Dragon Road and ???, Pt. I
Silver planted his feet firmly into the ground, wearing a determined expression as he stared at a column of fire across from him, the column half the size of the nearby tree. The silver hedgehog sucked in a quick breath and then held his arms out in front of him, his left hand above his right hand. He made a horizontal wave-like motion with his left hand, creating a crescent-shaped blade of psychic energy over his right hand. After a moment, he made a swing with his left hand, sending the blade flying towards the column of fire. It slashed right through the middle of the column and separated it into two pieces. A snap was heard and a moment later, both pieces vanished completely.
Blaze, who was leaning against the nearby tree, lowered her right hand to her side and stood up straight. She turned to look in Silver’s direction and started walking towards him while saying, “Nice work, Silver. You’ve clearly been practicing.”
Silver rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, blushing slightly as he said, “Heh, thanks Blaze.” He then lowered his hand and looked to his side at Twilight, who had been watching his actions intently. “That’s how you perform the Psychic Knife. Did you get all that?” he asked.
Twilight replied, “Uh-huh. You swept your hand while channeling your psychic energy into it, pushing it out and forming it into a blade. Another sweep and you released it from your grip towards your target.”
Silver nodded, “Right! And you can make a vertical swipe to unleash it vertically!”
Blaze stopped across from Twilight and Silver, looking at Twilight and saying, “You have keen observations skills, Miss Sparkle. I can see why your Princess Celestia decided to make you her personal student.”
Twilight blushed, “You think so? That’s very kind of you to say, Prin- er, I mean Blaze.”
Silver spoke, drawing both females’ attentions back to him, “Since you’ve got the observing part down, Twilight, let’s see what you can do! Show us your version of the Psychic Knife!”
Twilight nodded, “Okay!” She took a few steps away from Silver and Blaze and looked straight ahead as she stopped, beginning to focus her magic into her horn.
Before she could continue, Blaze said, “Wait!” She raised her left hand and snapped her fingers, a new fire column shooting out of the ground near where the first one had been. She then lowered her arm, “Okay, the target is set up. Go ahead, Twilight.”
Twilight nodded and faced forward again, her magic surrounding her horn in her magenta aura as she focused on the fire column. After a second, she turned her head slightly to the side and moved her neck back a bit. She then made a few practice sweeping motions with her head, making sure she was making a straight line before focusing more of her magic into her horn. She then made a quick sweep with her head, willing the magic to come out of her horn. Silver and Blaze looked on as a crescent-shaped blade composed of magic energy began to form where her horn had swept.
A second later, the blade broke up into a multitude of wisps, all of them dissipating as they broke away from each other. Twilight went from looking surprised at what happened to looking worried as she raised her left hoof to her mouth. She looked back at Silver and Blaze, the latter raising her arm and snapping her fingers, causing the fire column to vanish from existence.
Twilight looked forward again and faced the ground with a look of shame. That did not go well at all for her. “So much for learning how to use the Psychic Knife…” she thought to herself. She tensed up as she heard footsteps coming up behind her, stopping when they were in front of her.
A tense moment (for Twilight) passed before Silver asked, “Why are you looking at the ground, Twilight?”
Twilight looked up at him and Blaze in surprise, “Uh…”
Silver realized what she seemed to be thinking and said, “Look, don’t worry about not performing it perfectly the first time. I didn’t expect you to pull it off; considering the difference between psychokinesis and magic, I wasn’t sure you’d be able to do what you did just now. And I mean that in a good way.”
Twilight murmured, “Uh… okay. But still, I thought I could hold it longer than that…”
Silver placed his hand on her shoulder, “It’s all right. Heck, the first time I performed the Psychic Knife, I did it completely by accident.”
Twilight asked, “Really?”
Silver nodded, “Yeah! And when I tried to do it normally afterwards, it took me who knows how long to get close to the same result. I’d say you’re on a good start towards learning it already.”
Blaze spoke, “I agree. And I had similar problems learning to control my fire abilities when I first discovered them. And that was when I saw them as a curse rather than a blessing. So you’re not alone when it comes to learning a new skill, especially one like this that’s not related to magic. Do you understand?”
Twilight nodded, feeling her determination beginning to come back, “Yes, I understand. So that means… I’ll keep trying!”
Silver said, “That’s right! Just for now, we won’t work on your aim. We’ll focus on making sure you can create the blade and keep it stable.” He held out his arms to indicate the park where the girls met up for their pony pet play date as he added, “We’ve got plenty of room here to do that.”
Up on the nearby hill, Sonic, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were standing and watching the three of them as Blaze and Silver began to work closely with Twilight to figure out where she was having problems. Behind them, Celestia and Luna sat on the grass, listening in on Twilight’s training but not watching it like Spike, Rainbow Dash, Sonic, and Pinkie Pie were.
At the moment, most of the group had temporarily split up once again. Rarity had said earlier that she was going to drop off her gems and fix Applejack’s hat, the orange earth pony, Braeburn, and Little Strongheart deciding to go with her. Fluttershy, meanwhile, said she wanted to go back to her cottage to check on Angel and her other animals, the pink-maned pegasus her usual caring, motherly self when it came to animals. Upon seeing that they were going to be split up for a while, Silver had suggested teaching Twilight the Psychic Knife to pass the time, the lavender unicorn suggesting that they go to the park to practice. Shortly after arriving, Tails and Zecora headed back into Ponyville, saying they would be meet up with the others later before heading off in different directions.
While watching Twilight as she started to create another blade with her magic, Sonic uncrossed his arms, placing his right hand on his hip as he noted, “Man, Twilight sure is a unicorn dedicated to learning and mastering new things, huh?”
Spike nodded, “Well, of course! That’s who she is, after all. Learning new spells and looking to earn Princess Celestia’s approval.” He crossed his arms as he said, “It would be nice if she didn’t worry so much about her reports and tests and all that, but I guess that’s part of her too. I’m sure you’ve dealt with that sort of thing before, right Sonic?” After a few seconds passed without an answer, Spike looked at him and asked, “Sonic?”
When Spike called his name a second time, Sonic blinked his eyes as he was brought out of his thoughts. He then looked over at him, saying, “Huh? Oh yeah, sure. I occasionally had to talk to Tails and reassure him when he was little. We all need a little reassurance every now and then.” His thoughts returned to the lavender unicorn as he turned his head to watch her training.
Spike turned his head to look at Twilight too, though he looked at Sonic out of the corner of his eye as he raised an eyebrow, “Okay…?”
Rainbow spoke, “Hey, look! I think Twilight’s got it now!” Both Sonic and Spike looked away from each other at that, facing forward to see that Twilight had created a magenta-colored blade with her magic, the blade hanging above her horn, which was pointing up at the middle of it.
“Yeah, you go, girl!” Pinkie cheered. Twilight’s eyes briefly moved in Pinkie’s direction at her cheer, but they quickly shifted back to look at her blade. Blaze and Silver stepped back to give her room to throw it, and with a sweep of her head, Twilight released the blade from her magic grip and sent it flying straight ahead. It didn’t travel far, though, before it suddenly broke up like the first few she had tried to create. “Or not,” Pinkie muttered.
Silver spoke, “You launched it… but you might have put too much magic into it. It was too unstable on its own.”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, “Hm… Guess that means I’ll have to treat it like I’m working on a machine rather than… something else.”
Blaze asked, “What do you mean?”
Twilight explained, “Princess Celestia thought I should help Tails repair his radar when it got damaged earlier and, when I mentioned I wasn’t sure if my magic would be good for that kind of work, Pinkie Pie gave me a book that showed me how to throttle down my magic to an appropriate level for it. Maybe what I read about could be applied here.”
Blaze nodded, “Ah. Yes, that does make sense.”
Silver said, “Well, try it! See if what you remember has any effect.”
While Twilight focused her magic to create another Psychic Knife, up on the hill, Luna turned to Celestia and asked, “Sister, are you sure this is wise? Letting Twilight Sparkle learn a skill that has been used to cause harm to others?”
Celestia replied, “I’m sure it will be fine, Luna. Twilight has learned before not to abuse the magic she’s been taught. I can see no reason why she would do that to something one of her friends taught her.”
Luna asked, “So would this count as being a part of the next level of her studies? She is being taught by another princess and a time traveler after all.”
Celestia seemed to consider this for a moment before simply replying, “Nah.”
Sonic’s eyes moved back in the two royal sisters’ direction as they talked for a moment, wondering, before looking back at Twilight, Silver, and Blaze. A few minutes passed by with Pinkie and Rainbow occasionally throwing out a few cheers before Sonic noticed someone approaching. He looked to see a familiar yellow pegasus fluttering down towards the trio. “Hey, Fluttershy,” he called, Spike, Pinkie, and Rainbow looking as well.
