Despite being the local accommodation for the members of the Royal Guard that weren’t assigned to the castle, Canterlot’s Twelfth Precinct was usually a quiet place. While they did get called upon in dire situations such as the Changeling Invasion about a year ago (which the Royal Guard was hardly able to halt due to the element of surprise the changelings had), Equestria often being under a spell of peace meant the members of the Royal Guard had very little to do. Going on patrols and polishing their armor until it was shining tended to be the highlights of their day.
That’s why when a rather loud thud sounded right outside the front doors of the building, the left door opened part of the way and the precinct lieutenant, a white pegasus pony with a small mustache and bushy eyebrows wearing the Royal Guard armor, and another pegasus Royal Guard with a brilliant gamboge coat and two sapphire blue eyes (who seemed to be nervous, judging from the way he was slightly shaking) poked their heads out to see what was going on. What they found were the two Princesses of Equestria hunched over and panting, their wings drooping to their sides and the street beneath them slightly cracked from the impact of their landing.
The precinct lieutenant gasped and pushed the door open all the way, running over to the Princesses while the other pegasus was a little slower to follow his lead and other guards were coming to the front to investigate. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna! Are you both all right?” the lieutenant asked.
Princess Celestia took one last breath and stood up straight, folding her wings as she said, “Yes, Luna and I are fine, Lieutenant. We just finished flying all the way from Ponyville back here to Canterlot, which was not quite as straightforward as we would have liked.”
Before the lieutenant or any of the guards gathering in front of the Princesses could ask what she meant, Luna exasperatedly spoke as she stood up, “Portals! Portals everywhere! ‘Twasn’t bad enough that we fought with a rampant experiment, narrowly avoided getting every hair on our bodies burned off, and had to keep Celestia’s cake cravings under control! Nay; what should have been a simple flight back to Canterlot was instead tainted by many openings leading to equally as many unknown locations! This day has most certainly not been just perfect!”
The lieutenant and all of the guards stared at Luna for a moment before turning back to Princess Celestia, the lieutenant asking, “Your Highness…?”
Celestia turned to him and said, “It’s all right, Lieutenant. Luna is still not happy about having to be woken up earlier. She’ll be all right, though.” The Lunar Princess let out a huff and made a face at that.
The brilliant gamboge pegasus looked up and asked, “What’s happened to the sky, Your Highnesses?”
Celestia spoke, “It’s a long story, I’m afraid, and now is not the time for it. Right now, there is something more urgent that Luna and I need you all to do.”
The guards stood at attention at that, the lieutenant asking, “What do you require of us, Princess Celestia?”
Ignoring the look that Luna gave the pegasus at that, Celestia explained, “Make sure all the citizens of Canterlot are in their homes. We’re in the middle of a serious situation right now and they cannot be out wandering the streets. Knock on their doors, get a list of all their names, do whatever it takes to make sure they’re all safe and accounted for. The safety of the citizens comes first right now.”
All the guards saluted, the lieutenant saying, “As you command, Your Highness!” He turned to the rest of the guards a moment later and ordered, “I want some of you to get a list together of all of Canterlot’s citizens! The rest of you, come with me! We’re going to patrol the streets in the meantime and escort any ponies out right now back to their homes immediately!” The guards saluted again and they all took off, a small number of them going back into the precinct to put the list together while most of the rest went with the lieutenant to patrol the streets.
Only the brilliant gamboge pegasus remained, looking unsure of whether to go with the lieutenant or not. Princess Celestia looked down at him and asked, “You. You’re Flash Sentry, correct?”
The pegasus straightened up and said, “Yes I am, Your Highness!”
Celestia nodded, “Come with me. Luna and I are going to the castle. After our earlier flight, we could use an escort.”
Flash Sentry proclaimed, “I will remain at you and your sister’s side as long as you need me, Princess Celestia!”
Luna shook her head, the pegasus’ name already starting to slip from her mind as Celestia turned and started trotting towards the castle. Luna and Flash Sentry quickly caught up with her, Flash Sentry flying just above them to keep watch while Luna asked her sister, “What are we going to do when we get to the castle, sister? We are going to wait for Twilight, Sonic, and the others to arrive, correct?”
The Solar Princess nodded, “Yes, Luna, but just as the Royal Guard is securing Canterlot and its citizens as we speak, we must make sure the castle is secure as well. We must make sure the staff is okay and that there are no surprises waiting for us quickly. I’m sure Twilight and her friends are not far from Canterlot now.”
