does he?” Sonic said as Dashie continued on, “I suppose we could help out with that. I might even be kind of fun! But, this is all just something out of a story book, right? How are we supposed to do anything about that?”
Shahra smiled and replied, “That’s easy. You two are my masters, having called forth the Genie of the Ring. As such, I am able to grant your wishes. Simple wishes, at any rate. Bringing you into the world of the Arabian Nights is within my power.”
Rainbow Dash jaw-dropped and exclaimed, “What!? Inside that book?”
Somehow, while still being able to talk, Shahra formed into the ring again, but his time there were two that could fit onto Sonic’s finger and on Rainbow Dash’s hoof. “Now please, place the ring on your hoof/finger.”
“Like this?” they both said as the put on the rings. For some reason, they both got a small shock when they put them on. “OUCH! Take it easy!” Sonic said.
“My apologies, o masters, but the contract has been sealed.”
“Contract?”
“Yes. As masters of the ring, I am now bound to protect you. Now, rub the ring!”
“Hmm,” Rainbow said as she began rubbing it, “Like this?”
Shahra poofed out again while the rings were still on the two anthros. “What is thine wish?”
Sonic gave a thumbs up and said, “Wow, that’s pretty cool what you can do there!”
Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement, “Ditto. Alright, let’s go to this world of the Arabian Nights.”
“As you wish.”
“Oh, and for the record, I’m Sonic and this is Rainbow Dash.”
“Very well then, Sonic and Rainbow Dash, the legendary heroes. Here we go. To the world of the Arabian Nights!” Shahra made a magic carpet that and Sonic jumped on.
“Now this is first-class!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and said, “If it’s okay with you, I’ll stick to flying by myself,” she said as she spread out her wings.
“Alright then, let’s go.”
All three of them sped towards the pages. To Sonic’s and Rainbow Dash’s surprise, they flew right into the book.
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
When they got past the white light, they found themselves in a tunnel that looked like a sandstorm, only it was surrounding the path instead of being on the path. They all sped through it to find anything or anyone at the end of the tunnel.
“Okay, so who’s this guy who’s trying to make the world disappear again?” Sonic asked while he ran alongside Rainbow Dash.
“You mean the Erazor Djinn?” Shahra asked.
“Yeah that’s right. Can you take us to him?”
“There is no need,” She said. She seemed to be worried about something.
“What’d ya mean?” Rainbow asked as she and Sonic came to a halt.
“He’s here!”
They all stopped as a bright purple….something began to take shape in front of them. Almost immediately after it stopped glowing, it slashed a sword at Sonic. He jumped up just in time and landed next to RD and Shahra. “What’s that all about? Talk about close shaves. Maybe you know where I can get my quills sharpened, too?”
“That’s him! He’s the evil spirit who is stripping the words of our world from the pages.”
The thing seemed to be a purple man in a black cape and red hair and markings. “So…you two must be the rat and pony who’ve just been added to the story.
They both glared at him. “Hey! Don’t you know anything? I’m a hedgehog!”
“And I’m a pegasus!”
He just laughed. “I am Erazor Djinn. I am the one who shall carve up this world as I see fit.”
Sonic smirked and said, “Yeah, well if you’re gonna do that, can you wait until I’m done reading it first?”
“One hundred of the one thousand and one Nights have already been wiped clean! And soon the rest shall join them, night by night. And then, with the seven world rings-“
Sonic interjected before he could finish. “Seven world rings?”
“You have gathered the seven world rings for me; have you not Shahra, my dear?”
Shahra almost looked offended, “Are you still going on about that? I told you those rings don’t exist! And even if they did I would never give them to you.”
“Oh, wouldn’t you, though? ….I suppose a suitable punishment is in order then.” Erazor’s two index fingers caught fire as he pointed them at Shahra.
Sonic’s and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, “Look out!” they shouted as they jumped in front of her. The two mini flames hit them both, one in Sonic's chest and the other in Dash’s.