Fluttershy smiled as she got closer, “Oh, hello everypony. The animals are all a little nervous because all the color hasn’t come back yet, but they all said they’re okay and that they’ll be strong.” She landed next to Rainbow Dash and asked, “So, um, how is Twilight doing with Princess Blaze and Silver?”
Pinkie piped up, “Oh, she’s doing great! Silver and Blaze are great teachers! She’s gonna have this knife thingy mastered in no time! Pretty soon, she’ll be helping the Mayor out at ribbon cutting ceremonies!”
Fluttershy replied, “Really? That sounds nice.”
Rainbow said, “You do know that’s not all she’s going to use it for, right Pinkie?”
Pinkie’s eyes widened, “You’re right, Dashie! She could cut cakes with it! And pies! And brownies! And, ooh, cupcakes!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Right. I don’t know about cupcakes, though…” She looked off to the side and saw a familiar group approaching, though she mostly noticed the earth pony at the front of the group. “Yo, Applejack!” she called.
The orange earth pony quickened her pace, reaching the group on the hill before Rarity, Braeburn, and Little Strongheart did. “Howdy, y’all!” she exclaimed. She turned, showing off the side of her hat that had caught on fire earlier. “What do ya think?” she asked.
Sonic held his left thumb up, “Looking good, Applejack! If I didn’t know better, I’d say your hat hadn’t been burnt in the first place!”
Rarity, Braeburn, and Little Strongheart walked up as Applejack turned back around, Braeburn saying, “Ah’ll say! Miss Rarity does some fine work!”
Spike grinned, “Well, of course! That’s why she’s so popular with ponies like Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores!”
Rarity smiled, “Oh, you flatter me, Spike.” Looking over the group, she noticed Fluttershy standing near Rainbow Dash. “Oh, Fluttershy, I’m so glad you’re here, darling.”
The yellow pegasus looked a little worried at that. “Why? Is something wrong? Did something scary happen?” she asked.
Rarity replied, “Oh no, nothing of the sort. It’s just…” She turned to the side, showing her previously hidden right side and revealing a familiar cat clinging onto her. “It’s Opal,” she squeaked.
Pinkie smiled, “Ooh, you brought Opal to the park!” She then gasped, “Wait, are we having our pony pet play date now?! Why didn’t anypony tell me we were having a schedule change?! That wasn’t in my schedule!”
Rarity sighed, “No, Pinkie, we’re not having our play date now. Opal just won’t let go. Even Applejack, Braeburn, and Little Strongheart can’t get her to budge.” She began to tear up as she whimpered, “I can feel her claws on my skin…” She bent down like she was going to try to shake Opal off, but a hiss from the white cat made her stand up straight again.
Fluttershy spoke, “Okay, don’t worry, Rarity. I’ll help you.” She then started walking over to the white unicorn and Opalescence.
As Fluttershy began to work her animal magic, Twilight panted after another failed attempt at performing the Psychic Knife. “The fine-tuning you’ve suggested seems to be working, Twilight. I’m not sure there’s much else we can do at this point,” Blaze noted.
Twilight panted, “But… I still haven’t successfully… used the Psychic Knife…”
Silver spoke, “You’ve managed to create it and release it properly, Twilight. I don’t know why it can’t stay together for more than a few seconds after you release it. Right now, all I can guess is it has something to do with your magic. You’ll probably figure what that is sooner than I will.”
Blaze nodded, “Silver is right, Twilight. You’re a unicorn; you’re more familiar with magic than we are. Let’s just stop for now and give your magic a chance to recover.”
Twilight looked up at her for a second before replying, “Okay.” Silver gave her a pat on the back and the three of them turned and walked towards the hill where the others were. As they started walking up the side of the hill, they saw Fluttershy flying away back towards Ponyville. When they reached the top, Twilight asked, “Where’s Fluttershy going?”
Little Strongheart turned to her and told her, “She’s taking Rarity’s cat, Opal, back to the Carousel Boutique. It’s amazing how she did it.”
Twilight nodded; she then looked at Applejack and said, “Hey, Applejack. How’s the hat?”
Applejack turned to show her as she replied, “Good as new, Sugarcube!”
Off to the side, Sonic looked at Spike and asked, “What’s up with Rarity’s cat?”
Spike whispered, “I have no clue. Just stay away from her…”
Both of them stood up straight when Braeburn asked, “Now where are Tails and Zecora? They’re sure takin’ a while to get back…” As if on cue, the Warp Ring suddenly materialized near Celestia and Luna, surprising a few ponies. “Whoa!” Braeburn exclaimed.
Tails, Zecora, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders stepped through the ring a second later, Apple Bloom looking particularly amazed at what the Warp Ring could do. “There you guys are! What took you so long?” Rainbow asked.
Tails scratched the back of his head as he replied, “Sorry, Rainbow. A few of our stops took a little longer than we expected.” He then lowered his hand as he smiled, “But don’t worry. They were worth the extra time.”
Blaze was about to ask what he meant when Cream and Cheese suddenly came through the Warp Ring. The young rabbit quickly noticed Blaze and ran towards her with Cheese flying behind her, exclaiming, “Blaze!”
Blaze gasped, “Cream and Cheese!” When Cream leapt at her, Blaze held out her arms, catching the rabbit in them. “I’m so glad you’re both okay,” she said through Cream’s hug.
Cream replied, “We’re glad you’re okay too!” Everyone smiled at the happy reunion between these best friends.
After a minute, Silver looked over at Tails, Zecora, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders and noticed something in Tails’ right hand. “Hey Tails, what’s that scroll in your hand?” he asked while pointing at it, causing everyone else to look at him.
Tails looked down at it for a second before looking back up and saying, “Oh, that. Well, I’ve been curious ever since I learned about Spike’s ability to send letters to Princess Celestia by breathing fire, so I thought I could satisfy my curiosity before we set out again. Unfortunately, I don’t have any, uh, bits and I’m not sure what the value of a gold ring is in Equestria, plus it didn’t look like the store was open.”
Twilight asked, “So did you get that from the library?”
Tails nodded, “Yeah. I just want to see it for myself.” The fox walked over to Spike and bent down on one knee and held the scroll out to him, asking, “I know Princess Celestia is right over there, but will you show me, Spike?”
The baby dragon sighed, “Okay, okay.” He took the scroll from Tails’ right hand with his own right hand and held it up in front of his face. He then opened his mouth and breathed green fire on it, causing the scroll to turn into a flurry of green embers.
The embers flew over towards Princess Celestia, both her and Luna having been listening in on what everyone had been saying. She looked on as the scroll reappeared in front of her and fell to the ground. She looked up at Tails and saw that the fox had his radar out, seemingly collecting data as he muttered, “Cool…”
Celestia and Luna stood up, Celestia using her magic to pick up the scroll before the sisters walked over to the group, reaching the others as Tails put his radar away. Celestia levitated the scroll down in front of Tails, saying, “I believe this belongs to my faithful student.”
Tails blushed, “Oh yeah, right.” He took the scroll out of Celestia’s magic grip, not noticing the sly smirk on the Solar Princess’ muzzle as he did. He said, “I’ll just take this back to the library.”
As he held up the Warp Ring in his left hand, Twilight spoke, “Actually, Tails, you can keep that scroll if you want.”
Tails looked at her, “Are you sure, Twilight?”
The unicorn nodded, “Yeah, as long as it’s blank. I’m sure we’ve got plenty, right Spike?” The baby dragon just gave a shrug in response.
Tails spoke, “Yeah, I saw a bunch of them upstairs. And I checked it before I took it. There’s nothing written on it.”
Twilight said, “Then you can have it if you want.” Tails nodded in thanks and tucked the scroll away in his right tail and the Warp Ring in his left tail.
Sonic turned to look at Apple Bloom and asked, “Say Apple Bloom, what do you and your fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders have in those backpacks?”
Tails nodded, “I was wondering about that too.”
The three fillies looked at the brown backpacks on each of their backs, Apple Bloom having the biggest. Apple Bloom then looked at Sonic and said, “We ran into Zecora earlier and she asked us ta help her gather up some plants that she needed!”
Scootaloo added, “She’s gonna make you guys something before you head out again!”
Applejack looked at the zebra and asked, “You’re not comin’ with us, Zecora?”
Zecora replied, “While asking around, I met young Apple Bloom and her friends along the way. We talked for a while and they convinced me to stay.”
Sonic asked, “So what are you making?”
Zecora motioned to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they swung off their backpacks, opening them up to reveal the plants in Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s backpacks and a bowl in Apple Bloom’s. The zebra then began to mix the plants together in the bowl while saying, “You all have been working hard, so in my stead, I’m mixing a little something to relax you for the trials ahead.”