________________________________________
Sonic, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Rarity looked out the window on their side of the car as the Friendship Express came out of the portal, which deposited the train at the end of the tunnel they had been going through before they’d been forced to go through a series of strange side adventures. The train was now following the tracks on top of the wooden bridge, the track curving ahead as it ran alongside the mountain range. They could see a bit of Canterlot peeking out from the side of the mountain range in the distance, but it felt like they were still far away from the city.
As the train approached the curve ahead, Canterlot disappeared back behind the mountains and the four of them stopped looking out the window. They could feel as the train rounded the curve and straightened out, everybody sitting tightly during the curve and relaxing afterwards. While the train ambled along, Rainbow Dash plopped down next to Spike and sighed, “Man, this feels like the longest train ride we’ve ever had! When are we going to get to Canterlot?”
Rarity spoke, “Rainbow Dash, I don’t see how it could possibly feel longer than any other time we’ve been on a train. Why, we’ve hardly spent much time on the train at all! We’ve spent far more time running around.”
Sonic shrugged, “I think that’s the point Dash is getting at, Rarity. We’ve had to stop, go into portals, run around, and do a bunch of stuff all so we can keep the train going. Of course the ride itself is going to feel longer as a result.” Rainbow held up her left hoof and Sonic, upon seeing it out of the corner of his eye, raised his right hand and bumped it.
Rarity shrugged as she checked one of her curls with a hoof and said, “Hm. Well, yes, I suppose that is true. If it were possible for us to relax in one of the bed cars, then yes, the trip would go faster and we would be at our best for whatever is waiting for us in Canterlot.”
Sonic shook his head, “No, Rarity. That would be worse. There is such a thing as being too relaxed. …Can’t believe I just said that…”
Applejack spoke, “Can’t argue with ya there, Sonic. Relaxin’ too much ain’t that good for ya. ‘Course, bein’ too alert ain’t so good either.”
Twilight glanced back out the window while Cadance asked, “Do you really think so, Applejack?”
The orange earth pony thought about her words for a moment, quickly deciding not to bring up the incident with the Sass Squash this past winter and instead saying, “Well, sure, Princess Cadance. Sonic ain’t the only one who knows how ta relax; Rainbow Dash can be a lazy galoot too when she ain’t got anythin’ ta do.”
Rainbow immediately glared over at Applejack and said, “No, I don’t!”
Applejack retorted, “Really? How many times have Ah disturbed yer ‘precious beauty sleep’ because ya were sleepin’ in one o’ mah family’s apple trees? How long did it take ya ta finally figure out when you’re supposed ta report for weather duty?”
While the two friendly rivals started arguing again, both Sonic and Spike scooted closer towards the wall to stay out of it. Sonic looked out the window again and noticed Ponyville off in the distance, looking closed off and alone in this white world. “Can anyone tell me how close we are now?” he asked after a moment, wondering if anyone would hear him over the sound of arguing.
Rarity heard him and looked over at the window on the other side of the car, noticing that Fluttershy had moved to Shining Armor and Cadance’s seat to give Applejack and Rainbow Dash space. Looking out the window, she soon saw a waterfall pass by outside of it; looking back at Sonic, she said, “We’re close to the next tunnel now. It should be just around the corner.” Sonic nodded and went back to looking out the window.
For a minute, the car was silent save for Rainbow Dash and Applejack arguing with each other, everyone else trying to tune them out until they started going overboard, unintentionally tuning everything else out as well. That is, until Rarity looked over at Twilight and noticed the look she had on her face while she was looking out the window. “Twilight darling, are you okay?” she asked, Sonic and Spike looking over at her words.
Twilight looked up with a start, turning to look at her unicorn friend. “Oh, uh… Sorry, Rarity, I, uh…” she stammered while looking down.
Rarity looked at her with concern, “Twilight, is something wrong?”
The lavender unicorn hesitated for a moment before uttering, “Well, sort of…” Her eyes moved up in Sonic’s direction, the blue hedgehog looking back at her for a moment before the look in his eyes became more understanding.
Both Spike and Rarity noticed where Twilight was looking, both of them raising an eyebrow as they looked between her and Sonic. “Why are you two looking at each other like that?” Spike asked a moment later.
Sonic looked down at him with a raised eyebrow, “What are you talking about, Spike?”