Erazor laughed and said, “So this is how judgment is dealt, is it? Hmm, this should be interesting. Are you two listening? Bring me the Seven World Rings before the arrows of flame extinguish. If you do not, your life is forfeit. Next, I think I’ll collect the life of King Shahryar!” He disappeared after his last statement.
Shahra was dismayed and said to the others, “The king is the creator of the Arabian Nights and the main character of the story!”
Rainbow Dash and Sonic smiled as they said in unison, “With our speed, we’ll have time to get to him first!” They all ran with Shahra in the lead being their guide.
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
Another hour after ‘saving’ Discord they arrived at the castle, only to find Erazor Djinn himself! Sonic’s and Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the ultimate bad guy known to this world.
Shahra was no more surprised that either of them. “It’s him! What’s he doing here?!” Sonic exclaimed.
“He’s calling more spirits!”
Meanwhile, the Erazor was chanting, “Ifalas zaras I e zaraq, Ifalas zaras I e zaraq, come forth from the fiery depths of Jahannam ye condemned by iblis, Iz Afrit!”
A giant fiery rocky monster rose up from the depths of the sand pit in front of them as the weird monster gave out a loud RAWR!
“For the love of Celestia, WHAT IS THAT?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“It’s a djinn that controls fire, it’s called an Ifrit!”
Erazor Djinn began floating above the trio, saying, “I have already carved up half the pages that make up this world.
“Then why do you need to call forth a creature like that?!”
He laughed and replied, “I’ve decided to let the Ifrit burn whatever pages remain in the book. You, blue RAT, Have you gathered the seven rings, yet?”
“Hey! Nobody insults my pal!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the Erazor.
“Yeah, and enough of that rat stuff! I’m a hedgehog, HEDGE-HOG.”
“All you filthy vermin are worthless just the same. At any rate, you two had better hurry it up. With only half of the flame left, only half of your life force remains.” And with that final statement, he disappeared, and the Ifrit gave another ear-splitting roar.
Rainbow was furious by now and wanted to take it out on something. “Hey, you! Get out of our way!” She began furiously bucking it while Sonic did repeating spin dashes all over it. Even then, not even a scratch was found on it.
Sonic was pretty surprised. “What the…that didn’t work?”
Shahra came up to him and said, “It’s no use, Sonic. Your life is tied to the flame. You cannot fight fire with fire!”
“Oh, yeah? Just watch me. This doesn’t look good. Shahra, lend me your power!” He said while rubbing the ring. “TIME BREAK!” The Ifrit immediately froze in time.
Rainbow Dash flew up to the Ifrit’s face and yelled, “Sorry, but we’ve gotta dash! Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get the chance to play again soon.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“…then we escaped back here!” Rainbow Dash was explaining to Twili- Ali about what had recently happened.
“Hmmm, let’s see…oh, I know! My friend Sinbad might be able to share some of his worldly knowledge with you.”
Sonic interjected, “So, where is he?”
“Well, according to rumor, he was fighting some pirates when he was taken away by the Rukh.”
“The what?”
“It’s a giant bird. Well, not exactly a bird, it’s more like a living fossil.”
Sonic still seemed confused, “Huh, well then where is this, er….bird thing?”
“I think the Rukh flocks someplace out in the skies to the West.”
“The skies, huh? Okay, Shahra, we need that magic carpet. We need to track that Rukh down!”
“As you wish, master,” she said as the carpet and Dashie took off to the west.
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
When they found the Rukh they were looking for and beat it to a pulp, they found a familiar figure inside a cage.
Sonic said, “Hey Knuckles! How’d you get here?”
He gave a confused look and replied, “I am Sinbad of the Seven Seas! Adventurer of adventurers. Who the heck are you?”
Shahra ignored Sonic’s look of confusion and said, “It truly is you, the great adventurer? Would you be willing to give us some of your worldly wisdom?”
“Hey, er, Miss…uh…”
“Shahra.”