While Zecora was mixing the plants, Fluttershy came back and joined the others watching the zebra work. As she was finishing up, a beeping sound suddenly came from Tails’ tails, startling Fluttershy. “Oh, that’s mine,” the fox muttered as he reached into his namesakes and pulled out his radar. He flipped it open and examined it for a moment before looking up to see Zecora holding the bowl up in her left hoof. “You sure timed it perfectly, Zecora. Now that we have our next destination, your mixture should work better,” Tails commented.
Zecora nodded as she added one last leaf to the bowl, causing a scent to come wafting out. “Calm yourselves and take a sniff. This scent should relax you in a jiff,” she said while closing her eyes.
The rest of the group did the same, the scent from the bowl spreading out around them. “Mmm, that smells good, Zecora,” Twilight commented.
“I agree. Very soothing,” Little Strongheart said.
“I love you guys,” Pinkie Pie muttered.
A minute later, Sonic opened his eyes, the others doing so shortly afterwards, and looked at Zecora, the zebra looking back at him with a slight smile. “Don’t worry, Zecora. We’ll make sure to find whoever took your saddlebags and potions for you,” he said.
Zecora replied, “I can see that you and your young friend also have knowledge beyond your years. I know I can place my trust in all of you; of not keeping your word, I have no fears.”
Celestia opened her eyes and said, “If it is all right with all of you, Luna and I would like to get to know Princess Blaze and Silver a little better. With all that is happened recently, we have not had a chance to talk to them.”
Twilight looked at Sonic and asked, “Sonic?”
The blue hedgehog replied, “It’s up to them.”
Silver looked at Blaze and asked, “What do you think, Blaze?”
The princess put a hand to her chin as she thought. “Well, I would like to spend some more time with Cream.” She looked at Sonic and asked, “Are you sure you’ll be okay if we do not come along?”
Sonic replied, “We got Spike, Little Strongheart, and of course, ponies. Between them, Tails, and me, I think we’ll be all right for a while.”
Blaze nodded; she then turned to Celestia and said, “Just do not address me by my title and yes, I would like to get to know you and your sister, Celestia.”
Luna smiled, “Huzzah! We shall have a royal meet and greet, as they say!”
Celestia turned and said, “Let’s go somewhere else for a change of scenery, shall we?”
Silver shrugged, “Sure.”
Blaze took Cream’s right hand in her left hand, saying, “Come along, Cream.”
The rabbit nodded, “Okay!” She looked back at the others and called, “Bye, everybody! Good luck!” Cheese waved to them as he followed behind his best friend as they left the park with Blaze and Silver, following Princess Celestia and Princess Luna back into Ponyville.
Zecora looked at the others and nodded at them before placing the bowl in her hoof on her back. Applejack looked at Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle and said, “Y’all be good now, ya hear? And stay close ta Zecora.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders happily replied, “We will!” Zecora nodded at them and they all left the park, going in the same direction as Celestia’s entourage.
After they left, Braeburn asked, “It’s our turn now, right? Ta go look for Big Macintosh and the others?”
Sonic nodded, “Yep!” He looked at Tails and asked, “Where to, Tails?”
Tails replied, “The schoolhouse.” He looked at the ponies and asked, “You all know where that is?”
Rarity answered, “Of course! Don’t worry about consulting your little radar, Tails. We’ll show you the way.” With that, Spike and the Main Six led the way out of the park, Sonic, Tails, Braeburn, and Little Strongheart following behind them. As they headed back through Ponyville on the way to the schoolhouse, they were unaware of a pair of sunglow eyes and a pair of blue eyes following behind them…
________________________________________
Sonic and the others found themselves standing on a stone pathway after going through the portal they found on the schoolhouse’s blackboard, the portal they had come through behind them on the side of the path. Above them, the sky was bright but overcast, the Sun slightly visible through the cloud covering.
Fluttershy looked around cautiously, half-expecting something to attack them at any moment. “Um, where are we?” she softly asked.
Tails glanced down at the stone pathway, then up at the mountain behind the group before saying, “Hm… Mountain path… A laid stone pathway…” He looked at Sonic and said, “I know where we are this time!”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah, me too.”
Pinkie Pie piped up, “Ooh, sounds like a game! Can I play too?”
Rainbow looked at the pink pony for a moment before turning to Sonic and Tails and asking, “So, uh, since you guys know, where are we?”
Before either Sonic or Tails could reply, Braeburn, who had walked to the other side of the stone pathway, suddenly exclaimed, “Whoa!” Everyone looked to see him quickly backpedaling away from the side, sitting down on his rump just in front of the group. As Little Strongheart moved up alongside him, he said, “That’s one steep drop!”
Applejack stepped over to the side of the path herself and looked down. She soon took a few steps back, saying, “Whoa, Nelly!” She looked back at Sonic and Tails and asked, “Are we up on a mountain?”
Sonic replied, “That’s right, Applejack. We’re in Chun-Nan! Give or take a stone path or two.”
Twilight asked, “Chun-Nan? Isn’t this where you said you learned how to make tea, Sonic?”
Sonic nodded, “Yep!” He pointed to his right while saying, “The village is that way. Let’s go!”
He turned and was about to start walking when Tails grabbed his right arm with both hands. He looked back over his shoulder at the fox, who asked, “Uh, Sonic? Do you really think it’s such a good idea to just walk into the village with a baby dragon, a buffalo, and ponies, especially unicorns and pegasus ponies?” Said members of the group looked a little confused at Tails’ words.
Sonic shrugged, “Sure. I mean, we walk into a lot of places and most people don’t mind.”
Tails let go of his arm, but pressed, “Yeah, but… people can recognize us the world over. I’m just saying it might be a little different for our new friends.”
Sonic replied, “Ah, don’t worry about it. Once the initial shock wears off, the humans will be cool with them. It didn’t take us long to get used to each other despite the differences, right?”
Applejack smiled, “Can’t argue with ya there, Sugar-hog. Let’s go meet us some humans.” She then trotted past him, followed by Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Rarity. Sonic glanced back at Tails and shrugged before starting after them, Tails, Twilight, Braeburn, Little Strongheart, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie following behind him. As they left the portal behind, it began to ripple as something else began to come through it…
After walking up and around a short ways, the group stood outside of a gate, which marked the entrance to the village. Looking through to the other side, Spike, Little Strongheart, and the ponies were all struck with amazement. Just as Sonic and Tails had suggested, there were humans in the village. Oh sure, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Scootaloo, and Spike had had that run in with the police earlier, but those humans had been in their cars, and the only human they had for reference was Dr. Eggman. Now they were actually seeing ordinary humans in the flesh for the first time, and it felt so different.
“Those are humans? Amazing…” Little Strongheart murmured.
“Yeah… They definitely look like that Eggman guy, and yet they look different,” Spike noted.
Tails nodded, “Yep. Just like ponies, dragons, and buffalos, everyone has their similarities and differences, on the inside and the outside.”
Sonic looked at the others and said, “Come on, let’s go talk to some of them.”
Fluttershy looked at him nervously, “They won’t… try to hurt us, will they?”
Sonic replied, “No way, Fluttershy. A, the people of Chun-Nan are relatively peaceful people to begin with, B, humans and ponies aren’t all that different, and C, you’re with Tails and me. Trust me, it’ll be fine.”
Rainbow nodded at Fluttershy, “Yeah! And if any of these… people try anything funny, we’ll show them not to mess with us!” Fluttershy didn’t exactly like the sound of what Rainbow Dash was implying, but she faced forward, falling in line with the others as they started walking again, except for Pinkie, who merrily bounced along with the group.
As soon as they stepped under the gate and crossed over the bridge in front of it, a few of the ponies half-expected the humans to make a big deal over them, but as they walked along the stone street, most of the villagers just looked at them for a few moments before offering a humble nod or wave, though a few kept staring. “They seem to be taking this awfully well,” Twilight whispered.
“Yeah, that’s kind of why I like it here. As long as everything’s cool, people are pretty accepting,” Sonic said.
Braeburn smiled, “Really? That’s reassurin’!” A few nearby bystanders looked at the group at the sound of the earth pony’s voice.
Despite the reassurance, Fluttershy soon came to a stop and let out a gasp, causing the others to stop and look back at her. “T-Those two… They’re coming over here…” she squeaked. The others looked to see two younger humans, one a girl wearing a red T-shirt and blue pants and the other a boy wearing a blue long-sleeve shirt and black pants, dashing over to them.
The two kids stopped in front of the group, the girl saying, “Hi Sonic, hi Tails!”
Sonic smiled, “Hey there, Yilin and Chun. It’s good to see you again!”
Tails nodded, “Yeah. Hey, how’s your grandfather doing?”
