Break the Walls Down

by Super Saiyan D


Chapter 5 - New Faces, New Places

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10:56 AM
Baltimare
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The streets of Baltimare were bustling. Ponies lively went about their daily activities, carrying on about their jobs and errands. Others simply conversed on the sidewalk.

And today, the local grapevine had a new inclusion to its usual gossip.

On a street corner just south of the Bronco-Seltzer Tower, a trio of ponies were speaking to each other. Two mares—an orchid unicorn and a white pegasus—along with a blue Earth pony stallion stood together while other ponies passed them by, deeply engaged in conversation about the matter.

“Hey, have you heard? About the alien?”

“Alien? What alien?”

“You mean you don’t know? There was an alien invasion in Canterlot last night!”

“What?”

“Pfft, really? Alien invasion? Get outta here.”

“No, it’s true! They’re saying that some weird blue thing showed up out of nowhere and tried to kidnap Princess Celestia.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously! I heard it blew up several buildings on a rampage through the city.”

“Whoa...”

“Oh come on, you’re not really believing that, are you? Ponies love blowing things out of proportion. It’s probably just some exaggerated gossip.”

“Oh yeah? Is it ‘exaggerated gossip’ that put one of Princess Luna’s top guards on the shelf?”

“...Come again?”

“You heard right. Story goes that a lieutenant ended up in the infirmary. Whatever this thing was, it took out one of her best, eluded the rest of the guards, including Captain Shining Armor himself, and then just disappeared.”

“Sweet Celestia...”

“Oh, that’s nothing! I hear Princess Luna called in the Wonderbolts to track it down. Even they couldn’t catch the thing!”

“W-What?! Are you kidding?!”

“Nope. We’ve got a real menace on our hooves this time. From what I hear, the upper crusts and the guards have already got a name made out for the thing. They’re calling it the Blue De–”

“GANGWAY!!”

All the ponies lining the streets abruptly snapped their heads in the other direction to see a gray pegasus with black and yellow hair barreling towards them. With startled whinnies they dove for cover as the winged stallion whooshed by.

The pony zipped through the streets, his beating wings carrying him just a few feet off the ground. His bushy mane flapped in the wind behind him, and the saddlebags strapped across his torso jostled with the force. The ponies in his path who saw him coming quickly got out of the way, and he shouted out warnings to any who didn’t.

“One side! Coming through! Hot stuff! Watch it!”

He winded through the streets until the greenery of the town’s main park came into view. At the edge, just before the downward grassy slope, was a concrete stairway that curved down. He grinned eagerly as he spotted the thin black shape of the stair railing.

Lifting just a little bit higher, he straightened up right as the rail was coming and hit with his back hooves, grinding down the looping metal curve with ease.

“Woohoo!”

He leaned and curved as the stair railing turned, his hooves making a shrill grate against the metal as he went, and his whole performance continually startling the ponies walking up and down the steps.

“Heads up! Thrash-Meister coming through here!”

At the bottom of the loop he jumped off and spread his wings to continue flying just above the ground through park, flapping and soaring faster and faster over the greenery.

Up ahead he could make out two shapes steadily bouncing with a trot along the dirt path going. He always loved going through here around this time; it was when all the cute joggers went on their runs. His grin turned completely giddy as he sped towards them.

Two mares trotted unsuspectingly along their usual route. The first was a pale yellow pegasus with straight, short brown hair that hung off one side of her face. Her glasses-wearing unicorn partner that followed just a couple feet behind her was an unusually tall specimen. Her grayish sap green coat splashed with even darker shades on her back, flank and shoulders. She sported whitish spots along her back as well, and her dark scarlet mane and tail were long and billowing.

Only when it was too late did the two ponies finally noticed the speeding gray bullet heading in their direction.

“S’cuse me ladies!”

He went streaking between the pair of mares, sending their manes and tails blowing in his wake. He craned his head around for a glance at their frames, his smile growing even bigger with a hint of naughtiness to it. “Ah, always a great view around this hour,” he said to himself. The green one had an especially lovely rear view.

Continuing on he veered upwards, flying just over the very tip of the large pagoda in the middle of the park. A few moments later he crossed over the barricade of trees, signaling the end of the park grounds. He could see his bayside house just beyond the way.

Another minute of flight, and the pegasus was nearly to the front of bayside building. Gliding down to the front mailbox, he slowed with a few flaps and hovered for a moment before finally touching down concrete path.