“Shahra, listen, I hate to break it to ya, but I’m kinda stuck here. YOU’RE the ones who should be helping me.”
“I feel a strong magical force here. It must be the work of the Erazor Djinn. This means if we can break the spell, we can undo this lock!”
“Now you’re talkin’!”
Rainbow Dash interjected, “Let’s just leave him there.”
“Hey, listen pegasus; life’s a game of give and take. You help me get out of here, and in return I’ll help ya out later. Not a bad deal, huh?”
“Wisdom…Knuckles? Ah, never mind. Let’s just find that key.”
XXXXXXXXXX
After a while, they finally found the key and released Sinbad from the cage.
“Phew! Okay, so about the fire genie, then. Why not just try splashing some water on him?”
Rainbow sarcastically replied, “WOW! The wisdom of Sinbad of the Seven Seas, Adventurer of adventurers.”
“Hey! I don’t see you coming up with some better ideas.”
Ali shoved himself in between the echidna and the pegasus, “Stop it! The problem is, how are we going to get ENOUGH water to put out a fire genie, right?”
“Hmph, I was getting to that. Ya see, the pirates who locked me up here took the water blue ring I use to control storms.”
“A water blue…”
Shahra finished the sentence for him, “ring.”
Rainbow added, “First a fire genie and now pirates? The Arabian Nights really are a world of endless adventures, aren’t they?”
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Everyone had finished blasting all the baddies and stopped. Sonic said, “Man, there’s just no end to these evil spirits, is there?”
Just then, a flash of blue light and a blue ring began floating down to them.
“It must be another one of the seven world rings,” Rainbow Dash implied.
Sonic grabbed it and another, slightly smaller, shock went through his body.
“Are you okay, bud?
“Yeah…I’m fine. Just touching this makes me feel like I’ve got a whirlpool of emotions spiraling around inside me. I can’t even begin to imagine what having all seven rings would do to someone! It might even open the gates of Hell!”
Shahra then floated over to Rainbow Dash and handed her a ball with a whole bunch of swirly patterns on it. “I want you to hold onto this.”
“Uh, okay. What is it?”
“If nothing else we do is able to stop him, this will be our last resort. I cannot use it by myself.”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
The Ifrit descended into the sand pit one last time after its weak spot had been “Sonic Rainboomed” to death. Before anyone could make a pun relating to what just happened, a strange metallic ball floated down towards them.
This time, Shahra was the one to be in wonder and confusion, “What the…?”
Sonic stepped a little bit closer to examine it, “What is this thing?”
Rainbow Dash gave a guess as to what it might be, “Maybe something is about to hatch? Oh, crap, another weird fire thing!”
Shahra put her ear to it, “I can hear something like a heartbeat…it seems to have a pulse.”
Dash’s eyes widened at another possibility that popped into her head, “Uh, guys? I think that might be some sort of time bomb!”
“It’s beating faster!”
“Oh, no! This can’t be good!” Sonic said as he picked up the spherical object, “We’ve gotta get outta here! This thing has to explode out in the open!”
Shahra and Rainbow nodded their heads to agree. Rainbow Dash picked it up with her mouth and began flying out of the castle at her fastest pace, Sonic and Shahra close behind.
XXXXZXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“Come on! We’re almost there!” Rainbow Dash shouted as the ball flashed and beat once per millisecond.
As they got out, Rainbow threw it into the air and kicked it to the skies. It flashed a bright light after she hit it. When she opened her eyes, she saw something red floating where the ‘time bomb’ had been and was coming towards them. “Huh? Hey, look at this.”
Sonic walked over to it as it landed on the ground, “Is that what I think it is?” He looked at it one more time to make sure, “Yep, another one of the seven World Rings. I wonder if it was inside the Ifrit this entire time…” when he picked it up, his expression seemed to harden. “I feel…rage! All that anger must’ve been sealed up inside him.”
Shahra repeated in wonder, “Rage?”
Dashie had a good idea of what was going on after witnessing what happened when Sonic touched the other rings, “These rings must somehow seal in various emotions, too. The power of fury…so then, what’s next?”