Chun said, “Grandfather’s doing great! He’s been working Charles hard and he says his back might be getting better!”
Tails smiled, “Really? That’s good to hear.”
Yilin giggled, “I think Grandfather keeps giving Charles a lot to do so he doesn’t have to worry about his back.”
A voice from behind the kids spoke, “I heard that, Yilin.” Yilin and Chun turned around and Sonic’s group looked to see Zonshen, the village elder, step around the corner. He walked over to his two grandchildren, Yilin and Chun hugging him while he patted them on their heads. When they let go, Zonshen looked at Sonic’s group and said, “Welcome back, Sonic and Tails. Are these new friends of yours?”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah.” He looked at Twilight and the others and said, “Sorry about getting caught up like that, guys. This is Zonshen, the village elder and a master healer. Yilin and Chun are his grandchildren.” The ponies, Spike, and Little Strongheart all smiled at that and stepped forward, introducing themselves. Although he was surprised that Twilight and Rarity were unicorns, Rainbow and Fluttershy were pegasus ponies, Little Strongheart was a buffalo, and Spike was a baby dragon, Zonshen warmly welcomed them all, as did Yilin and Chun.
As they all continued talking, more village residents came over to meet the new arrivals. Lin took one look at all of them and saw right away they were a good bunch, showing a particular interest in Spike due to him being a baby dragon, slightly to his displeasure. Jinlin showed an interest in Twilight’s magic studies and the orchards that Applejack and Braeburn took care of. Hualin got along well with Rarity and Fluttershy, offering to show them something traditional when Rarity asked about fashion in Chun-Nan. Finally, Shuifon got to talk with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Little Strongheart. All in all, the Equestrians were getting along great with the humans of Chun-Nan.
The meet and greet was interrupted, however, when some of the ponies’ stomachs let out loud growls, causing them to blush. “Oh, sounds to me like some ponies are looking for a taste of the Far East,” Lin smiled.
Rainbow blushed as her stomach let out a grumble, “Well, I guess I could go for a nibble or two myself.”
Zonshen suggested, “You might want to take care of that now. We have plenty of food in our village, and I’d rather not have to check any of you in over something as trivial as low blood sugar. I’m sure you all must be very busy as it is.”
Applejack shrugged, “Well, we have been runnin’ around quite a bit today.”
Twilight nodded, “And I was practicing hard to learn a new technique with my magic a little while ago.”
Chun said, “Then you should definitely take a break and get something to eat! You’ll love the food here, especially the meat buns!”
Yilin leaned over and whispered, “Um, Chun? Most of them are ponies…”
Tails looked at Sonic and asked, “Well, that aside, what do you think, Sonic? We can stop for something to eat, right?”
Sonic nodded, “Sure. Hang on; I’ll go talk to Wang.” He turned and walked back down the path, walking over the wooden bridge over to the pork bun shop as the humans began to spread out a little.
Little Strongheart turned to the others and asked, “Wang?”
Hualin said, “That’s my dad. He works the counter at our shop.”
Jinlin added, “We don’t let him anywhere near the kitchen, right Grandmother?” Lin gave an affirmative nod at that.
Sonic walked up to the counter and asked, “Hey Wang, how’s it going?”
The man looked up and, upon seeing the blue hedgehog, said, “Oh, hello Mr. Hedgehog. I… suppose I’m doing all right. I would have come over to meet your friends, but considering how strict Lin is about her meat buns…”
Sonic waved a hand, “Yeah, I know.”
Wang asked, “So what can I do for you today, Mr. Hedgehog?”
Sonic leaned on the counter with his left arm and said, “Give me, uh, eleven orders of your famous noodles and some rice balls. I know you make ‘em in advance, but I’d appreciate it if you gave us the soy noodles. Ponies and buffalo aren’t exactly meat eaters, after all.” Wang nodded; Sonic then added, “Also, I’ll take an order of peach buns and Lin’s famous meat buns for dessert. Tails, Spike, and I can handle the meat buns.”
Wang nodded, “Very good. Are you sure you’re going to be able to pay for all that?” Sonic nodded and reached back into his quills, pulling out a few shiny, golden rings.
Spike saw him pull out a few more and leaned over to Tails, whispering, “Does he keep everything he finds in his spines?”
Tails whispered back, “You know… I don’t know. I keep forgetting to ask.”
Sonic was about to give Wang his payment when a loud “OH MY GOSH!” caught everyone’s attention. Everyone looked towards the village entrance to see a mint green unicorn standing on her hind legs with her hooves on her cheeks, her mouth wide open in amazement.
Rainbow asked, “Lyra? What’s she doing here?”
Pinkie waved, “Hi, Lyra! Look! There are humans living here!”
Rarity looked at the pink pony and said, “Pinkie, dear, it would appear as though she already knows that.”
Applejack muttered, “Aw, hayseeds. Ah don’t like the look o’ this…”
Braeburn heard and looked at her in confusion, “Why, what’s the problem, Applejack?”
Bon-Bon came running up behind Lyra and looked around the unicorn to see what had her so enraptured. Her eyes widened when she saw the humans looking back at them, but she soon shook her head and turned to Lyra, whispering, “Okay Lyra, you got to see real humans. Now close your mouth and come on. We’re going home!”
She seemed sure that Lyra would listen, seeing as she turned around and looked as though she was going to start walking back down the stone path. Lyra, however, had plans of her own. She gave a loud scream of “HUMANS!!!” and dashed into the village before Bon-Bon could turn around and restrain her.
It was at this point that Braeburn saw what the problem was and yelled, “Look out, y’all!” Unfortunately, it was WAY too late for a warning to have made any difference, as Lyra bowled through Tails and her fellow Equestrians, sending most of them flying. Tails, Twilight, and Braeburn ended up landing in the water while Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike were all, amazingly, knocked up onto the nearby rooftop. The rest were all knocked over as Lyra, in her near-manic state, made her way towards the objects of her dreams.
The humans, of course, did not look thrilled at the sight of this crazy pony coming towards them and scattered. Shuifon ended up cornered against the wall as Lyra set her sights on him. He got into a Kung Fu stance, hoping it would ward the unicorn off, but all it did was give her a clear shot at examining his hands with her hooves. She didn’t do anything too extensive, but the way she was feeling over her hands was enough to weird Shuifon out.
“Hey, leave him alone!” Yilin yelled at Lyra.
The mint green unicorn turned to look at her with a wide smile on her face, the look on her face almost terrifying the poor girl. “LITTLE HUMANS!” Lyra shouted, dashing towards her and Chun, leaping at the two children.
Zonshen quickly stepped in and put his arms around his grandchildren, pulling them out of the unicorn’s way, leaving Lyra to hit the ground hard. “You stay away from my grandchildren, you… you…!” he said.
Lyra looked up at him with starry eyes. “Wow… Such a perfect use of hands and arms…” she breathed.
Applejack stood up and, after shaking her head, looked at Lyra and yelled, “Lyra, knock it off! You’re makin’ the rest o’ us look bad!”
Lyra looked at her, but only for a few seconds at best since she noticed Sonic, Wang, Jinlin, Hualin, and Lin standing on the other side of the bridge behind her. “MORE HUMANS!” she exclaimed, standing up and running towards Applejack, the orange earth pony prepared to stand her ground this time against the unicorn. Unfortunately, Lyra jumped over her when she got close enough, sailing towards the other side of the bridge.
Suddenly, Bon-Bon screamed, “LYRA!!!” A second later, the earth pony intercepted the unicorn, crashing into her from the side and knocking them both into the water. As everyone looked on, Bon-Bon dunked Lyra’s head in the water several times, being careful not to hurt her while doing so. “You… really… need to get this out of your system!” Bon-Bon growled. She let her up a minute later, Lyra just staring straight ahead, blinking as she held her head up. Bon-Bon stood up and trotted over to the edge of the stone. The humans watched her as she bowed and said, “I am SO sorry for my roommate’s reaction, humans. She’s not normally like this, I swear!”
The village was silent save for the flowing water that Tails, Twilight, Braeburn, Bon-Bon, and Lyra were still standing in. It was eventually broken when Sonic tapped Wang’s right arm with his left hand, “Hey, Wang?” When the man looked at him, Sonic asked, “Can you put two more orders of your noodles on the bill?”
Soon, at the restaurant…
Sonic and the others sat on wooden stools around a long table that had been brought out for them. Twilight and Tails sat at Sonic’s side, both of them wrapped in towels that Jinlin had gotten them so they could dry off. Braeburn and Little Strongheart sat across from each other at one end of the table, Braeburn also wrapped in a towel and lacking his hat and vest (Jinlin had taken them to let them dry). Bon-Bon sat at the other end of the table, the earth pony sitting with her chin on top of her hoof as she glared jealously at Lyra, who was sitting at a smaller table and talking to a very nervous-looking Charles, both of them having shaken the water out of their coats earlier. The young man from Empire City never thought getting that connection Zonshen talked about involved talking to a manic, human-crazy unicorn.