“Ah… home sweet home!”

No sooner did he walk up the pathway and nearly make it to the front door did he hear some commotion coming from around back. With a curious tilt of his head, he stepped around the right of the house and headed for the back. He could hear a pair of voices:

“Do you always have to shout about everything?”

“Don’t change the subject! What is that thing, and what is it doing in our backyard?!”

“First, I don’t know. This is a new one for me. And second, I only just got here a couple hours ago. I thought you two would be watching the house last night. Evidently, you didn’t. I assume you were off on another one of your nightly escapades instead of properly looking after things, as usual?”

“That’s not important! And you should have gotten rid of him!”

The pony reached the back end of the house in another few steps and turned around the corner. A blue dragon sat on the patio, a few feet away from the rear wall on the patio, just underneath the awning hanging overhead. Red spines running in a line down his back and tail, as well as a similarly colored crest on his head, decorated his primarily light blue scales. Tan scales lined down his throat, chest, and underside. Similar tan markings framed the underside of his eyes. He sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed, resting the palms of his claws on his knees, like he was meditating.

In between him and the wooden outdoor table was a griffon. He had the head of a hawk, brown colored with tall feathers that pointed out from the back of his head, and one that hung out like a forelock from the top of his forehead. His coat was that of a tiger’s, rough orange and black-striped. Ruffled feathers and curled fists showed obvious anger at something.

He rolled his eyes. How typical. “So, our resident hothead Gristle is shouting about something? Must be a day that ends in Y.”

Said griffon turned his head away from the sitting dragon to give him a dirty look, a tick mark on his forehead and his eyes comedically blank white. “And where have you been, Skyboom?! You were supposed to be here more than an hour ago!” he shouted, wings spreading in his ire.

The gray-furred pegasus folded his wings against his barrel and gave his griffon roommate a giddy smile. “Ah, not much. Just taking a little scenic stroll through Saddleson Park. Gotta just slow down sometimes and take in all the natural wonders, y’know?”

His reply prompted the Indian-style sitting dragon to crack and eye open at his pegasus friend. “And by ‘scenic route’ and ‘natural wonders’, I assume you mean doing bothersome fly-bys and oogling the female joggers, right?”

Skyboom lurched tellingly at the dragon’s accusation, his breath catching as a soft ‘guh’ escaped his throat. “W-What are you talking about, Ultimo? Me? Do that? No way…” he said unconvincingly, rubbing the back his head with a nervous chuckle. Clearing his throat, he brought the conversation back to what he overheard from them before. “So, uh… what exactly were you guys yelling about?”

Gristle, still looking irritated, pointed with his right hand towards the extension of the house opposite from where Skyboom stood. “THAT!”

Following his finger, Skyboom looked over towards the opposite side of the yard. When his eyes met what Gristle was pointing to, his ears drooped down in surprise and his mouth fell open with a wide-eyed stare.

The prone form of Sonic the Hedgehog lay collapsed on his back in the trio’s back yard. A trail of disturbed ground could be seen stretching for several yards to where the Mobian currently lay, indicating that he’d hit the ground and roughly tumbled for quite a ways before coming to his current resting place. As he laid there with his arms outstretched, the steady rise and fall of his chest the only clear sign he was still alive, Skyboom gaped at the bizarre blue creature.

“What in Equestria is that?! And how did it get in our backyard?”

Rising to his feet, Ultimo stretched his wings and regarded the pegasus. “Well, in that order: I have no idea. I don’t think I’ve come across something quite like him before. Closest I’ve ever seen were some ghoulish looking things way south of the border. And even they didn’t look like that.

The tiger griffon immediately butted in with another loud retort. “Which begs the question why you decided to let it lounge about in our yard at all!”

Ultimo let out an annoyed breath. “One: there’s no reason for dragging someone off while they’re unconscious. It’s rude. And probably illegal. Two: if you bothered using those ‘keen griffon senses’ you’re always going on about, you’d see that there’s no need to mess with him.” The dragon pointed to the trail of disturbed dirt leading to where their guest was. “Judging from the rough path there, just getting here took a lot out of him. He hasn’t moved since I got back here hours ago. As far as I’m concerned, he’s not doing any harm.”

While Gristle continued to adamantly protest about their guest, Skyboom stood where he was, eyes gleaming inquisitively at the prone being as he scratched his chin in thought.