“Let’s go and meet King Solomon. He’s the one who sealed away the evil spirits long ago. These strange occurrences must connect back to him somehow.”
Sonic smirked and replied, “Okay, then. Off to our next adventure!”
XXXXXXXXXXXX
They arrived at King Solomon’s castle, only to find a skull with a beard and crown lying on the throne. Sonic frowned, “It looks like we might be a little late.”
“I should say so!” the skull floated up to his face and remarked.
“Whoa!”
Shahra came forward a little and timidly asked, “King…King Solomon?”
The skull, now supposedly the king, flew to her and said, “Indeed! I am the great and powerful King Solomon!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “If you say so…”
Solomon faced her and remarked, “Don’t think I’m happy looking this way, either! The Erazor Djinn did this to me. He resurrected the 40 thieves as evil spirits and sent them to attack me here!”
“And that’s how you ended up like…that?” Shahra said.
“Precisely, my dear. And that being the case, could I ask you a favor? Might I beseech you to track down the rest of my body? I’d also be grateful if you could do something about the 40 thieves as well.”
Rainbow shivered at the thought of collecting his body parts while Sonic replied, “Hah! No problem! We’ll be back here faster than you can say ‘chilidog’!”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
The trio had been running towards their destination, which was a long way to go, long enough that night had come. Sonic came hurtling of the carpet from high up in a spin dash position; Rainbow Dash was close behind. They both looked over the massive palace in front of them. It lit up while they scanned their surroundings. There was a giant explosion, and the ground suddenly started to shake. The castle began to rise in the sky!
One of the doors near the front seemed to have something or someone pounding at it from behind. There was a purple light coming from the cracks that showed when the doors were being hit. It finally swung open and a swirling vortex was in the doorway.
Clouds began to form in the clear sky and make a cone like shape, similar to a tornado forming. The clouds were rumbling, and a thick line of the supposedly condensed water vapor came shooting down from the middle of the spiraling clouds. It made its way into the newly opened door faster than the winds of a hurricane.
Sonic looked more carefully and could just barely see Arabic letters and words swirling with the tube. It bolted into the vortex, going to who knows where.
As the last of the spiraling cyclone went through the portal, numerous evil spirits came bursting out the same door and circled the castle. Sonic and Dashie gave a determined look and put their hand/hoof over the fiery spot on their chests. The air around them swirled quickly for a second and they got an energy boost. They then took off running to the castle, Shahra in hot pursuit.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When they got to the gate that King Solomon told them about, Sonic held the White World Ring up. Somehow, the gates did open, just as the king had said.
Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes tightly shut for a while and breathed in and out slowly. Shahra assumed she was preparing for the final battle, but had second thoughts and Sonic kneeled down, seemingly in pain. He lightly chuckled, “Looks like my time limit’s about up.”
“Sonic?!” Shahra exclaimed in panic.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you…I’ll be okay,” Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement.
“I’m so, so sorry. It’s my fault that this happened to you both…”
“Really, don’t worry about it. Just remember my promise, the promise between me and you.”
“I haven’t forgotten that promise.”
Dashie gave a smirk, “I knew we could count on you, Shahra. It’s gonna take more than some tiny flame to bring judgment down us! Come on, let’s go!”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
After about fifteen minutes of fighting monsters and navigating their way around the sandy city, they came to the king’s castle. It was quiet. Too quiet.
Rainbow looked around and said, “Where is he? Are we too late?”
Just then, there was a sound that was like shattering glass and a grunt of exclamation. Everyone turned around to find Discord in a crown and with shattered pottery around him!
Rainbow Dash glared at him, “What’s Discord doing here? I thought the girls and I turned him to stone. This must be another one of his schemes!”
Discord looked at her with rage, “What is the meaning of this? I am Shahryar, king of this land!”
She didn’t stop glaring at him and said, “What kind of chaotic doom have you planned this time?”