Looking between Lyra and Charles, Rarity mused, “Goodness, poor Charles looks so nervous. He looks as though Lyra is going to jump across the table and harm him!”
Spike, who was sitting next to Rarity (on a booster seat composed of wooden stool tops), shrugged, “If he didn’t see what Lyra did just now, he probably heard about it from Zonshen. I don’t know which would be more unnerving…”
Rarity shook her head, “Poor girl. Her dreams finally come true and she can’t contain herself. It must be embarrassing.”
Tails looked at Sonic and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen humans panic like the villagers did when Lyra came charging towards them earlier. She must’ve scared them pretty bad.”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah. We didn’t get a reaction like that when we first met humans, and while some people were scared of me, I didn’t really get anything like that when I was a Werehog.”
Twilight looked at Sonic oddly, “Werehog? Really?”
Tails leaned forward to look over at her and said, “Yeah, he did turn into a Werehog. It was an unexpected side effect of one of Eggman’s recent plans to conquer the world and build Eggmanland.”
On the other side of the table further down, Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, “Eggmanland?”
Before the cyan mare could say any more, Pinkie piped up, “That sounds like the name of an amusement park!”
Sonic said, “Oh, it was an amusement park all right, Pinkie, one with red skies, killer robots, minions, weapons, and every safety hazard imaginable. Eggman definitely spared no expense.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Sounds like a great place to go for a vacation.”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah, and you wouldn’t believe how bad it looked. Seriously, I’ll never understand Eggman’s tastes.”
Fluttershy meekly asked, “Um, Sonic? What were you saying about turning into a… a Werehog? I mean, if you don’t mind telling us…”
Sonic replied, “Oh, of course not, Fluttershy. I ended up absorbing a bit of Dark Gaia when Eggman woke it up.”
Twilight asked, “Dark Gaia?”
Sonic nodded, “Yeah, it’s an ancient monster that Eggman wanted to harness the power of to conquer the world, kind of like with Chaos.”
Rainbow growled, “That jerk! Where is this Dark Gaia thing?! We should make sure Eggman can’t get anywhere near it ever again!”
Sonic smirked, “Dark Gaia? It’s right below us.”
Applejack blinked, “Come again?”
Sonic pointed down at the ground with his right hand, saying, “It’s back in the planet’s core, back where it should be.” His smile eased off slightly as he added, “Along with Chip, or rather Light Gaia, I guess.”
Applejack shook her head before saying, “Ah think Ah’m missin’ somethin’ here. Light Gaia? Dark Gaia? What the hay?”
Tails spoke, “I can explain. Uh… you guys know how Princess Celestia is tied to the day and Princess Luna is tied to the night?” Spike, Little Strongheart, and the ponies (save for Lyra and Bon-Bon) all nodded, so Tails continued, “Well, Light Gaia and Dark Gaia represent the day and night as well, but their connection is a little different.”
Little Strongheart asked, “How so, Tails?”
Tails explained, “Well, you see, there’s kind of a cycle that’s been happening in our world since the beginning of time. Dark Gaia spends millions of years growing in the planet’s core, and when the time is right, it arises to destroy the world. When that’s happened, Light Gaia arises to put the planet back together. This has been happening for ages, but we know it’s true because of the Gaia Manuscripts that record what happened tens of thousands of years ago. That’s how Eggman learned about Dark Gaia’s existence.”
Twilight asked, “So… he was ready for Dark Gaia’s awakening?”
Sonic said, “No. True to form, Eggman couldn’t wait to have such an ancient creature under his control. He got me to use the Chaos Emeralds when I was confronting his fleet above the planet, and while I was Super, he managed to lure me to his cannon, which took the power of the Chaos Emeralds and fired it at the planet. It blew the whole planet to pieces, like a big jigsaw puzzle.”
Rarity gasped, “That’s terrible! I thought he sounded bad before, but…” She pounded her hooves on the table and looked absolutely livid, causing some of the others to exchange nervous looks.
Rainbow recovered first and asked, “Why would he destroy the planet?!”
Sonic said, “It was the only to awaken Dark Gaia. But since it wasn’t the time of awakening, Dark Gaia fell apart shortly after it woke up, scattering across the world, and Light Gaia ended up getting amnesia from the early wake-up call. All he could remember was something falling from the sky. When I met him, I thought I landed on him, so I offered to help him try to get his memory back.”
Spike asked, “And you called him Chip?”
Sonic shrugged, “Well, he couldn’t remember his name. I had to call him something, right? And he really liked that, uh, Chocolate Chipped Cream Sundae Supreme that’s famous over in Apotos. It seemed to fit him.”
Pinkie drooled, “Ohhhh… Chocolate chip… sundae… supreme! Ooh, I can just imagine it!”
Sonic chuckled, “Yeah, that’s kind of like how Chip reacted.” He shook his head and said, “Anyway, we spent the whole day searching Apotos for any clue as to who he could be, but no one seemed to recognize him.”
Braeburn asked, “So what did ya do?”
Tails spoke, “Luckily, for both of us, I was in Apotos at the time, gathering data for Professor Pickle.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “Professor Pickle?”
Tails nodded, “Yeah. He’s a professor of archeology over at Spagonia University.”
Sonic added, “And he loves cucumber sandwiches.”
Twilight’s eyes lit up, “University?”
Tails said, “Uh-huh. It attracts scholars from around the world, and Professor Pickle has a lab there. In fact, last time I checked, he still had the Gaia Manuscripts.”
Applejack asked, “So if he was in this Spagonia place, and y’all were in that Apotos place, how’d ya get there if the planet was broken?”
Tails answered, “Well, after Sonic fought off some of Dark Gaia’s minions, we used my Tornado-1 to fly to Spagonia. It also helped us get to the rest of the continents.”
Fluttershy asked, “T-Tornado-1?”
Tails nodded, “Yeah. It’s one of my many personal bi-planes. I modeled the Tornado-1 after the original Tornado, which was Sonic’s plane.” He then said, “Anyway, after we got to Spagonia, we found out Professor Pickle had been taken by Eggman, so we had to go to Mazuri to rescue him.”
Sonic smirked, “He was more upset about having to eat Eggman’s terrible food rather than the fact that he’d been kidnapped.” That raised a few chuckles around the table.
Tails giggled, “Yeah, he was. So after we got back to Spagonia, he used the information in the Gaia Manuscripts to point the way to the Gaia Temples around the world. Since the Chaos Emeralds had been drained of their power after Eggman broke the world apart, we had to visit the temples to restore their power, which also brought the pieces of the planet back together.”
Sonic took over, “While we were restoring the sixth Chaos Emerald in Adabat, Chip touched a stone carving in the Gaia Temple, which restored his memories. After he explained his and Dark Gaia’s history to me, we stopped by Pickle’s other lab in Shamar and learned that the last temple was on the continent where Eggman had built Eggmanland. Chip and I were able to reach the Gaia Temple and restore the last Chaos Emerald, as well as beat the robot Eggman had created with Dark Gaia’s energy, but by then, Dark Gaia had just about put itself back together. Once it took back the fragments I had absorbed, it was complete.”
Fluttershy dared to ask, “S-So, what happened n-next?”
Sonic said, “With the help of the Chaos Emeralds, Chip was able to summon the Gaia Temples and put them together to make a… I guess the appropriate term would be colossus. Together, we were able to do some damage to Dark Gaia, but we hadn’t defeated it yet. When it revealed its true form, I used the Chaos Emeralds to go Super to even things up. We were finally able to defeat it and restore both the planet and balance between light and dark.”
Pinkie Pie leaned forward and asked, “So what happened to Chip? Is he still around?”
Sonic shook his head, “Not physically. He stayed behind in the planet’s core with the Gaia Temples when the last piece of the planet slid back into place. He’s fast asleep now.”
Little Strongheart said, “And judging from what you and Tails have said, it’ll be millions of years before either he or Dark Gaia awaken again.”
Tails nodded, “That’s our best guess at this point.”
Pinkie looked sad at that, “Aw…”
Twilight asked, “Do you miss him?”
Sonic replied, “Yeah… but it’s all right.” He reached into his quills and pulled out Chip’s necklace, holding it in front of him. “He left me this to remember him by. And he’ll always be there… as a part of the earth I tread.” He gained a look of fond remembrance as the Equestrians looked on with smiles.
The moment was interrupted when Hualin stepped underneath the stone archway and let out a slight cry. Everyone looked at her. Rarity’s eyes immediately became starry at the sight of the red garment she was wearing. She gasped, “Oh my goodness! What a beautiful dress!”