The dragon cut off any more of his striped roommate’s complaint with an exasperated huff of smoke from his nose. “Well, if you have such a problem, then just hang out until he wakes up. With all three of us here he can’t make too much trouble.”

Gristle only continued to oppose him, not satisfied with the answer in the slightest. The two went on arguing, Ultimo having no luck appeasing the grumpy griffon. Neither of them noticed their other roommate slowly tiptoeing towards the Mobian.


Sonic fidgeted and grunted uncomfortably in his sleep. His brow furrowed, low, murmured words escaping his lips. “N-No, stop… You’re pure evil… Why are you coloring my arms…?”

With a sudden jolt he awoke from his nightmare, stirring and opening his eyes. Slowly he became aware of his surroundings, the sky coming back into view. Gripping at the earth beneath him, he was able to feel grass between his fingers. A welcome change from sailing blindly through the air at supersonic speeds. The throbbing in his back and head made him groan as he shakily pushed his back off the ground to sit upright, groaning as he rubbed his temples. “Man… hope I won’t have to do that again any time soon…”

When he finally opened his eyes fully, baby blue stared back at his green ones. The head of a gray pony was inches from his face.

“Hi!”

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”

“Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”

Startled, Skyboom jumped up and awkwardly fell back onto his rump, scrambling backwards.

The sudden burst of adrenaline evaporated Sonic’s grogginess and pain. He kipped up into a loose fighting stance to brace himself for what he thought in his snap judgement was another attack. “All right, you coloring book donkeys! Come and get… some…”

Upon realizing there were no more uniformed pony troopers trying to subdue him, his bold declarations died in his throat. He awkwardly glanced at the new trio of creatures before him, each of them returning his gaze with equal looks of surprise and alarm.

Gristle had jumped up onto the table in a crouch, his claws flexing out and biting into the wood, ready to pounce like an animal defending his territory. But before he could do anything, Ultimo stepped forward with a hand raised in slight greeting to diffuse the situation. “Easy there, stranger. You’re in no danger here.”

His gentle tone seemed sincere enough to the hedgehog. After a moment or two of checking him over, he stood up straighter and slightly lowered his guard. “Huh… well, you get your props for being the best first impression anyone’s given me since I got here,” said Sonic, rolling out some of the kinks in his sore shoulder.

“Seems as if you’ve had quite the adventure getting here,” said Ultimo.

The corner of Sonic’s mouth lifted in a half smile. “You don’t know the half of it buddy. So, any chance you could tell me where I am at the moment?”

“Taking up space in our backyard, that’s where you are,” Gristle replied rudely.

Ultimo turned to glare at Gristle, his crudeness finally bringing him to the end of his patience. “That’s enough, Gristle,” he said, leveling the griffon with a glare that said ‘Act like a jerk one more time and see what happens.’ His tone left no room for argument. “Show some respect.”

Gristle cringed at his roommate’s commanding tone of voice, shrinking a bit and looking away sullenly as he grumbled to himself. While that was happening Skyboom again walked right up to the hedgehog, looking him over. The proximity started to make Sonic a little uncomfortable.

“You’re kind of staring into my soul, horse boy. Can I help you with something?”

“As a matter of fact you can.” Skyboom stared Sonic straight in the face. “You see, I’ve been hearing about this crazy rumor going around town today. About some big hoopla going down in Canterlot. Something about a weird looking rodent on two legs that turned the whole place into a tizzy. Supposedly, it dropped in from out of nowhere while Princess Celestia was sleeping, squared off with Princess Luna and the royal guard and whipped their flanks. And then did the same thing to the Wonderbolts before vanishing into the night.”

As the eyes of Skyboom’s two roommates behind him grew wider, Sonic became more and more nervous that another fight was about to break out. His fingers flexed instinctively and he started to take a half step back, readying himself to spring into action at a moment’s notice.

Until a beaming smile split across the pegasus’s face. “Dude, that was awesome! Give it up top!” he said ecstatically, raising up his hoof.

Sonic stood there a moment and blinked, bewildered by the unexpected turn of the conversation. But he quickly relaxed and offered the pony a grin, high-fiving him back.

“Seriously, though! Word’s been circling all morning! Is it true? First they say you whipped Princess Luna’s captain and lieutenant’s tails all over Canterlot! Than you run circles around the coolest flyers ever, the Wonderbolts? That’s epic, dude!”