The baby dragon replied, “That way you were looking at Twilight!”
Sonic shrugged, “What, I’m not allowed to look at somebody when Rarity is nearby?”
Spike sputtered, “What?! No! That’s… What does that even mean?!” The baby dragon’s yelling attracted the attention of the others due to Applejack and Rainbow Dash hitting a silent moment in their arguing, everypony looking over at Sonic and Spike, all except for Twilight and Rarity.
Twilight was looking down again, prompting Rarity to ask, “Twilight, is something going on between you and Sonic? Is that what’s troubling you?”
Twilight looked up at the fashionista in confusion, “What? N-No, Rarity, there’s nothing wrong between him and me…”
Rarity protested, “But the way you two were looking at each other just now! Whatever could be the problem, then?”
Twilight stammered, “Well, uh… You see…” Before she could say any more, a very loud smashing sound came from the engine, as though the train had slammed into something, and the force from the collision traveled back to the group’s car, pushing them all towards the back of the train!
Twilight found herself sprawled out on top of Sonic, the hedgehog lying slumped in his seat as they looked at each other. They quickly looked to the side to see Rarity, Spike, Shining Armor, Cadance, and Fluttershy similarly knocked over. There was no sign of Applejack or Rainbow Dash, though a groan from behind told them that they had ended up in the aisle. It soon occurred to them that the train was slowing to a stop.
They both glanced out the window when they heard a whooshing sound coming from outside and saw two trails of lightning clouds heading towards the front of the train. “It’s the Wonderbolts!” Twilight gasped.
Sonic looked up at Twilight, the unicorn looking back down at him when he spoke, “Listen, I hate to interrupt, but could you hold onto what you were about to say for a minute or two?” Twilight nodded and let out a yelp a moment later when Sonic leapt to his feet and swung her around so she was behind him, the bookish pony hanging on tightly as he dashed towards the engine, hardly slowing down to open the door in the way.
The others soon recovered from the sudden shakeup and quickly headed for the engine when they all noticed Sonic and Twilight were gone. They found them with Tails, Pinkie Pie, Spitfire, and Soarin, Sonic and Soarin tending to Tails while Twilight and Spitfire looked after Pinkie. From the look of it, Tails and Pinkie were more dazed and jarred than any of them had been just moments ago, though it didn’t look like they were injured.
Soarin looked Tails over from the front while Sonic, who was sitting the fox up by holding his shoulders, asked, “Tails, you okay, buddy?”
The fox shook his head a moment later and wearily replied, “Uh… I think so…”
Applejack and Shining Armor came over to help them while Fluttershy and Cadance went over to Twilight and Spitfire to help check on Pinkie Pie. While they were checking her, Twilight asked, “Pinkie, what happened?”
The pink pony, her eyes rolling around a bit, answered, “I don’t know, Twilight! My Pinkie Sense didn’t go off, so I don’t think something fell on the tracks or they weren’t lined up or anything like that!”
Spitfire sighed, “Well, it doesn’t look like anybody’s hurt. Not too shabby.”
Soarin nodded, “Thank Celestia for small miracles.”
Cadance asked, “Spitfire, Soarin, what are you two doing here?”
While helping Pinkie Pie up onto her hooves, Spitfire answered, “Believe me, Your Highness, as much as I’d like to say it’s a social call, it’s not. We came out this far because of those Babylon Rogues.”
Sonic asked, “Jet and his gang?”
Tails added, “Are you saying they left Ponyville?”
Soarin nodded, “That is what she’s saying, I’m afraid.”
Rainbow spoke, “Those guys are a joke! They got lucky; that’s the only reason they managed to get away, right Spitfire?”
Instead of soundly agreeing with her, the light gold pegasus replied, “Maybe, Rainbow Dash. They’re definitely sneaky when they want to be. That’s why we were trying to keep an eye on ‘em; some of Ponyville’s residents have reported seeing them lurking around ever since we got back from that theme park. And we don’t think they’ve just broken quarantine either.”
Shining Armor asked, “What do you mean?”
Spitfire replied, “We saw them taking a pony with them on their way out.”
Sonic raised an eyebrow, “You mean they kidnapped a pony?”
Soarin said, “No, like, the pony was flying with them when they were riding off on their board things. It wasn’t that long ago either, and it was like they’d been lying low until then since nopony had seen them. We couldn’t tell who the pony was from behind, though Spitfire thought it looked familiar.