While Hualin regained her balance, Tails spoke, “Actually Rarity, that’s not a dress. It’s a kimono, a type of robe.”
Hualin walked over to the table and said, “He’s right, Rarity. Kimonos are a traditional type of garment. We usually wear them on special occasions.”
Rarity replied, “Well, I think it looks just stunning on you! And I daresay it has given me quite the inspiration! When this is all over, I must make kimonos of my own to sell at the Carousel Boutique!” She looked at Hualin with big eyes, “Could I possibly examine yours, dear, to get an idea of the type of material used to create it?”
Hualin was initially taken aback by Rarity’s words, but she soon replied, “Uh, sure, you can look at it.” She undid the sash on the back and opened the kimono up, stepping out of it. She then handed it to Rarity, who eagerly took it with her magic to begin examining it. Under her breath, Hualin sighed, “The less time I have to wear that, the better…”
She was broken out of her thoughts when Tails asked, “Is everything okay, Hualin?”
The girl’s head snapped up and she said, “Oh, yes! I just came to tell you that your food will be ready soon. Also, I can take those towels if you’re dry enough.”
Tails realized the only wetness he could feel was from the towel itself, so he told Hualin, “Yeah, my fur feels pretty dry now. Thanks.” He lifted the towel off of himself and handed it to Hualin when she walked over to him.
Twilight also took her towel off and gave it to Hualin, saying, “Thank you, Hualin.” The girl nodded in reply before walking over to Braeburn and taking his towel as well.
As she turned to leave, she stopped and looked back at Braeburn, saying, “Oh, and Mr. Braeburn? Your hat and vest are still drying, but they should be dry by the time you’re all done eating.”
Braeburn replied, “All right. Thank ya kindly, ma’am.” Hualin nodded and resumed walking, deciding to get the kimono back from Rarity when she came back with the food.
After Hualin left, Twilight turned to Sonic as he was placing Chip’s necklace on the table and said, “I was just wondering… What’s the difference between regular you and Werehog you?”
Sonic looked at her and shrugged, “Eh, I look more beastly, get physically stronger, and lose a lot of my usual speed. Oh, and my arms get really stretchy.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “Stretchy?”
Tails spoke, “Yeah. A number of Dark Gaia’s minions were able to stretch and extend certain parts of their bodies. Sonic having part of Dark Gaia in him gave him that same trait when he was in Werehog form at night.”
Applejack asked, “How far could ya stretch yer arms, Sugar-hog?”
Bon-Bon spoke up, for the first time, while still looking in Lyra’s direction, “If you were this Werehog thing, would you be able to stretch your arms over to Lyra and pull her over here?”
Sonic was silent for a moment at the tone of the earth pony’s voice, but he soon said, “Uh, yeah, actually I could.”
Spike spoke, “Uh, wow. That sounds strange, but kind of cool.”
Sonic replied, “Well, it was useful. That’s all that mattered to me.”
Pinkie Pie giggled, “Stretchy arms! Long arms! Star arms!”
Little Strongheart asked, “But you don’t turn into it anymore, do you?”
Sonic shook his head, “Nope. It’s not so bad, though. More people are able to recognize me on sight like this.”
The group sat in silence for a minute before Hualin returned along with Jinlin, Wang, and Lin, Hualin and the former two carrying trays with bowls of noodles and rice balls on them. As the three of them began distributing bowls and setting the rice balls in the middle of the table, Lin turned to Charles and said, “Charles, the village elder just stopped by. I believe he has a delivery for you.”
Charles, who looked eager to do anything other than talk to Lyra any more, replied, “Oh, really? I guess I’d better take care of that.” He looked at Lyra and said, “Sorry, uh, Lyra, but I have to go. I’ve been working to win that old geezer over for a while now and I don’t want him to suddenly turn me away now.”
Lyra deflated a bit at that, but she quickly perked up, “Ooh! How about I come with you? I can help you with whatever you have to do!”
Bon-Bon spoke up, “No, you can’t, Lyra. He has to go, and the food has just arrived. And let me just remind you that Sonic was generous enough to buy food for everypony, including the two of us. You are staying, and you are going to eat!” She finished with a glare to indicate she wasn’t kidding.
Lyra groaned, “Aw…” She then perked up again and turned to Charles, saying, “So long, Mr. Human!” She then hopped off of her seat and trotted over to the long table while Charles, finally free of the unicorn’s soul-piercing eyes and questions, quickly left to find Zonshen.
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First off, I just want to say that I've gone back and made revisions to a few chapters. Changed a few parts and changed some of the music I chose (this took longer than the actual revisions since some of the videos I had links to were terminated so I had to find music to replace what was taken down). Aside from adding the music in (probably doesn't do much good now), there's nothing overly different from what I had before. You don't have to burden yourselves with going through every sentence carefully to find the differences.
Now then...
WHY do I do this to myself? I tell myself I'm going to try to make the next chapter shorter, and look what I do. I add a bunch of stuff that probably could have been skimmed over and it ends up being long! I think I used to watch too much "Pokémon" (yes, used to; I used to be really excited about seeing the show until the BW series came along and hurt a lot of what I liked about it). So I'm sorry that this is, like, a huge chapter. I dislike the way my muse works sometimes.
For anyone wondering what the deal with Trixie was when she regained control, that's partly due to Twilight and Trixie making up at the end of "Magic Duel" and partly due to... well, what I think. Honestly, I think possession is one of the scariest things that can happen to someone. Just that idea that someone or something else is using your body for their own needs and you have no control over it terrifies me. And that's not counting what's happening to 'you' you while you're being possessed. Can you see what you're doing? Or do you wake up later, amidst the wreckage of 'your' own making? Seriously, think about that before you comment on Trixie's behavior.
Also, I made up the placement of the Gaia Gate so that I could include it here. I'm mostly familiar with the 360/PS3 version of "Sonic Unleashed", but I've seen videos of the Wii/PS2 version. I wanted to try to use elements of both versions, and I like the Gaia Gates that appear in the Wii/PS2 version. I know you go straight to the Dark Gaia Phoenix boss after clearing the nighttime levels in Chun-Nan, but since there's a boss door in the Gaia Gate, I came up with the idea that it could actually be somewhere close to the Gaia Temple and Sonic and Chip just went around it in both versions of the game. So that's what the story with that is.
And before anyone comments about the Werehog not appearing in this chapter, I do have plans for the Werehog to possibly appear in a future chapter. I know this is the "Sonic Unleashed" stage, but that doesn't seem like a good enough reason for him to appear here. When he (possibly) appears later, there will be a good reason for it.
And when she uses it in the future, I'm thinking of having Twilight's version of the Psychic Knife be referred to as the Magic Blade or something to that effect. I'm open to suggestions.
Chapter notes time~
As indicated near the beginning, the park where Silver, Blaze, and Twilight are training is the park where the girls meet up in "May the Best Pet Win".
Originally, I was going to include a little more in the village scene. For some reason, I think there's more to Chun-Nan than what we see in "Sonic Unleashed"; if you look past the gate where you enter the village from, you can see the stone path leading down the mountain. That got me wondering if there's another part of the village that we don't get to go to. Ultimately, I cut it out.
Per a suggestion, I gave Lyra and Bon-Bon a cameo in this chapter for more comic relief. I hope nobody minds Lyra freaking out over seeing humans. I guess I figured that's a standard reaction for her in some fanfics, and I know how everybody loves seeing ponies go crazy.
I made sure to reference the bonus cutscene where Sonic and Chip are eating in the restaurant. The whole deal with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie is another reference to it.
When they're talking about Sonic the Werehog, Pinkie's exclamation of "star arms" is a reference to Ristar.
Sonic mentioning that talking in another language is cool references the fact that, in Japan, Sonic knows more English than most of the other characters.
Spike and Rainbow mistaking rice balls (I know they weren't a food item in the game; I just want to include them) for other foods was a 4Kids joke, since, especially with the "Pokémon" anime, they usually referred to rice balls as other foods.
Sonic's group goes through the daytime stage while Tails' group goes through the nighttime stage.
King Sombra's horn making an appearance here is a reference to how part of it flew off into the distance after he was destroyed at the end of "The Crystal Empire".
The Gaia Gate appears exactly as it did in "Sonic Unleashed".
Trixie turning out to be the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well is a reference to the rumors that, prior to that episode's airing, she'd turn out to be MDW.
Twilight hearing Sonic's voice is a reference to the fact that Sonic IS the wind.
References to "Transformers" and "Yu-Gi-Oh".
Twilight and Trixie fighting each other is heavily inspired by the fangame "My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic". I admit to watching early footage from the game while I was writing.