Sonic chuckled and scratched his ear. The sudden praise was pretty flattering. “Ah, what can I say? I’m just that good.”

Ultimo then cut in, his demeanor less friendly than it had been a moment ago. “Attacking Canterlot?”

Sonic stiffened, holding up his hands in a non-threatening way. “Hey, I didn’t ‘attack’ anyone! I ended up there by complete accident, and then the stormtroopers came down on me. I just wanted out of there. I don’t do well with prison cells. Especially for things I know I haven’t done.”

Ultimo thoughtfully scanned the blue Mobian, trying to get a read on him. His posture, his tone of voice, and especially his eyes. As intently as he peered, he couldn’t glean anything from Sonic’s look that gave the impression he was lying, enough so to make him relax. “I suppose there are always two sides to every story. But it’ll be better for you to get that cleared up as soon as possible.”

The lighter mood returning, Skyboom beamed at Sonic quizzically. “So, what are you supposed to be exactly? Some kind of giant porcupine?”

Porcupine?!” Sonic exclaimed, offended. “Heck no! I’m a hedgehog.” He ran his hand through his quills somewhat haughtily and gave the pony a thumbs up. “And prooouuud of it!”

In the background, Gristle scoffed under his breath at the hedgehog’s cocky attitude. Ultimo simply watched the two converse, studying the Mobian all the while. Skyboom nodded in recognition at his newly met acquaintance. “Cool beans! I like your style, Blue. What do they call you?”

The Blue Blur cordially held out a hand to him. “The name’s Sonic.”

The pegasus reciprocated, placing his hoof in his hand. Sonic felt him ‘grip’ somehow – finding it very puzzling how a creature with only a hoof could do such a thing – as he shook it.

“I’m Skyboom! And my friends here are Gristle and Ultimo,” he said, gesturing respectively to the striped griffon and blue dragon.

At this point Gristle finally decided to join the interaction. With a flap of his wings he came off the table top and landed in front of Sonic, giving the hedgehog a scrutinizing look. “So… a stringy thing like you took on the Canterlot guard and the Wonderbolts? I’ll believe that when I see it,” he said skeptically.

Sonic quirked an eyebrow as he gauged the griffon, his mouth curving into a cheeky smile. “Well, considering how infamous I apparently am around here, that might happen sooner than you think, Tony the tiger bird.”

The griffon’s eyes again and took on a comedic whiteness, narrowing with displeasure at his comment. “Was that a wise crack, rodent boy?! You wanna fight?!”

Skyboom cut between the two with a chuckle. “Ah, don’t let ol’ Gristle get to you. He’s just a grump sometimes.”

Sonic snickered. He liked this particular colorful horse.

“Hey, as long as you’re here, wanna join us for lunch? We got pizza!” he announced, reaching a hoof into one of the backs strapped over his barrel and pulling out a square cardboard box, from which came the unmistakable aroma of pizza. “Wasn’t expecting another mouth today, but there’s plenty to go around.”

Sonic’s demeanor lit up at the mention of food. He barely realized how hungry he was, not having had a bite since he was back on Mobius before this whole dilemma began. “Well, I mean… that’s nice of you to offer, but are you sure it’s cool? I already crashed your space, I don’t wanna impose any more than I have.”

Then Ultimo, who had been mostly quiet up until that point, stepped forward, giving Sonic an assuaging smile. “Think nothing of it. You seem to have had a difficult enough time. The least we could do is offer someone in need a bite to eat,” he said politely.

Gristle, still not too taken with the new arrival just yet, folded his arms and looked off in another direction. “Meh… if they’re all right with it, I guess it’s okay with me too.”

Sonic couldn’t help smile wider at the kind insistence. After being chased like a criminal since the moment he dropped into this weird place, it was finally nice to have some friendly company. And a hot meal to boot. “Living things not trying to bash my head in, and offering free food? Today must be my lucky day. That’s really cool of you Scales, horse boy.”

“Ah it’s nothing,” Skyboom replied with a pleasant smile, only breaking his smile to correct Sonic’s word usage. “But it’s uh, pony.”

The hedgehog shrugged casually and went over to the table just as Gristle opened the first box, revealing a scrumptious looking pie of cheese pizza. The cheesy aroma wafted up to Sonic’s nose. It was enough to make his mouth water. “Mmmmmm~”

Gristle had a similar look of brimming hunger on his face, and reached for the first slice.