Shahra flew in front of her and said in the *king’s* defense, “Rainbow Dash, wait! You’re making a mistake! This is him. This is king Shahryar!”
“Oh, really?” she asked with and edgy tone.
This time Discord glared, “Such insolence! Guards, seize this rainbow winged thing at once!”
Nobody came in to obey the king’s orders. “Where are your men, Your Highness?” Shahra asked.
“Oh, that’s right. Let me explain. When the evil spirits appeared out of nowhere, everyone turned and ran. And I was stuck having to hide in that jar.” Just as he finished, something that looked like a giant orange bat flew in and took Discord into the skies. “NOOOO! HELP MEEEE!”
Rainbow smiled at the sight of him being carried away and said, “I guess it’s time for a little action.”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
When they all got to the center of town, two monsters were trapping someone in a corner. Sonic quickly spin dashed and destroyed them. A purple unicorn in a turban walked towards them, “Oh, thank you! I thought I was done for!”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, “Twilight? You’re here, too?!”
She looked confused and replied, “My….my name is Ali Baba.”
“Come on, Twilight. I know it’s you!”
Shahra intercepted, “I’m sorry. She seems to have mistaken you for someone else, Ali.”
Ali’s expression softened up. “Oh, it’s okay. I’m still grateful that you saved me. I might not be strong, but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve. If you need my help in return, it would be the least I could do to repay you.”
Shahra smiled, “Thank you. If something comes up, we’ll be sure to call you.”
XXXXXXXXX
After a few more hours of running and fighting, they came to a hole in the sand. A giant creature began crawling its way out.
Sonic turned it way and said, “Whoa! I take it that’s not something you see every day, huh?”
“That must be a monster summoned forth by the Erazor Djinn,” Shahra explained.
Rainbow Dash flew over, “Shahra! Can’t you do something about it with your magic?”
Shahra hung her head, “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. My magic is no match for that of the Erazor Djinn.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to deal with him the old fashioned way.” Sonic said, “And, hey, don’t look so glum, Shahra. We’ll have you smiling by the end of this. And that’s not me ordering you as your master. That’s a promise from us to you.” Sonic held out his pinkie to confirm his claim. Shahra timidly interlocked her finger with his.
“Alright then.”
Dashie then implied, “Let’s do it before anyone gets hurt!”
As the two ran towards the pit, Shahra looked at her finger, “A promise…”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
After Sonic and Rainbow hit its weak spot a third time, it finally died and sank back into the sand.
A yellow ring was left in the same place the scorpion-like monster was beaten.
Rainbow Dash flew over to it to see what it looked like. “This must be one of the World Rings that Eraser guy, or whatever his name is."
She tried to pick the ring up, "Huh, now I know why Lyra wants hands. I can’t pick it up with my hooves.”
Shahra came over to get it, but for some reason she couldn’t pick it up. Sonic saw this in confusion. How could she not grab it?
He bent down to get it, but when he touched it, he somehow got shocked. “OW!”
Shahra recited something she had heard before out loud, “When darkness descends upon the Arabian Nights, the legendary blue hedgehog and rainbow pegasus from another world shall come.”
“Me? Legendary? You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Sonic said.
Shahra continued, “When the seven rings that control the worlds are gathered, the portal between the worlds shall open. But the life of the collectors of the rings shall be offered up in sacrifice as the key for that control. That is what is written in the newest chapter of the Arabian Nights.”
Sonic and Dashie yelled in unison, “What?! I’m supposed to be a sacrifice?!”
“That I cannot say for sure, but I do believe that these world rings hold the key to some kind of mystery. I think we need to collect them all to get to the bottom of this mystery.”
Sonic loosened up a bit and said, “Well considering that I and RD over here have these arrows in us to worry about, I guess we’re still in a pinch either way, right?”
Shahra’s head drooped again, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault that all of this is happening to…”
Sonic and Rainbow began laughing as he said, “Hey, don’t worry about it! Besides, don’t you know how fast we are? Time may fly, but we’re faster!
