"Come on Twi, it will just be a sonic second. You won't even know that I was gone" an agitated hedgehog said.
"Sonic no, I want the group to stay together" an annoyed unicorn replied.
At the foot of Foal Mountain, a team made of four friends were waiting to meet up with another team of four friends before ascending the slope of the peak. Twilight was looking onward towards the horizon, wondering where the other team was at. She was also hearing an impatient hedgehog behind her that wasn't helping with her concerning issue.
"Man, my sneakers are itchin for some action. It won't take long, I'll go on ahead, get the emerald and be back by the time the others show up" Sonic suggested.
"I said no, Sonic." He was pestering the issue just as much as her other blue friend. "Why don't you go join Pinkie and Spike."
He looked over his shoulder to see the two of them sitting down and looking up into the sky.
"That one looks like an apple" Pinkie expressed.
"That one over there looks like a skateboard" Spike joined in.
"And that one looks like Gummy" Pinkie gladly proclaimed. They were pointing at the clouds in the sky and identifying them at what they looked like. Pinkie asked the hedgehog "What does that look like to you, Sonic?"
Sonic didn't seemed thrilled by this but gave a quick gaze anyways. "Looks like rain" he told unamusingly, but quickly changed the tone when an idea came up "I guess that means we should hurry up and find the emerald before the storm comes."
Twilight smiled at realizing his bluff, "Nice try Sonic, but there's not going to be a storm today."
"I think he's right, Twilight" Pinkie backed him up.
Another nuisance befallen the unicorn as she turned around "I checked the weather report and they said-" she stopped her sentence when the truth was in front of her. A large dark cloud was off into the distance that definitely showed a sign that it would be raining soon. "Yo-you're right Pinkie, I don't believe it" she wondered at what the weather team was doing.
"I ain't Whistling Dixie" the pink mare proclaimed.
"Don't pick on her" Twilight returned back to finding her friends "you know how homesick she is. Ah, there they are!"
The lavender pony was pointing towards a colorful group approaching the mountain; one that consisted of Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Everypony was giving a welcoming smile as they approached, but as for a blue mare, she was slowly changing her expression into a scowl when a hedgehog came into sight. She gave a decent amount of space between them, but the presence of him being here made her psych up to prove her superiority at a moment's notice.
Sonic looked at the team with an irritating look "Took you long enough."
At that moment's notice; no quills were pulled, but feathers were ruffled. Dash was flying as hard as she could towards the hedgehog, but a quick fingered Applejack lassoed her from progressing any further. Sonic was left baffled at what the pegasus' problem was as she grasp her hands at him and swears up a storm.
"I was starting to worried about you guys" Twilight asked a more sensible pony, Rarity. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry dearie" she hands over the chaos emerald they found "but we had to do some digging around in order to find this."
Taking her friend's word, as well as the gem, Twilight gathers everyone around "Alright team, at the top of this mountain, we'll find the last emerald that's needed before we head to Canterlot and meet up with the princesses holding their emeralds. We're doing great, but we still need to be on guard for what might be ahead of us. Are we ready?"
"Been ready for the last hour" Sonic spoke up for the group as he readjusted his backpack.
Twilight still checked over the rest of the team and they seemed eager to get this over with. "Then lets start climbing."
Despite what many may think; Foal Mountain was anything but small. The name derived from being the smallest mountain range among all the other mountains within Equestria. Reaching the top would take about a whole day and that's only if you can withstand the cold clement and steep terrain with little to no trouble. The peak is a difficult journey for anypony, that's why a town was built on the elevated land. It served as a midway point for travelers who dared to take the mountain by giving them a place to rest, a taste of the cold weather to come, and to restock for their journey. Now, the town was deserted of all residents, and it appeared to be quite abruptly. The barrels and appliances left within the open, wagons and chariots abandon in the middle of the streets, the doors left wide open to houses with many of the accessories left inside. Nothing but the snow comforted the town's belongings
"So," the small purple dragon started making small talk "what's the story on this place?"