“Wait!”

Skyboom’s sudden shout startled the group, who looked at him.

“A moment to reflect.”

Gristle suddenly ‘ah’d’ affirmatively, and Ultimo nodded with an amused smile. Together with their pony roommate they leaned in over the pie and gave a long, deep smell of their meal, and then leaned back with gratified sighs.

“Aaaaahh~”

The gray pony grinned. “All right, let’s dig in!”

Ultimo took a piece for himself, handing a paper plate to Sonic, who took it with a gracious expression. Gristle’s mouth was already stuffed to the brim and chewing with puffed cheeks.

“So, where do you come from, hedgehog?” Said Ultimo, taking a seat at the table in front of his own plate. “Even as well travelled as I am, I’ve never seen a creature that looks like you before.”

Sonic paused for a second. He wasn’t exactly sure how to begin explaining the whole ‘ripped through the fabric of time and space’ and ‘alternate dimension’ thing at the moment. So he settled for a simple answer. “Somewhere very, very far away,” he said, taking a bite of his slice. His eyebrow raised before his face slipped into a content smile. He didn’t know what these horses used to cook this side of the multiverse, but this pizza was delicious. “But here’s a better question. Where exactly am I now?”

Skyboom piped up. “Glad you asked! You, my spiky blue friend, are in Baltimare! Best city this side of Equestria!”

Sonic’s face fell into a dull expression. ‘I was afraid of this. These horse puns ARE a thing around here…’

“E… questria?” He asked, rolling the unfamiliar name around in his mouth.

“Wow, you really are from way out nowhere, aren’t you?” Skyboom remarked, his words somewhat muffled through his full mouth. “We’ve got all the best stuff here in Baltimare! Awesome weather, great view of the ocean, best mares this side of Canterlot.” That last part came with a small snicker. “In fact, they say that sometimes down at the old Horseshoe Bay Lighthouse, you can sometimes see this especially gorgeous one–”

Ultimo’s tail lightly smacked the pony upside the head, enough to rouse him from his mare-centric rambling. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Ehehe… my bad.”

Sonic half smiled. “Charming. But if we’re being honest, I don’t know a single thing about this place, country, whatever it is. Would someone mind filling me in on the big picture?”

Ultimo nodded. “Certainly.” Finishing what was in his mouth, the blue dragon took a seat on the table bench next to Sonic, and began to recite a condensed version of the history of Equestria. “More than a thousand years ago, long before the kingdom now called Equestria existed, there were three different tribes of ponies. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. In this distant past, the three groups were splintered. Divided by fear, suspicion, and hatred for one another. And wherever these three warring factions went, inhospitable blizzards followed.”

“Eesh, not cool,” Sonic muttered.

“Eventually the three tribes sought new land to call home. It wasn’t until they all met again in this new land that it was discovered the freezing weather was being caused by Windigos. Malevolent, ghostly creatures feeding on their hate for one another. Only when the ponies finally came together in friendship and harmony were they able to produce a magic powerful enough to drive the Windigos back to whence they came. Since then, Princess Celestia and Princes Luna have ruled over the land together.”

Sonic blinked at that. Ancient, wicked monsters and super powerful, emotion-based magic? It sounded like something right out of a children’s story book. But then again, he’d seen stranger.

“Celestia and Luna?” he asked, raising a brow curiously.

“They’re the royal alicorn sisters,” Skyboom interjected. “They’ve got traits of all three kinds of ponies. Really tall, with horns and wings”

Sonic grimaced uncomfortably as memories of the tall and dark pony from the castle came back to him. “I think I’ve met one of them…”

Unfazed by his comment, Skyboom continued. “They’re totally regal, and beautiful, and awesome! Not only are they in charge of the kingdom, they’re in charge of the night and day! Celestia raises the sun to begin every morning. And Luna, her younger sister, brings the night by raising the moon.”

Sonic did a double take. “Wait wait wait, timeout. You’ve got a pair of sisters responsible for making day and night?”

“That’s correct,” said Ultimo, as soon as he finished swallowing another bite of pizza. “Under their power and guidance, they created a place of peace and harmony for its inhabitants, and Equestria has enjoyed relative peace for most of its existence as a result.”

Sonic gave a low whistle. “Color me impressed.”