The device that falls out of Trixie's ear is based off the neuro-controller Eggman put in Sonic's ear in the 2007 Free Comic Day Special, which was probably inspired by the chip that got caught in Sonic's ear in the "Sonic X" episode, "How to Catch a Hedgehog". Originally, Trixie was going to wear a fake Alicorn Amulet that contained the device, but I scrapped that idea.
Like I promised, I had the characters sing a song. For some reason, I felt as though Crush 40's "Live Life" suited the situation. If there's a problem, I can remove the lyrics.
That's about it, I guess. I apologize for the wait and the long chapter, but at least I got it done before Christmas.
Music:
Psychic Training - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkuVcQ_AnRA
Preparing to Set Out Again - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdFhdCuyQEk
Eastern Enlightenment - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNKHr7ecXvg
A Dream Come True...? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igdO203b76k
Good Times - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXi0GpOSArw
A Taste of the Far East - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_e1b17TzRw
Mare-Do-Well Appears - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jho-peCAKs
Chasing Mare-Do-Well - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9GHYYJW5S8
Road to the Gaia Temple - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twz4DDh_LSU
Dark Gaia/King Sombra Rising - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX_wuXDz-xo
Cornering the Mare - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWVHc5KXdp8
(Former) Site of the Gaia Temple - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THAb2CqT274
Taming the Phoenix - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfczAmFIsTE
The Gaia Gate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z-QdC8zxL0
The Trap - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_f8wfbJ5SY
Mare-Do-Well Attacks - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6EEQYTZ0z8
The Mare's True Identity - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLpf-CGoYk
Twilight's Struggle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-DCclot2c
Twilight vs. Trixie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuVAaU63K7k
Not What It Seemed - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mGEg6GRv7s
Live Life - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_1tFJB-lTU
Another Chance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg8GHRGLrMw
Shining Armor and Princess Cadance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcwqI8hCX2o
Vector and Big Macintosh Restored - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cr1ctCbSWQ
Amy, Again - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45pAu_7mukU
This chapter was AWESOME. Lyra going nut's and freaking out the humans was very amusing. Hope you will have other background characters get cameos. I like the fact you brought in Sombra horn in the story. Makes me wonder if Sombra's horn will show up again in show? Will Sombra himself appear later in the story? The whole thing with Trixie being Mare Do Well was great. As was her battle with Twilight and being forgiven. Shining Armor and Cadance are now in the picture. How will they react when they get the full story about what's going on? I liked how you ended the chapter. Will Cheerilee's class get a interesting lesson next chapter?
Awesome chapter!
The way Lyra freaked out when she met the human left me ROFLMAO!
Loved how you had the Gaia Phoenix make a cameo! And Pinkie giving it some chocolate just before they left it: I see what you did there!
Twilight vs Trixie: I liked how Trixie's attempts to regain control caused her to occasionally slip out of her third-pony speech. And the way you had Sonic's voice encourage Twilight over the wind was totally way past cool!
And having one particularly strong attempt that Trixie made to regain control cause her to say that line from the Yu-Gi-Oh theme song was a nice touch.
The aftermath of the duel...I won't lie to you. You really ruffled my jimmies with that part.
Poor Trixie...she knew what her body was being forced to do, but was powerless to do anything to make it stop.
By the way, if you plan on having Trixie show up to help the others during a battle, I've got a few ideas about what music you could use for that scene. And if she shows up for more than one battle, that gives you an excuse to use more of these suggestions!
You'll have to open this one in a separate window so you can click on the link in the description, but it's the best I can do...stupid Youtube and their stupid restrictions!
For the first suggestion, it would be in both cases they couldn't control their bodies before, but are hoping to atone for the trouble they caused. The second one's pretty self-explanatory, and the third and fourth ones can be use to emphasize the hope that in the future, Trixie can make up for the trouble that she caused. Come to think of it, the third one could also be used when the focus is on Twilight and Trixie to emphasize how even if they disagree at times, they'll still look out for one another!
So Princess Cadence and Shining Armor have joined the gang. Awkward.
And Amy doesn't care that it's a love POISON and not a love potion? This won't end well!
Should I assume that you're not a big fan of Sonamy?
1837066
Yeah, I know what you mean about Youtube. It's a shame I had to find new music to replace the videos I had links to that were taken down. Some of those were really good (like Hedgehogs: Ascend)!
Yes, things are going to be a bit awkward now that Shining Armor is around...
I actually have no hatred for SonAmy. I really do like the ship. I just wish Sega would stop messing with everybody. First they have Amy going on about Sonic marrying her and he can't stand being around her, then it goes to dating and Sonic's okay with being around her, and now, even though she's not back to the whole marriage thing, she's utterly infatuated with him and he finds her a pain to be around for the sake of comic relief. Make up your minds, Sega!
1837112 I see. Now do you plan on using any of my suggestions for scenes that focus on Trixie? I think the second one would actually be pretty good for a scene where she's talking to Sonic about the mistakes she made in the past.
1837213
Well... she'll get some time in the next chapter, so yeah, I can probably use them.
1837223 Awesome! Nobody's Perfect is excellent for that sort of heart-to-heart talk, isn't it?
1837223 Also, I just had another thought for a song you could use for Trixie!
Awesome work! Keep it up. =3
Great chapter. I admit, the singing part did not catch my interest, so I skimmed over the lyrics. They don't need to be taken out, because you can pretty much skip it, and miss nothing, so it's just there to be a nice thing some could enjoy. Again, great chapter, and the next chapter will probably be great as well, and because of that, I will be eagerly awaiting it.
I'm going to say this, and please pay attention: you are being epically awesome with this chapter! You did a perfect job with this chapter and nice use of Mare-Do-Well and the Fighting is Magic reference! You know, I could actually see Trixie as her, considering she seems to be more balance between physical and magical traits, compared to Twilight, who is more magical than physical. That, and her illusion tricks and magician's nature would fit well with Mare-Do-Well's gimmicks. The only other pony to fit well as Mare-Do-Well would be Pinkie (man, I really wish that one fic get update soon, I want to see Pinkie finally catching that crazy mad scientist, especially after he ended poor Gummy's life...oh well).
As for that mind-controlling device, I can't wait to see what is up with that! I'll keep my eyes on this wondrous sucker to find out! Good luck!
Oh, and by the way, how about Mystic Blade? That might be a good name.
1837223 Also, here's a Transformers reference for you to have either Sonic or Twilight make after Tails reveals how the mind control device was manipulating Trixie: "Eggman must be stopped...no matter the cost!"
When Discord appears, I think this might be a good theme song for him. After all, he DOES think all of the chaos he causes is one great big game..
I've got ANOTHER shout out you could do in the very next chapter! If you have Rainbow Dash get all confrontational with Trixie, have Sonic intervene with a cry of "HOLD IT!"
I'm sure you can figure out the reference to a certain Ace Attorney that he'd make with that line!
Well folks, you know what this means? Next chapter is gonna feature a Sonic Colors stage!!!!!!!!!!!! This is gonna be sweet!!!
Also, hooray for Trixie's return!
Mistaking Onigiri for donuts and sandwiches? Phhht!
Good work again GreenS21, good work. I can honestly say you're doing a great job with this story
.
For the intro, good follow up on the conclusion in the last chapter (though kinda stretchy with Tails curiosity about Spikes flames, but, meh, what are you gonna do...)
For the gang's arrival in Chun-Nan and the resturant scene; really cosy and nostalgic,... and funny.
The appearance of Mare-Do-Well and the mystery surrounding her was really exciting. Though I had my theories, once King Sombra's power and the MDW illususion was revealed, I did not know what to believe
.
Twilight's duel with Trixie was both intense, with Twilights tapping into the peak of her power, and emotional/spiritual, with Sonic appearing before Twilight in spirit.
The aftermath of the magic duel was also good, and I was surprised to see Trixie in this state, but after reading what you felt about possession, I can imagine her like that.
The singing scene was kinda weird with Sonic and Tails joining, but hey, its part mlp story, so we gotta roll with. Overall though, it turned out rather well.
The ending was rather funny, seeing as how the Mane Six and Sonic got a lot of explaining to do.
Overall, keep up the good work. Also, dont be too hard on yourself when you think your chapter is too long. I like your story because you get all the small details with it and you should be proud of it as not many writers would do such efforts.
(BTW, in this chapter, you at some point write Main Six. Dont you mean Mane Six).
1839178
Personally, the singing part practically brought a tear to my eye. It was just too beautiful, I could feel the emotions the characters were experiencing
1840011
I guess so. I guess I'm just not used to see Sonic burst into random songs (did'nt see alot of Sonic Underground), but if you put it that way I'm can see that this song really fit the moment.