"It seemed to be that a dra-" Twilight caught herself from continuing and made a quick glance at Fluttershy. She cocked her head back towards the unicorn. "Um..." Twilight thought up of a different word "...a drawback! Yeah, a drawback of tourists made the settlers having to move to a more profiting location." If her tone didn't hold any secrets then it was the bad poker face she was giving "Hopefully, that thing isn't hanging around anymore."
[The emerald is straight forward] The handheld computer, Nichole, informed everyone.
The team found cold solid rocks blocking their path; if Nichole didn't speak up, you would've thought of it as just another rock to climb.
"So should we start digging?" the country mare asked.
"No need" the lavender unicorn said while she begins to light up her horn.
"I'll handle this."
Twilight nearly fell over when Sonic volunteered to make a path. She boggled the thought of just how he was planning on accomplishing this feat.
"This'll take a sonic second, stand back" he warned and quickly curled up into a buzz-saw and began drilling a hole into the mountain. A humming sound could be heard while dirt and rubble were being flung behind Sonic as he proceeded further into the rocky structure. The gang was soon able to view inside the hole he made without any worry of anything hitting them. The humming sound eventually stop and a hedgehog could be heard "Come on guy! Plenty of room in here."
"Weeeeeeeeeeee!" Pinkie squealed when she dove into the tunnel.
The others gave a careful look to each other before proceeding one by one into the hole. The passage was small, but the gang could make it through if they went in one at a time. They crawled into a dome that was illuminating; bright blue gems, crystals and rocks were glowing all along the walls and ceiling.
"That was awsome!" Spike complemented on Sonic's digging. "I gotta try to learn that trick" he touched his own spines in hope.
"Bet he couldn't clear the sky in 'a sonic second'" Dash mocked the last few words of her sentence.
When everypony made it inside, the search continued. Stalactites formed overhead while stalagmites scattered the floor, blocking the paths for the team. Simple monuvers helped everyone slip-by and eventually found a hidden treasure trove of pilled gold coins, sparkling gemstones, and other royal accessories. One such accessory Twilight picked up was a dusty crown. It was in desperate need of repair from fallen of gems and tattered cloth.
The lavender mare peered inside the headgear. "EEK!" she cried, dropping the crown. Out came out a small eight legged insect that was running at high speed out of the vicinity. "I hate spiders!" a flustered Twilight said.
"Oh, theirs nothing wrong with spiders" Fluttershy knelt down to view the little bugger, "their just little house decorators."
The hedgehog had to take another look at the butter coated pegasus. "What do ya know? I thought Shy would be scared of spiders, she seems to be jumpy at everything else."
"She is a timid young thing" Rarity told as she walked by "but when it comes to critters, she is very open to almost all of them."
"Almost? What critters can't she stand?"
"Well there's.... there it is!" Rarity pointed near the top of one of the many hills of gold bits. There, she was pleased to finally find an emerald that stayed true to its name, even if it was a scarlet emerald.
Everyone headed up the hill, but for one distracted mare, she followed a spider to make sure it was safe from harm.
"Got it!" Sonic announced as he snatched the gem "Now we can save that princess of yours, right?"
"Yes, now let's get out of here" spoken an agitated Twilight.
"Say, Twilight" Spike began to question the mountain of bits he was standing on. "I thought you said that the reason the ponies had to leave was because of a lack of profit" the others were seeing where this was going "so why did they not use these bits for profit?"
The gang was looking at the lavender unicorn for an answer. "Well... that is... you see..." she was searching for an excuse so she wouldn't have to deal with a frightened Fluttershy. "Wait.... where is Fluttershy?"