Spitfire nodded, “Yeah. I’m pretty sure it was one of the cadets from the Academy…”
Rainbow Dash spoke, “What?! I’m sorry, Spitfire, but that can’t be right! Why would a Wonderbolt cadet want to hang out with those guys?” As if in answer to her question, something shot in through one of the engine’s windows and out the other window, leaving a blue and yellow thunderbolt streak behind it. While it didn’t hit anybody, it was enough to make them all flinch and back up a bit.
Almost immediately afterwards, as the streak was beginning to disappear, Jet and Wave flew into the engine on their Extreme Gears, Jet grabbing Pinkie by a foreleg and smacking Sonic with one of his fans while Wave grabbed Tails by his left tail (the fox letting out a yelp at the yanking feeling) and narrowly missed striking Spitfire on the side of the head with her wrench (though she did graze the pegasus with the end of it). As they flew out the other window, Twilight cried, “Pinkie Pie, Tails!”
Outside, the two Rogues stopped on their boards, hovering some distance away from the train as they looked back at the group. “Don’t worry, nerdy, we’ll give ‘em back! Once we’re done with them, that is,” Wave called.
As they started to move again, Jet laughed, “Too bad, Sonic! You’re too slow!”
Sonic’s head snapped up at that. “Oh no, he didn’t…” the blue hedgehog growled under his breath.
Spitfire yelled, “After them! Don’t let them get away!” Sonic didn’t need to be told twice, already leaping out the window to go after Jet and Wave as they were rejoined by Storm. Thankfully, the engine had reached the end of the rail bridge and was on top of the cliff, so he had no difficulty finding a place to put his feet. Spitfire and Soarin were soon hot on his heels, Rainbow Dash and the others getting off the train and following as well.
As she followed Sonic, Spitfire, and Soarin around the curve, Rainbow Dash saw a portal in the path of the tracks up ahead. The Wonderbolts and Sonic went through it without stopping, so Rainbow did the same, passing through the portal and finding herself in a new location. She didn’t stop to look around, though; she kept going straight, joining Sonic, Soarin, and Spitfire as they tended to Tails and Pinkie Pie, both of them having been seemingly let go in the middle of a metal street.
As the others joined them, Sonic asked Tails, “Are you okay, buddy?”
While rubbing his left tail with his hands, the fox sighed, “I’m better now, Sonic. I really don’t like having my tails pulled on…”
Twilight asked, “What about Pinkie Pie?”
The pink pony in question was lying on her back, looking up at the blue sky. “Ooh… Look at all the floaty things and tall buildings!” she said in awe.
Rainbow shrugged, “She’s fine, Twilight.”
Cadance asked, “What does she mean by ‘floaty things’?”
Sonic and Tails looked up and, after a moment, the former said, “Probably that.” Spike and everypony else looked up at this and they gasped in awe. High above their heads were towering, metal skyscrapers, a few looking as high as the clouds themselves, networks of tubes going all over, and flying vehicles either traveling through the tubes or flying over the buildings.
“What in Celestia’s name IS this place?!” Spitfire gasped.
“It’s, uh… it’s a city called Monopole. It’s very futuristic,” Tails stated.
Spike pointed up at the vehicles flying overhead and asked, “What are those things?”
Tails, as he stood up, answered, “They’re hover cars, Spike. They’re the main form of transportation here. We actually have one of our own that we keep in storage for when we’re here.”
Shining Armor, his eyes all starry, muttered, “Wow… I’m geeking out from all this…”
Soarin asked, “Is there anything special about this place? To you guys, I mean.”
Tails thought for a moment before saying, “Well, we were visiting the time when the robots from MeteorTech got out of control. Also, one of the factories was where…”
A familiar voice interrupted him, “We ran into each other again!” Everyone turned and looked up to see Jet, Wave, and Storm, on their Extreme Gear boards, descending towards them, stopping a short distance above the ground. Jet crossed his arms and smirked, “We also had a race at the end of that mess. Remember that, Sonic the Hedgehog?”
Sonic smirked back, “Yeah, I sure do, Jet. So what’s your problem now?”
Jet glared down at him, “You really have to ask? I told you, we’ve got a score to settle! And now that Wave’s fixed up the Extreme Gear, we’re settling it now!”
Soarin gaped, “A grudge match?! That’s what this is all about?!”
Sonic shrugged, “Yeah, uh, now’s not a good time, Jet. Gonna have to take a rain check on that.”