XXXXXXXXXXX
Not even two minutes of running and flying, they caught up with the weird bat thing that was carrying Discord. He was franticly thrashing all about when he spotted the three underneath him. “You! Spiky thing! Do something! SAVE ME!”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and took off while Sonic stood at the edge of the cliff they had reached. Rainbow bucked the thing in the face, causing it to drop the king. He screamed like a girl while Shahra looked away and Sonic didn’t seem to acknowledge the danger Discord was in.
When Shahra didn’t hear any more yelling, she looked back to see the king just barely hanging from the edge of the cliff on the tip of Sonic’s shoe. He still didn’t say anything as the king pulled himself up. “How dare you? I am the king! Must you be so rude?!” he complained.
“Sor-ry,” Sonic said with a newfound attitude. Rainbow Dash flew down and seemed to agree with Sonic, because her facial expressions held the same grudge that Sonic did.
“Your Highness, where did that spirit go?” Shahra asked.
“Just as I feared, he’s gone ahead to that castle and it seems more minions are being assembled.”
“There’s a giant fortress just ahead. It’s a relic from an ancient kingdom…”
What she didn’t notice was that they had already begun running ahead of her. “Hey! Wait up!”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
“There they are!” Rainbow shouted over the crack of thunder. “I don’t even think I can break this storm!”
“They must have the ring that lets them control the power of the storms.” Shahra guessed.
Their ship began firing cannonballs at the trio repeatedly.
“Shoot first then ask questions, huh?” Sonic said after dodging a cannonball, “That’s pirates for ya.”
“Come on, let’s just hurry!”
“Fine, let’s do it!”
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The ship was demolished after, literally, five minutes. A giant spirit rose up from the floating rubble and roared at them. Rainbow Dash smiled, “Aha, someone’s looking for a duel! This should be interesting. C’mon, let’s have some fun!”
She and Sonic began running at the monster at their fastest speeds. Just before the made contact, they both broke the sound barrier at the same time, creating the biggest, loudest, most awesome sonic rainboom ever!
All that was left of their opponent was a flash of blue light, and then another ring began gliding down to them. Shahra floated up to it to see if she could grab it this time, but with no avail. “I can’t even touch the ring!” she exclaimed as it passed right through her outstretched hand.
Sonic held out his hand and said, “Looks like I’m the only one who can touch them ‘cause I’m not from here, and Dash here doesn’t have hands.”
Where she should’ve been offended, Rainbow Dash turned his way and just shrugged, accepting the truth.
“Does that mean these rings aren’t from this world either?” Sonic thought aloud. When he touched it this time, there wasn’t a shock, nut a flash of blue light for a few seconds. “This has to be the ring that Sinbad was telling us about before. Now, let’s go defeat that, um….whatchamacallit.”
Shahra replied, “The Ifrit, the great spirit of fire.”
Ali then came running frantically towards them at her highest speed, seemingly worried. “There’s smoke coming from the castle! It looks like the Ifrit’s power to burn the world away is getting stronger!”
RD and Sonic turned in the direction that Ali was pointing while she said, “Okay, we’re ready. I hope you’re ready for this, Ifrit!”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They all successfully arrived at the tower when a loud uproar rang through the dusty air. The Ifrit then came out of the sandy pit where it had been left frozen in time and gave another vicious cry of anger.
“Sorry to keep ya waiting!” Sonic yelled at it. “I didn’t mean to leave ya hanging earlier. You’re not still mad at me, are you? You really need to learn to be more patient, ya know.”
The Ifrit began rising out of the sandy abyss to fight them. This time, Rainbow Dash was holding the Water Blue Ring they had recently obtained in one of her wings. “Now, Ring of Water! Bring forth a mighty storm!” she shouted as she landed.
The ring began to glow and pulse as a giant storm cloud formed above the fire genie. The cloud began pouring, and I mean pouring, on top of it. It gave out a loud shriek of pain as the storm ceased.