The carefree Fluttershy was following the itsy-bitsy spider until she bumped her head on a soft leathered surface. She rubbed her noggin and viewed the contact she just made. Her pupils began shrinking as she looked upon an enormous navy blue snout. Its grayish violet jaw rotated to get readjusted to a more comfortable position. The once closed eyelids began flickering from the sudden collision. "A........a.......a....." the meek pegasus stuttered as the once sleeping creature opened its eye to have it glare a pair of reptilian eyes at her.
"A DRAGON!!!"
Sonic and the gang whipped their heads to see a scared pony running from a large reptilian beast rising onto its hind legs. The blue hedgehog always had to look up to see a dragon's face from ten feet off the ground, but this over-sized lizard was at least fifty feet tall!
The party gave a gasp that caught the ears of the grumpy dragon to view them standing on his treasures. It winced its bloodshot eyes at the intruders and inhaled itself up to blow out a scorching stream of fire. Everyone quickly reacted to the approaching flames by dodging them through means of rolling down the hill of gold bits, hiding behind said hill, or simply out maneuver it with flight or speed.
"HEAD FOR THE ENTRANCE!" Sonic yelled out loud "I'll stall him." In mere seconds, the blue decoy appeared on the opposite side of the raging dragon "YO RED-EYES! You should lay off the spicy food. It's giving you serious heartburn."
The dragon roared at the hedgehog with it's flames, but failed at hitting the speedy rodent.
Everyone headed towards the exit, seeing as Sonic is having no trouble at dealing with the overgrown reptile, but a cyan colored pegasus was not about to let someone else at being considered a hero in place of her. Rainbow Dash flew within the dragon's sight "HEY! Flying target! Hundred points!" which lead to it trying to swatting her out of the air.
The team made it to the small opening and began shimmying their way through the cramped hole one by one, while the dragon kept on attempting to roast the two cocky risk takers with its fiery breath. The heated battle of dodging flames began to make its presents know as the caverns soon began to feel stuffy from the intense heat it left. Before being the last one left to leave, Twilight yelled out to Sonic and Dash that everyone made it through and it was their turn. Rainbow Dash shot for the exit, leaving Sonic to deal with the dragon. The dragon was now a large blockade for the blue hedgehog, blocking any escape for him to use. His back was up against the wall as he desperately looked for a way around the drake and he happened to notice Rainbow Dash flying near the ceiling of the cavern.
And then he smirked.
Reaching into his backpack, Sonic pulled out his last power ring and began to activate its powers. The dragon sprayed flames at the cornered hedgehog only to be shocked that he avoided it by running. Running up the wall and onto the ceiling. He was running so fast that even gravity couldn't keep a hold on him as he went right over the dragon and within mere moments, he passed by Rainbow Dash. She may have been defying gravity on her own, but it seemed like her jaw wasn't able to defy as it began hanging when he passed by.
Sonic was the first one to enter through the small tunnel he made early, followed by a frustrated Rainbow Dash that was grumbling something about the word 'awsome'. Eveyone made it through the small opening and with one final roar, the dragon attempted to crisp the intruders to only fail at inflicting any casualties.
With a sigh of relief, everyone began thanking the two decoys for bravely risking their lives for them. "Thanks you two for keeping the dragon preoccupied" spoke Twilight. "I was hoping that we wouldn't have to deal him, but I guess things got a bit out of control back there."
"You knew that 'thing' was in there!?" Rarity practically gasped.
"Kinda" Twi was giving a sheepish smile. "The town was abandoned due to a dragon a long time ago. I was hoping he passed away by now." Everyone gave a groan at her weak reasoning "Come on guys, we had to get the emerald. Plus, nopony got hurt in the process."
"I feel kinda wet" Spike open-mindedly announced.
"You're probably sweating from the heat."
"No, it's mostly around my feet" everyone looked at his feet and it did appear that there was a bit of liquid around him, in fact, it was a bit everywhere.
*Sloosh*
The group violently whipped their heads at the large sounds. They were looking up at the mountain they just escaped and witness that their little fight with the dragon brought fourth some results. The heat from the flames inside the cavern began to rise and make its way through the terrain to eventually meet up with the snow that was covering it, that soon began to melt the frozen liquid. With another loud sloshing sound, the snow began sliding towards everyone.
