//------------------------------// // The Red Courage // Story: Sonic and Equestria Girls: Journey into Dreams // by SonicAKG //------------------------------// The Red Courage Back in the Nightmare Zone, Fluttershy sat down on the sphere as she watched Sonic walk back and forth rapidly and impatiently with his hands crossed behind his back. He had a heavy scowl on his face and his breathing grew louder as he trotted. Fluttershy just looked on before Sonic came to a sudden stop. He began to tap his foot very quickly in an irritable manner. Sonic stopped tapping suddenly. "Arrghh!!!! I can't take waiting around like this anymore! I'm gonna jump!" He declared out loud, making Fluttershy slightly gasp and rise up. "Sonic, you need to calm down. I understand you're upset, but jumpings not going to do anything." She said. Sonic turned around to face her. "I know, but all this staying still and nothing happening is driving me insane! I'm not as patient as you! I need to jump or any kind of movement! Who knows, maybe I can get us out of here?" Sonic stated as he approached the end of the sphere. Sonic extended his arms behind him and began to do stretches. "Sonic, jumping isn't going to get us out of here." "You're probably right. But, it'll make me feel better." Just before Sonic could leap, he and Fluttershy saw a green swirling portal appear above them. Fluttershy slightly shrank back while Sonic formed a smile on his face. "Finally! Anything's better than standing like this! Bring it on monster thing!" He declared with his fist up. What emerged out of the green portal wasn't a monster, but it was NiGHTS who soared down to them. Sonic lost his defensive and Fluttershy looked relieved. "What's up?" NiGHTS asked them. "NiGHTS? How'd you get here?" Sonic replied. "Thanks to this. It was pretty fun." NiGHTS said as he displayed the Chaos Emerald before them. "Oh right, Chaos Control lets you travel through dimensions! Nice!" Sonic said as he gave the thumbs up. "I'm glad you came before some of us did something reckless." Fluttershy said as she gave Sonic a slight smile. Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "I was under a lot of pressure." Was his excuse. "But thanks, NiGHTS! Just standing around with nothing to do was horrible!" "I know right? That's the worse!" NiGHTS agreed, making Fluttershy smile again due to their similarities. "So, let's get moving!" NIGHTS said as they gripped Sonic and Fluttershy's arms and flew up with the two of them. They then did a paraloop four times. Doing this was making Fluttershy dizzy as her head began to spin and she turned a little green in her cheeks. Before she could react, the three of them were covered in green aura and they vanished in a flash. The three of them reappeared in the section of the Nightmare Zone where Manic was lying down and taking a nap. AppleJack saw the three of them appear after the green flash died down and she gave a grin. "Well, I'll be! I was hoping someone would come get us out of here." She said with delight as she flew up to meet them. "No problem. Though, someone should probably go wake him up." NiGHTS said as they pointed to Manic, who was still dozing off. He didn't even notice what had just happened and continued to snore. NiGHTS chuckled while Sonic and AppleJack didn't look too impressed. "Ma-" Fluttershy started to say before Sonic put his hand on her shoulder. "I know how we can wake him up. AJ, take out your lasso." Sonic said with a mischevious smile. Manic started to stir before he started to open his eyes. When he did, he saw that he was looking down at the purple mist from the Nightmare Zone...midair and upside down. Manic yelled out in panic as he saw this and he began to move around. "What the hell?? What gives?" He cried out. As he moved, Manic noticed a yellow lasso tied to his foot. He then heard snickering coming from above him and he stopped moving around and he folded his arms and lowered his eyelids. He looked up to see, Sonic, AppleJack, NiGHTS and Fluttershy laughing while AppleJack held him with her lasso "Ha Ha Ha. Not funny, Sonic." Manic grumbled. "You're right, it's hilarious!" Sonic said as he wiped his nose. "I think that's enough fun, let's go find the others!" NiGHTS again did their signature paraloop and a green aura covered the five of them. As they began to teleport, Manic was swung around