Jet smirked, “And just where do you think you’re gonna go?”
Shining Armor answered, “We have to get to Canterlot to set things right! Or did you forget that there’s a giant rift between our universes?”
Rainbow nodded, “Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal, bird brain!”
Applejack added, “A lot bigger than you gettin’ this race o’ yours!”
Jet replied, “Oh, I’m sure it is. But here’s the real question: how are you going to get there when you’re stuck here?”
Storm said, “Yeah, it kind of looks like your swirly hole thing is starting to close up!” Everybody looked back at that to see that, indeed, the portal they had come through (which was in front of a tunnel) was quickly closing. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and shot towards it, hoping to keep it open, but it was too small for her to even fit her hoof through by the time she reached it.
Wave spoke up, “Well, looks like that option’s out. And I don’t think you’ll be doing any warping. Not without this, anyway.” She reached behind her back with her left hand and, when she brought it back, it held the Warp Ring in it!
Rarity gasped, “What?! That’s…!”
Wave smirked, “Good thing your tails are so sensitive to pulling, shorty. You didn’t even notice a thing!” Tails glared up at her at that.
As Rainbow Dash flew back over, Soarin growled, “You guys would really go to all this trouble to hold a race when our worlds are in danger?!”
Jet shrugged, “Hey man, I highly doubt it’s going to happen, but if everything’s gonna end, I’m gonna defend my title until it happens.” He then looked down at the two Wonderbolts and added, “And there’s a pony who so badly wanted to prove herself to you two that she was willing to help us pull this off.”
Spitfire raised an eyebrow, “Who?”
A tomboyish voice called, “Take a guess, ma’am!” From above, the blue and yellow thunderbolt streak shot straight down, landing between the group and the Babylon Rogues and raising a cloud of dust. When the dust settled soon after, they all saw a light turquoise pegasus with brilliant amber hair that had brilliant gold stripes running through it standing in front of them, her wings spread and wearing what looked like the a tattered Wonderbolt cadet uniform and flight goggles.
Rainbow’s eyes widened, “Lightning Dust?!”
The pegasus grinned, “Long time, no see, Rainbow Dash.”
Sonic looked over at Rainbow Dash and asked, “Friend of yours, Dash?”
The rainbow-maned pony grunted, “More like a fellow cadet from the Wonderbolts Academy, Sonic, and the former lead pony of our pair.”
Lightning Dust glared, “How are you enjoying being a leader, Rainbow Dash? Hope it’s a lot of fun, seeing as you bailing on me is what got me demoted.”
Rainbow argued, “You got demoted because you were way too reckless back there, Lightning Dust! I was already getting sick of it before I called you out on it; nearly killing my friends was what cinched it for me!”
Lightning Dust shot back, “So it was okay for me to get demoted and kicked out of the academy without even a hearing?!”
Spitfire spoke up, “Yes, because that was the only fair thing to do, Lightning Dust! It was my fault for fueling your competitiveness and not realizing what was happening as a result of you pushing yourself the wrong way! When Rainbow Dash told me about it, I knew that, as captain of the Wonderbolts, I was responsible for your actions and acted accordingly!”
Tails looked at Spitfire and asked, “‘Let the master speak’, essentially?"
Spitfire nodded, “Correct. I did what needed to be done in order to save the reputation of both the Wonderbolts Academy and Lightning Dust.”
Lightning Dust yelled, “Kicking me out of the academy and taking away my chance to become a Wonderbolt doesn’t sounds like my idea of saving anything!”
Spitfire argued, “Just because you were dismissed doesn’t mean you couldn’t reapply! If you had been training properly and signed up again with intent to prove it, we would’ve been willing to give you a second chance!”
Lightning Dust growled, “I don’t need the Wonderbolts Academy to tell me I’m qualified to be a Wonderbolt! I already proved it back then, and now that I’ve pushed myself in that direction you so wanted me to go in, I’m going to prove it again now!”
Jet spoke up, getting everyone’s attention, “So, now that we’ve got the whole reasoning thing out of the way, how about we get to that race? Or is Dusty here not entitled to fairness?”
Sonic gave Jet a level glare, asking, “What do you have in mind, Jet?”
Jet answered, “A one lap race through the city, starting at Megalo Station, going through the greenhouses, and ending back at Megalo Station. Anyone can be a part of it. The flying ponies can use their wings, but everyone else has to be on an Extreme Gear.”