Who else felt sorry for Trixie after this chapter? If you felt sorry for Trixie and think whoever put that device in her *coughEggmancough* should have something bad happen to him, give this comment a thumbs up!
1836369 I just realized something. Back when the gang went to Mission Street, they arrived DURING the events of Sonic Adventure 2, but here they arrived AFTER Sonic Unleashed had ended. Not only that, but I have a feeling that it would be impossible to rewrite either chapter to match the other one in terms of when it happens regarding the game it's from.
However, the mere fact that the Time Eater is involved means that it's all a Timey Wimey Ball!
1846078
Yes, I know. I thought about that while I was writing, wondering if I should make things match across all the levels. But then I realized something: in the console/PC version of "Sonic Generations", Sonic is still considered a fugitive in City Escape, but in Rooftop Run, there's a celebration going on in Spagonia that wasn't happening in "Sonic Unleashed". And speaking of City Escape, there's those upgrades to the G.U.N. Truck in Modern Sonic's act that somebody had to have added to it.
So maybe it's just me, but I'd say even the games support that idea.
1846175 Good point.
By the way, I hope Eggman pays big-time. Not only did he threaten the very fabric of reality with the Time Eater, but he also most likely left Trixie with plenty of nightmare fuel. I mean, if I was put through a similar experience, I don't think I'd be able to avoid having nightmares that totally bucked up my sleep cycle.
In regarding to the next level, I'm am pretty torn between whether I want to see Sweet Mountain or Asteroid Coaster. Sweet Mountain would be a perfect fit for Pinkie Pie
and a light-hearted break from the serious stuff, while Asteroid Coaster are perfectly gloomy and scary for tension
. If you can GreenS21, could you maybe do the same as you did with Windy Vally and Lost World? Just asking since that would be perfect. Still if you don't like the idea, I vote (reluctantly) for Sweet Mountain.
Aso, I have been wondering: the reason why Dark Gaia's minions showed up; was it because there was some residue of its energy remaining even after Dark Gaia had been sealed?
1847985
If I hadn't gone with Dragon Road, any of the levels from "Sonic Colors" would be fair game (since Aquarium Park kind of has some Dragon Road in it). I might be able to briefly show Asteroid Coaster, but I don't think it'll be the main stage, due to all of Eggman's talk about space sickness and radiation. I'm not sure that would be fun for Spike or the ponies (yes, I know Rainbow, Celestia, and Luna were outside of the ARK, but I came up with that whole artificial atmosphere thing; the same thing could apply to Starlight Carnival in some way). I've also received a request for Planet Wisp to make a brief appearance, so it could happen.
Dark Gaia's minions appeared because of the magic in King Sombra's horn. I remember how, when it broke off during "The Crystal Empire", it still began to spread his dark magic even though he was outside the force field. Since the horn landed in a spot where Dark Gaia's minions had been, it was able to resurrect them, but only so long as there was magic. It's kind of like how, in the Archie comics, Eggman was able to bring the original Dr. Robotnik back to life with a machine after certain events happened, but once it was scrapped by Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, he fell apart for good.
1839178
Seems to me that when this is all over, they'll find a way to make sure the mastermind of all this winds up...*sunglasses*...with some major egg on his face! YEAHHH!!!
FIrst off, great chapter and nice usage of the GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE into the story. You really put her character down pat.
Also nice usage of the Lyra and Bon-bon in this chapter, as it was funny to see Lyra acomplish her dream of meeting humans.
Nice usage of Fluttershy again and her way of calming the gaint Phoenix, along with that little shout out to Spike's pet baby Phoenix.
Truly a great update as I have to ask whether or not you'll use Lighting Dust into the storyline as a rival to Rainbow Dash ?
Still please do keep up the good work as I cannot wait to see how you'll do Sonic Colors into the story.
Also, Can I suggest the Hover Wisp be involved in the tale. So that some ponies can experience flight, even for a brief time ?
Okay, so I was thinking you could include the werehog as a cameo or something of the like. Maybe as a result of Sonic stepping in poison joke or because he gets cursed by a certain spirit I know...
Since the Sonic Colors chapter is next...
TASTE THE RAINBOW!
I wonder how Dash would react to that?
I would like to do a fan reading of this story on youtube.
Hello GreenS21. Just wondering, do you plan to have a moment where they compare, or somthing like that, Gummy (an alligator) with Vector the Crocodile? Just thought about a gag where Vector has to explain he is a corcodile and not an alligator.
1928165
Mm, I'm not sure if I'll be able to sneak that in. But I am planning on having Spike notice the fact that Vector can breathe fire and wonder if he's part dragon or something.
1901619
Really?
1955604
1966309
Derpy was at the picnic in the first chapter and is currently going to be rescued in the "Sonic Colors" stage.
How is the next chapter coming along? Not trying to rush you, 'cause I'm sure you got some christmas presents you want use first
1966416
Actually, I got back to school this week. So it's less about Christmas and more about keeping up with the material.
But I am getting to the end of the next chapter. And oh boy, with all the scenes I have and my desire to have all the Wisps make an appearance, it's gonna be a long one.
1966428 ...And Werehog and Excalibur.
1966499
Later for them. And Darkspine.
1966506 Wait....There's only a few characters and elements/emeralds left until the finale.
How do you even plan on fitting them in,in that small amount of time?
1966536
Werehog, Darkspine, and Excalibur? I've got an idea on how to make them appear... as long as my muse doesn't decide to give up on the idea before I get to that point.
Muse! Thou must not give up on thy author! We command thee!
You messed up.
For the first half of the chapter, I saw nothing but filler. And since your chapter exceeded 20k words, you can see it was a lot. I got bored a few minutes in.
I didn't like the really long chapters because reading them feels more like work rather than fun, and that's something you have to avoid. Not only that, but since half the chapter is filler, it's a pain to read. If you were only trying to go for character development, then this is NOT how you do it. All of it felt completely unnecessary. It could have easily been done differently. And from the looks of it, you aren't going to try and fix this any time soon, rather you're gonna keep going anyway. Because I've already commented on how it's a pain to read really long chapters and you haven't changed a thing, making them even longer instead.
I really wanted to enjoy this story, but I just can't.
All I can say is that this is one way to lose readers.
1975359
(I can't answer your question on one of your webpages G21, so I'll do it here)
GreenS21, don't let criticism bring you down. It is a big world of there, with many different kinds of people that has many different kinds of tastes. Therefore, there is bound to be people who will not like your stories. I am not to say whether your writing style is right or wrong, because this is your unique style; you are detailed and are always trying to get everything just right, without leaving anything to be questioned. Some people might find that charming, others might find curious, others might find it satisfying and others might find it a drag. True, some people might give a hard time and criticise your work, but don't take it all in and think it is only bad and instead use it for a way for you to grow; if your stories are too long, use this as an experience and learn from it with a smile, because then it would you make more people happy. Beside, I have seen many of your reviews; ture some might think you are writing too much, but also remember all the others who did not mind it and just enjoyed your story, and, by my oppinion, they far outweight the bad. Remember, the bad does not replace the good in your story.
Personally, I don't think your stories are being too long, because you get everything in the story, and you do not leave us wondering "why did that happen?". True, it may sound like fillers, but, hey, which stories doesn't have fillers? Fillers are all about building up to the big moment.
I say, stick to the style you have followed so far with your story and don't loose faith in it, but if you think you can improve it by making it shorter, that's okay as that is your choice, just as long as you keep the story going in the same way and style as you have done before. And if that means it still has to be detailed, that is alright too. You have a good thing going here, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
1975359
Thank you for your input on my writing style. I'm sorry that I couldn't make you happy, but I thank you for at least sticking around this long. You've certainly given me a lot to think about.
So, if we have been through the modern "rival battles" during the regular stages, does that mean that there won't be an actual rival stage before the chapter with the third boss?
Also, when you expect the next chapter will be done? Not trying to push you or forcing you to keep a deadline, just curious
2015005
You would be correct. I'm not quite sure why, but I think the story would flow more smoothly if, instead of bringing in Silver and Trixie from nowhere after the group obtains the red Chaos Emerald and Element of Magic, I went straight to the Era Boss in the following chapter. It might have made the chapters longer, but I think including the Silver and Trixie Rival Battles in the stages made their appearances seem... less abrupt.
Soon, hopefully. School is, sadly, breathing down my neck and I want to stay on top of things as much as I can. However, I am nearing completion of the "Sonic Colors" chapter, so, like I said, I should hopefully be done soon.
2015066
Can't you include a plot line in that spot where someone working for the big bad(s) steals the Elements of Harmony and Chaos Emeralds, and our heroes have the reclaim them in the most unfriendliest of environments?
Aw, bummer. That just make it seem like the story will end too soon.
...Just thinking out loud, since you did at some point want the story to be longer
...