like a pendulum and he let out a yell before the green flash covered them. While Shadow still stood out looking at the Nightmare Zone, a green flash suddenly appeared in front of him. Just then, Manic appeared upside down, making him jump back startled to where Rainbow Dash was. She then looked at Manic confused and surprised. "Manic?!! How'd you get here?" She asked. Manic pointed up and Rainbow and Shadow looked up to see NiGHTS with Sonic, AppleJack, and Fluttershy. "It's about time." Shadow said. "Nice to see you too Shadow." Sonic responded. "Grab on to Manic and let's get out of here." Rainbow Dash wasted no time grabbing on Manic's arm while Shadow reluctantly did the same. "Thank you. I have no idea how you and Sonic deal with Shadow." Rainbow Dash whispered to Manic. "You get used to his attitude." Again, NiGHTS did his paraloop along with the emerald and the group popped out of that section of the Nightmare Zone into the one where Tails was trapped with Pinkie. They floated above and they looked down to see Pinkie, who was still looking at her reflection in the swirling portal while Tails was sitting with his hand on his face, looking bored. "Yo Tails!" Sonic called out, making Tails look up and he saw Sonic and the others. Tails formed a smile of relief and he rose up. "Sonic? You guys are here?! How?" Tails called back. "Emerald and my awesome paralooping." NiGHTS quickly explained. "So, come on." "I'm happy to, but I'm not so sure about Pinkie." Tails said as he looked back and saw Pinkie, who was giggling and laughing heavily as she watched her reflection swirl around. "I got this." Rainbow Dash said. "Hey Pinkie, look at what Manic's doing! It looks like more fun!" Hearing this made Pinkie turn away and she saw Manic upside down, gripping Shadow and Pinkie. Pinkie's face broke out into a large grin. "Wow! That looks....funmazing!" Pinkie declared as she dashed and took Manics place in the lasso, as she now held on to Shadow and Rainbow as she hung upside down. She then turned to Shadow. "Hi, Shady! Good to see that we're hanging out. " She cheerfully said. Shadow just rolled his eyes. Manic was launched up in the air due to Pinkie and again, he yelled as he was launched up. Before he could go any higher, Sonic grabbed his arm, putting him to a stop. Manic gave Sonic a slight glare. "What? I think this makes up for my prank." Sonic said. "All aboard? Cool!" NiGHTS checked as Shadow grabbed Tails. They paralooped once more in the green aura. Knuckles and Sunset sat down back to back with their arms folded, bored out of their minds. "275..." Sunset said. "What?" "That pendulum just swung for the 275th time." "You've actually been keeping count?" "What else is there to do?" "This!" The two of them heard NiGHTS voice say, making them look up. From the emerging flash, NigHTS and the rest of them showed themselves. Knuckles and Sunset saw the human ladder started by Pinkie and became puzzled. "I'm so glad you guys are here! And uh...nice ladder you're making Pinkie." Sunset said. "Wanna join?!" Pinkie enthusiastically asked. "It looks like our only way out anyway." Sunset said as she approached Rainbow Dash and took her hand. Knuckles did the same as he went to Tails. With them on, NiGHTS did one last emerald powered paraloop and they all teleported away. Where they ended up next was the starry space and road they were traveling before they were separated. When they were above, everyone let each other go as they landed on the road. AppleJack firmly pulled her lasso, releasing Pinkie from its grip as she turned her right side up and she landed down. "Awwww." Pinkie said with disappointment. "Hey, where's Silver?" Sunset asked as she took notice that he was absent. "He went off to deal with your friend. He's one who gave me the emerald so I could free you all." NiGHTS said. "I'll go check in on him." NiGHTS tossed the emerald up and prepared for one last paraloop. Before they could catch the emerald, a dusty dark red portal appeared before them, and suddenly, Reala emerged, flying at high speed as they snatched the emerald from NiGHTS and took off, leaving everyone astonished as they gasped. "You're too careless, child!"Reala taunted as he flew away. "He's getting away!" Pinkie cried. Before anyone, even Sonic, could react, Shadow became a yellow streak and pursued Reala as he went alongside the