Shahra shouted above the final clap of thunder, “Look, Rainbow Dash! The Ifrit’s getting weaker!”
“Okay, now let’s finish him off!” Sonic said as he and Rainbow began to fight it.
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
As the last of the thieves were destroyed, a white ring landed next to them. “It’s a white ring, one of the seven, I’m sure.” Shahra commented.
This time, Rainbow Dash touched the ring with her hoof at the same time that Sonic picked it up. The white flash came again, but their expressions softened up. “It’s definitely one of the World Rings,” Rainbow confirmed.
“It feels…it feels like light,” Sonic said. “And to think this little thing could cause so much trouble!”
“You mean the ring?” Shahra asked.
Rainbow Dash answered her question (sort of) for her, “Such great power can bring people either happiness or misfortune.”
“There are many such stories told of in the Arabian Nights.”
“For instance, this ring seems to be filled with desire,” Sonic added. “That could lead to aspiration, or maybe it could be greed and ambition.”
Dash gave a perplexed expression, “Just what does Erazor want by collecting all of these rings?”
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
As soon as King Solomon was reassembled, he was explaining what had happened.
“…and many such spirits were driven to madness. It is my fault they became the minions of Erazor Djinn. However, by carving up the words that make up our world, new spirits have also appeared. His power is nearly godlike.”
“Godlike, huh?” Rainbow Dash thought aloud, “Well, that’s a problem.”
“Even so, supernatural beings like the Erazor Djinn always have weak spots that are told of in stories.”
Sonic gave a questioning look.
“In truth, he is a Genie of The Lamp. Somehow, though, he has escaped. If we had the lamp he belongs to, it could be possible to seal him away again…forever.” Solomon’s ‘expression’ hardened, somehow, “There is one problem, though. Returning the lost stories to their original state requires greater power than we have. It would take a miracle.”
Rainbow smiled and replied, “Leave it to us. That’s why we’re here, after all.”
Solomon leaned closer to the two, “I see. So then you are the legendary blue hedgehog and rainbow pegasus.” He leaned even closer, Sonic and Rainbow stepping back a little, “A great curse has been placed upon you two. I can see in your eyes, the grim fate that awaits you.”
“Uh, will you please stop staring? You’re giving me the creeps!”
“Hm. I am a bit hesitant to put this upon you, but…I will tell you this. You can find the Erazor Djinn in his palace up in the sky. Show me that your part of this legend can come true.”
“Thanks…now it’s time we make a legend for ourselves, then!”
“Hold the White World Ring up to the palace gates, and they will open.”
Sonic turned towards the doors, “Okay, thanks for your help!”
“I sense death approaching.
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and the Secret Rings
2 hours later…
“That’s it. One of the seven world rings. This one’s purple.” Sonic said as he and Rainbow Dash picked it up. It crackled with purple voltage as they touched it. “This one…this one is sealed with sadness.”
“Just what are these rings all about anyway?” Rainbow wondered out loud.
“Hey, there’s something I’ve been thinking about, Shahra,” Sonic said.
“What is it?” Dashie asked.
“How do you and the Erazor Djinn know each other?”
Shahra hovered back a little, “Huh? W-well…”
Rainbow Dash jumped in when Shahra paused, “If you’d rather not talk about it, that’s okay.”
“Dash…” Shahra whispered.
“Is he really a genie of the lamp like that king of bones said?”
“Yes…well, you see, he’s the genie of the magic lamp from the story of Aladdin.
“What?”
“Long ago, he was punished for his misdeeds and sealed away in the lamp. He would not be forgiven until he had granted the wishes of a thousand people. But when his sentence was served, he had a renewed hatred of people. That was his fate, sad as it was. His cursed destiny came from the story he had been written into.”
Sonic took a step closer, “Shahra…”
“To the Erazor Djinn, I am a mere genie of the ring.”
“…”
I want to stop him, though. I want to turn the stories of the Arabian Nights back to what they were. That is…my wish.”
