//------------------------------// // Family // Story: Sonic: Friendship is Eternal // by VGFanatic20 //------------------------------// "Alright. Time for some practice laps" Rainbow dash said to Scootaloo, having set up a similar obstacle course as the one in the Sisterhooves race. "Ready. Set. Go!" she said blowing her whistle. Scoot took off as fast as she could, getting through the mud pit and reaching a table where she had to eat a salad. Of course a real one wasn't there; there was nothing on the table. Dash just had her imagine that's what she did. She chomped at the air before running to the next obstacle where Dash was waiting to boost her up. She jumped into a big barrel full of different soft things. She just shrugged before stomping them as if she were making juice before hopping out and onto Dash's back before jumping down and running to the pie table, once again chomping at imaginary pie before running to the barn. Dash smiled and helped her balance an egg on their noses to get it to where it needed to go before they did a final sprint to the finish line. Scootaloo was panting from running the course, looking up at Rainbow Dash with a smile. "So how'd I do?" she asked with hopeful eyes "5 seconds better than last time" Rainbow Dash said proudly. Scootaloo smiled more and cheered happily. "Great job kid" she said before Scootaloo hugged her. Dash just smiled and hugged her back. "Say, how about I teach you about flying after we get something to eat?" she asked. Scoot smiled happily. "Really?" she asked. "Yep" Dash said with a smile. "Oh, !" she exclaimed happily before glomping the Pegasus. Twilight's house Twilight was enjoying a nice read, while Shadow somewhat did the same. A knock on the door however jarred them both from the books. She smiled as she answered it before smiling happily and hugging her brother and sister in law that had come to visit. "Shining Armor. Cadance. What a pleasant surprise" she said happily. Her brother, white coat, blue mane, similar to Twilights walked in with his wife Cadance. She was an alicorn, pink with a beautiful mane and tail that showed purple white and pink. Her cutie mark was a gemstone while Shining's was a shield with the same sparkle as on Twilight's cutie mark. "Well we decided to drop by and see how you were doing after we heard what went down" he said. Cadance nodded before noticing Shadow. Who was uninterested in the conversation, since he was reading. "Who's that?" she asked. Twilight smiled before looking at him. "That's Shadow the Hedgehog. One of my new friends. He and the others he arrived with helped us out greatly" she said. Before she started to feel the butterflies, Cadance picked up on this due to her ability to create love where it was needed. She could sense something, but it seemed hazy. "Let's go up and talk in private, let the boys be friends" Cadance said before going with Twilight to her room to talk. "Hey Shadow. I'm Shining Armour, Twilight's big brother." He said as he walked up to the hedgehog. Shadow set the book down to pay attention to him. "Listen, I'm really grateful that you helped out my sister and her friends" he said with a grateful smile. "Don't mention it" Shadow said "So I'm guessing you live in Canterlot" he said. Earning a nod from Shining. "Yeah, captain of Celestia's Royal Guards" he said. Shadow was immediately more impressed by this one. "That must be a big job" he said. "Oh you have no idea" Armor said, Shadow chuckled. In Twilight's room "All right. Spill it" Cadance said to Twilight. Earning a blush and nervous giggle as well as shuffling from the lavender unicorn. "What about?" she asked, pretending to not know. "You and Shadow. And don't try to hide it, I could sense it" she said. Twilight just sighed in defeat. "I'm not too sure, he's a great friend…but lately, every time I look into his eyes I get butterflies and my heart races. I don't know what this means…" she said, a little scared of what she was feeling for the black and red Hedgehog. "Awww, how cute" Cadance said with a smile. "I think you're more scared of how he'd react" she said. Twilight nodded, knowing she had feelings for the hedgehog. She was just too afraid of how he'd react. "Give it time. I'm sure you'll be able to get the right moment to tell him one day" she said, reassuring her. Twilight smiled before hugging her. Cadance hugged her back before remembering. "Oh, I brought you something. Your brother found it" she said holding out a glistening white gem. Twilight recognized it based on how it looked and felt. "A Chaos Emerald" she said. "That's what it's called?" she asked, looking at the gem with curiosity. Twilight opened her chest and using her magic levitated the green and red emerald in front of her. "There are 7 total. And they are very powerful and dangerous" she said. "Shadow and his friends arrived with these. And I'm afraid if you hold onto yours that somepony might come and threaten your lives over it" she said. Cadance nodded and handed the gem over to Twilight, "I understand. Do keep them out of evil hands. And be careful" she said. Twilight nodded, smiling happily. With Dash and Scootaloo "Alright, that should do for wing exercise and how to flap." She said as she watched Scootaloo finally stop her wings from continuing the exercise. "Alright, time for the fun part" Dash said before getting down for Scoot to get on her back. "Climb on" she said before Scootaloo did so with joy. Dash stood. "Now, I want you to practice jumping and flapping your wings as you jump off my back." She said. Scoot nodded before doing just that. Not getting any air time longer than usual as she hit the ground before climbing back up and trying again and again. Dash noticed they had been at it for a while, since she was bored now. Turning to look back at Scoot she was surprised, Scoot was flying, but she was doing the pattern of getting on and jumping off toward the ground. As if in a trance. "Scoot!" she called out, getting her attention. "You can fly!" she said happily when the young filly looked at her. She blinked before noticing she was flying. She let out a happy cheer before trying to do a loop, which caused her to fall halfway through. Dash caught her and smiled. "Let's avoid the moves until you got a full grip on it. You must be worn out, let's go relax on a cloud. I could use a nap and I'm sure you'd like one" she said before noticing Scoot had already fallen asleep. She smiled before flying up to a cloud to get some rest with her. "Sweet dreams little sister" she said as she laid down beside Scootaloo. Twilight's house that night Shadow was out on the balcony with Twilight, gazing at the stars. She could feel her nerves going off as she stood beside him. "It sure was nice of my brother and Cadance to visit." She said with a smile. Shadow nodded. "At least now we have 4 emeralds. Dash has one and we have 3" she said happily. Shadow smirked a bit before turning to head to bed. "Let's get some rest. We're gonna need it" he said before heading in. she nodded and followed after him. Later that night Twilight awoke with a jolt, sitting straight up as she panted lightly. The outside raining with thunder and lightning. The night weather team having scheduled a rain. The lightning and thunder made her jump a little more than usual, since she was still sensitive from the dream. She got up and trotted over to the bed that Shadow had gotten so he wouldn't have to sleep on the couch. She nudged him. "Shadow?" she asked softly. No answer. She shook him. "Shadow?" she asked a little louder before a lightning strike made her jump and squeal. He looked over to her, since that had woke him up. "What?" he asked. She immediately got nervous. "I had a bad dream…could I maybe…" she said, unable to finish due to her nerves. "Climb in" he said moving the blanket for her. She smiled happily and got in beside him. Lying beside him with a smile before covering up. Snuggling a little bit close to him, which he kind of noticed but was too tired to care. "Thank you…" she said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. "Sweet dreams. Twilight" he said softly before falling back asleep. Canterlot Palace Trixie awoke with a scream. Panting as she recalled the dream she had. "That dream again?" Luna asked. Earning a nod from her. "It was more clear. The stars were dancing, there was death all around…and I could hear that male voice singing." She said. "What was the song? Do you remember?" Luna asked "Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars" Trixie said. "That's what I could recall" Luna went wide eyed before regaining her composure. "Get some rest. We'll inform my sister in the morning" she said before leaving the room as Trixie fell back asleep. "Impossible…my lullaby…it couldn't be" Luna said, getting a little scared of what Trixie's dreams meant.