road. Shadow dashed below Reala. Reala noticed Shadow following him and he frowned slightly. "Give back the emerald!" Shadow demanded. "Never!"Reala declared. "I was hoping you'd say that..." Shadow said as he formed a smile. Shadow streaked ahead of Reala before he turned around and dashed mid air towards him. Reala's eyes widened out , but he barely managed to avoid Shadow as he ducked. Shadow landed down on the floor and continued his pursuit. "Not bad. It takes good reflexes to dodge my speed." Shadow admitted. "Don't underestimate me! I lead Wizeman's army for a reason!" Reala replied. Shadow generated a Chaos Spear in his hand and launched it at Reala, who evaded it easily. Shadow continued by firing more spears, but Reala looped to avoid each of them, but barely. "I admit, you're quite skilled." Reala praised. "Of course, I am. I am the Ultimate Lifeform!" Shadow informed him. "Ultimate? You know, you would be useful for Wizman's army. Think about it, that pink girl would never bother you again." Reala offered. "You haven't even spent a day with her and you think she's annoying? Please, you don't even know the half of it! I'll pass. As the Ultimate Lifeform, I can deal with anything." Shadow boasted. Shadow then teleported, surprising Reala, who stopped flying and searched around for him. Suddenly, Shadow teleported down in front of him, catching him off guard. Shadow released a punch, but Reala caught it. Shadow then gripped Reala's hand which held the emerald and the two began to tumble down as they spun around. "I must admit, I'm impressed. Aside from NiGHTS, you're the only one who's matched my skill." Reala said. "You were expecting less?" Shadow asked. "But as I said before, don't underestimate me!" Reala said as he then kicked Shadow away from him slightly. Reala, still holding the emerald, did a quick paraloop and he disappeared into a green portal. "Later, so-called 'Ultimate Lifeform'." Reala yelled. Before Shadow could react at all, he fell face first on the road with a large thud. When Shadow lifted himself up, he saw that Reala was gone and with the emerald. Reala's insult hit Shadow. He had tricked and humiliated him. Mocked his status as the Ultimate Lifeform. Anger swelled inside Shadow as he clenched his fist and he began to seethe. As he was, Sonic and the rest were coming up to him. Sonic saw that Shadow's body was trembling and he was beginning to glow red. Sonic stopped suddenly and he put his hand out to stop the others. "Wait. Give him a minute." Sonic said. A giant red flash appeared along with Shadow screaming at the top of his lungs, which then died down. "Ok, he's good." Sonic said as he lowered his hand. He and the group went to approach Shadow, who was huffing. Shadow saw them and he lowered his head. He was ashamed at his failure. "He got away with the emerald! Damn!"Shadow said in frustration. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It's my fault too. Reala was right. I was too careless. I'm sorry." NiGHTS said with remorse as they lowered their head, making Fluttershy and Tails put their hands on their shoulders. "So, that means Wizeman has all the Chaos Emeralds. And we can't get to Silver or Rarity without an Emerald either. Man.." Knuckles said, realizing how grave their situation was. "Things just went from good to bad real fast." AppleJack agreed. "So, now what do we do? What can we do?" Back in Nightmare Rarity's lair, Rarity held Silver, who was beginning to get his strength back. Silver managed to sit up and he held his neck. Rarity beamed after seeing he was alright. "Thank goodness. I'm glad you're alright!" Rarity said. "Yeah and I'm glad you're not evil anymore." Silver replied. Rarity looked around the room and her smile faded. "Silver, do you have any way to get us out of here?" She asked him. "I wish. I handed my emerald to NiGHTS so they could get the others. Without an emerald, we're sitting ducks." Silver said with a sigh. "We can't just stay here! There has to be some way!" Rarity said. A glimmering red light began to flicker above Silver's head, catching both their attentions as they looked up to examine it. Rarity recognized it from her time under Wizeman's control. "Silver, that red light was there when you escaped the nightmare. Do you think it means anything?" Rarity commented. Silver studied the red light. Silver then gripped