Storm chortled, “Yeah! No running allowed for any of you!”
Spitfire asked, “And what happens at the end?”
Jet replied, “If Lightning Dust or any of us win, we get to keep the Warp Ring and Lightning Dust gets to bypass whatever it takes to become a Wonderbolt! If any of you guys win…”
Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?” Jet remained silent.
Lightning Dust glanced back up at him, “You’ll give them the Warp Ring back, right? That’s what we agreed on!”
Jet replied, “Yeah, sure. So?”
Sonic, Tails, Spike, and the ponies looked at each other for a second before Cadance said, “We don’t really have a choice, everybody. We need that Warp Ring to get back to Equestria.”
Spike asked, “Where are we going to get these Extreme Gear boards, though?”
Tails said, “There’s a place around here where I can get our Extreme Gear sent to right away, along with our racing gear.”
Fluttershy asked, “Racing gear?”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah, we switch it up a little when we race with Extreme Gear.”
Rarity said, “Then we’re going to need to dress similarly! I need some measurements; does anypony know if their measurements have changed recently?!”
Sonic looked at Tails and asked, “Can you get all our stuff and some extra Extreme Gear for Spike and everyone else, Tails?”
Tails shrugged, “I can, but… I’ll need to go across the city.”
Wave overheard and called, “Lightning Dust can help you with that, shorty. She’ll help cut down on your commute time.” Although the light turquoise pegasus initially protested, she quickly relented and agreed to push Tails and Rarity (she insisted on coming with to see the racing gear) to Tails’ place. As they left, Wave mused to herself, “This should be interesting.”
Soon, at Megalo Station
Sonic tapped his feet against the ground, trying to get comfortable in the new racing suit Rarity had made for him. He looked it over again as he tapped his feet; it was dark, almost like a navy, blue, had a pair of red and white boots that mimicked his regular shoes (which fit surprisingly comfortably inside of the boots), an orange pouch wrapped around his waist, and a new pair of light green sunglasses that sat on top of his head.
Sonic reached up with his right hand, his left hand holding onto the side of his Blue Star Extreme Gear, and adjusted the sunglasses as he thought, “I kind of like the new sunglasses to be honest, but still, really? Did Rarity tell Tails that our Extreme Gear attire wasn’t fashionable enough or something?”
Thinking of the fox, Sonic looked over at him as he was telling Spike and the ponies (save Rainbow Dash) about how to handle the Extreme Gear. He had a similar racing suit, only it was orange with white stripes going down the sides, had a yellow pouch, no eyewear, red and orange boots and gloves, and the bottom of his suit didn’t go all the way down, making him look like he was wearing knee-length shorts. The others were wearing similar racing suits, with Rainbow Dash’s looking like a cross between her cadet uniform and the Wonderbolts uniform while the others’ suits were made to look both functional and presentable, Rarity clearly wanting them all to look good for this race.
Before Sonic could think about Rarity’s outfit choices, Jet came over and gave his back a rough push. When the hedgehog turned to face him, he smirked, “Love the new look, Sonic the Hedgehog. Tight enough for you?”
Sonic glared at him, “Hey, I don’t know why Rarity felt it was necessary to go the extra mile, but she did, so I’m not gonna complain or not wear it.”
Jet rolled his eyes, “Whatever. Hope she didn’t put a lot of effort into it. By the time we’re done, all any of you are going to be left with is shreds.”
Spitfire and Soarin came over, the latter saying, “Hey, back off, Jet! Save it for the race, huh?”
Jet asked, “What, there’s no smack-talking allowed?”
Spitfire glanced over at Lightning Dust, the light turquoise pegasus flapping her wings so she was hovering on her back while she waited, and said, “You’re already pushing the envelope, hawk boy. Don’t give us a reason to call this race off before it begins.”
Jet grunted, “Fine!” before walking away, going over to talk to Wave.
Sonic looked at Soarin and Spitfire and asked, “You guys would really force them to call the race off?”
Spitfire nodded, “I don’t know what that guy’s deal is, but he’s been getting on my nerves for a while now! This race had better not take too long; our worlds are in real danger right now! Why does a race have to take precedent over that?!”
Sonic replied, “Yeah, Jet’s an interesting guy all right. Calls himself the Legendary Wind Master, so of course he’s got a lot of confidence in his skills. Still, I’m sure we’re gonna win this.”
Soarin nodded, “No doubt!”