Sonic probably said it best at describing the current situation they're in "Whoa!"
The gang began running down the mountain at hopes of avoiding the avalanche/tsunami. By the time they made it to the mountain's small town, there was already objects flowing on a current down the hill. This led to Twilight getting a spark of enlightenment "QUICK! Get something to slide on down the hill with!" Everyone ran their own ways towards the closest vehicle that seemed possible to ride on. It didn't take long before the contraptions began sliding across the ground.
With another slosh, another chunk of snow broke apart and pushed the team with a wave of water down the hill. Applejack steered on a flipped table, using the legs to pilot the furniture. Twilight and Spike rode in an open wooden crate together, using it like a bobsled. Pinkie was riding a red wagon with her tongue hanged out to the side. Rarity chose a cart for her ride along with Fluttershy riding next to her, gluing herself to the vehicle in terror. Dash, being the tough pegasus as she was, decided to stay airborne above the melted snow on her way down.
The gang seemed to be all here, to everyponies relief before noticing they were one head short. Terror could be registered in each other's eyes as they looked back to see large piles of snow crushing some of the houses. Just before one house was about to be impacted, one of its windows shattered from a blue spinning ball. At the sound of a splash as it impacted the water; the missing head everypony was worried about was streaking down the surface of the water, ridding on a wooden board. Sonic was carving down the hill; making small spins on the bumpy path.
He wasn't the only one dealing with a rough ride. Sliding down the mountain was no different then riding in the rapids of a river. Water bounced everywhere when it hits the rocky trail as it fell or when it hits a bolder in the way, making everyone's ride leap every once in a while. Fluttershy screamed, Rarity screeched, and Pinkie squealed when they hit a large jump, but when Twilight and Spike hit a jump, things got a little hectic. Spike was thrown out of the crate he was in before Twilight could react at catching him back inside; he is now attempting to reach out for someone while keeping his head above the rushing current.
"Don't worry, I'll get him." Rainbow Dash exclaimed before diving at the little dragon. She smiled at this chance of basking in the esteem respect this will bring for her. Dash stretched out her hand arm to grab Spike...
"Gotcha!"
She practically stumbles in the air at the missed opportunity when Spike vanished from site by a sudden blue blur. Her blood boiled when she glared at the speedy pass-by that stolen her glory.
"You okay there though guy?" Sonic asked Spike who was dangling through the air by the wrist his hero grabbed. With a nod, the hedgehog proceeded by placing him into his backpack "You can ride with me."
Spiked popped his head out and watched his driver's moves in action. After a few more minutes of the wild ride, the avalanche began to die down and leaving the temporary sleds on a flat level ground. The girls gave a relieving sigh and a few looked back at the mountain to see if it was finally over. The top looked like was completely barren of any snow, not to mention the any town either. They scanned down from the peak to see the last of their party finally catching up to them.
Kicking the board into the air to catch it, Sonic landed firmly on the ground with a smile "OH MAN! That was WAY past cool!"
"Cool?" Twilight tripped out of her ride, still jittery from the experience "COOL??? We were nearly crushed under a pile of snow and thought we lost not one, but TWO important friends in that and you think it was COOL?????"
"No" Spike spoke up from behind him "He thought it was way past cool."
The unicorn throws her arms up in defeat "And now he's saying it."
Everyone took this opportunity to count their blessings and to settle down after that crazy experience before they for the time being.... well, except for one. With him right there, she just couldn't calm down. With him showing off awesome move and heroic deeds, Rainbow Dash felt like he was a threat to who she is, at what made her unique. It was as if she was staring down at another version of herself that could possibly be better then her. She quickly shook that thought out of her head realizing that she was worth more then a second fiddle; and she'll prove it too.
Even if it means proving her worth the best way she knows how.