it with both of his hands, causing the red light to shine even more. Silver and Rarity shut their eyes to avoid the glimmer. When they opened them, Silver now held a crystal red sphere with many white spikes inside. They both looked in awe at the sphere. "Silver?" "I-I don't know?" The crystal began to glow again before it covered the two of them in a brilliant red glow. Silver and Rarity teleported, leaving behind white sparkles. While Sonic and the rest were on the road, feeling sorry for themselves due to their loss as they moped around, the red light flashed in front of them, making everyone's heads turn. "(That light...could it be?)" NiGHTS thought. The red light reduced itself back to the red sphere in Silvers' hand, presenting himself and Rarity. Upon seeing them, everyone formed wide smiles, except Shadow and crowded around them. "Rarity!!!!!!!!!!!!" Pinkie yelled as she lunged and crushed Rarity with a giant bear hug. Rarity winced due to how tight her grip was. "Yes, it's nice to see you too, darling. But could you please put me down?" Rarity requested. Pinkie let her go. "Rarity, how'd you get back to normal?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I owe it to Silver." She said, making him get a little shy. Sonic ruffled his hair a bit, much to his slight annoyance/ "Nice job Silver! Way to go!" Sonic congratulated. "How'd you get back without an emerald?" Shadow asked. "This." Silver said as he held up the red crystal for everyone to see. Seeing it up close made NiGHTS recognize it immediately. "That's Ideya!" They exclaimed, making everyone turn to them. "What's Ideya?" Sunset asked. "Ideya are orbs that represent dream energy. There are five specific types. Normally, each dreamer has them when they enter the dream world. Seeing as you're not dreaming, you must have accessed it somehow. The one you have is the most powerful and rare. The Ideya of Courage." NiGHTS said. "Courage? That explains why it appeared when you escaped the nightmare." Rarity realized. "Can I see it?" NiGHTS asked. Silver then handed the Ideya over to NiGHTS, who gripped it in their hands. Nights closed their eyes and the Ideya began to glow once more. As it did, first, Knuckles, Sunset, Tails, and Pinkie began to glow blue. Shadow and Rainbow Dash were enveloped in a yellow aura, while Manic and AppleJack turned green. Sonic, Fluttershy, and Rarity lastly glowed white. From each of their aura's, a crystal that looked like the red Ideya, except those respective colors, was formed. These Ideya were in order, the Ideya of intelligence, Hope, Growth, and Purity. The 4 crystals surrounded NiGHTS. "Pretty!!" Pinkie exclaimed. "This....it's not like any magic I've ever known." Sunset observed as she felt the energy flowing through her body. "NiGHTS, could you explain what just happened?" Tails asked. "The Red Ideya being the rarest and powerful,it resonates with the others. Each of you had traces of these elements during your journey here and I used the Red Ideya to fully bring it out. Listen, Wizeman, may have the emeralds, but we have Ideya, which is the next best thing!" NiGHTS said. Hearing NiGHTS word's, seeing the newly created Ideya and Silver back with Rarity had restored the confidence in Sonic and the others. They each smiled, even Shadow doing a small victorious one. "You're right NiGHTS! Come on guys! Let's show Wizeman what Ideya can do!" Sonic said with the thumbs up, making NiGHTS do the same. Back in Nightmare, Reala appeared before his master in a green aura. He came down before Wizeman and presented the Emerald to him. "Master Wizeman. The last Emerald." Reala said. The emerald floated above to Wizeman, who held it up in front of his face. Again, his body began to glow, but this time, with all emeralds, it glowed white. "Excellent Reala. It appears as if though I have lost my new servant. Oh well, she played her part. Now, it is time for the finale. But before we start, Reala, a gift from me." Wizeman said. Wiseman's body released a ray of light which surrounded Reala. Reala's body was covered with a glowing coat, flashing the color of the emeralds before the glow surrounded his mask, making it now flash. Reala was dumbfounded. The power...it was magnificent. "Incredible...Master...I feel amazing! Hahahaha! Let us show those fools a real Nightmare!" He stated as he raised his hand to the sky.