Truly, he couldn’t help but admire what these two noble sisters had apparently managed to maintain here. Mobius had been and for the most part still was a very content world. But ever since Eggman came into the picture, it seemed that there were battles for the fate of the world every third week. Now, here was a place that had supposedly maintained a peaceful rule for almost a millennium. Quite the feat indeed.

Skyboom suddenly spoke up again. “Anyway! Since I’m off the clock early today, we can all get to work on the next piece! How we lookin’, Gristle?”

The griffon smirked confidently back at him. “Ah, please. I’ve got these chords down like the back of my claw. Here, I’ll show you,” he said before pacing over to the back door and going into the house.

Sonic blinked. “Chords?”

Before he could get his answer, Gristle returned carrying two long black cases by their handles, as well as a set of drumsticks in his right hand. He laid the cases down on the patio, then haphazardly tossed the drumsticks right towards the pegasus’s head. “Catch!”

In a split second, Skyboom’s eyes widened in a sudden reaction of fight or flight. Almost instinctively, he leaned to his right to let one of the sticks pass by his head and caught it with his right hoof, and catching the other with his left before it hit him in the face.

The movement didn’t escape Sonic’s notice. ‘Good reflexes.’

Regaining his focus, Skyboom frowned at his roommate. “DUDE! Not cool!”

Gristle shrugged nonchalantly in response. “Oops.”

“Jerk… now like I was saying, we can finally get back to practice.” Trotting over to the wall, he came to some sort of object with a tarp draped over it. He pulled it off to reveal a shiny set of drums, looking at them gleefully. “Hello babies. Daddy missed you.” He flapped over the drum set and plopped himself in the seat.

Gristle opened one of the cases and took out a red split-headed guitar, smiling down at it, and drumming his claws eagerly on the body. Ultimo meanwhile returned from inside with a keyboard in claw, along with its accompanying stand.

“Well, how about that? Didn’t know we had some rockers in the house,” Sonic remarked.

“You better believe it!” Skyboom responded, before turning to the griffon again. “All right Gristle, gimme a low steady strum. Make those tunes nice and deep. Ultimo, lead me in with a quick dash of classic piano!”

The two were a little puzzled at the instructions, but went along anyway and took up their seats next to and on the table bench. Skyboom opened with the drums, and the impromptu song began.

After about ten seconds of letting the methodical beat go, Skyboom started to sing.

♪“Here I come, rougher than the rest of them!”♪
♪“The best of them, tougher than leath–”♪

“NO!”

Gristle suddenly cut off the music with a harsh single note, causing the others to jolt in their seats.

“H-Hey man, what’s the deal?” Skyboom complained.

Gristle stared at him with a look that couldn’t have been surlier if he tried. “That was just… That is so painfully retro it physically hurts me. And what is that, a rap number? What do you think this is?”

“Oh, come on! It couldn’t have been that bad! The guys down at the pizza joint thought it was charming.”

“Hmph, maybe to overly nostalgic tryhards.”

Skyboom stuck his tongue out at his striped roommate.

Sonic cracked a sudden smile and stood up, his interest thoroughly peaked. And not just because of the vaguely familiar tune. “You know, I do a little guitar myself. Maybe I could give it a whirl?”

The three creatures turned and looked at him, surprised.

Gristle gave a disbelieving scoff. “Really? You?” he asked cynically.

“Did I stutter?” said Sonic, planting a fist on his hip.

Gristle eyed him for a few more seconds before responding. “All right then, Spikes. If you think you’re all that,” using his back paw, he slid the other black case to Sonic’s feet, “why don’t you show us what you’ve got?”

Sonic looked down at the case and back at Gristle, smirking confidently. “I’d be glad to.”

Leaning down and opening the case, he was greeted by a beautifully made orange-red guitar with a vaguely Fling V design. Except it had ruffled, almost feathered extensions on its body. And its head had the shape of a bird spreading its wings. Picking it up, Sonic marveled over it for a moment. It was a thing of beauty.

Gristle sat up with his arms folded and waited with a snide smile. ‘This oughta be entertaining,’ he thought. He wasn’t expecting much.

And then Sonic started to play.

The three Equestrian roommates stopped and stared as he rocked on the guitar. He played the solo seamlessly, every strum hitting the right pitch with perfect accuracy. With a slight delay on the penultimate note and one final strum, he brought the song to a close.

Once he finished he glanced at Gristle with a wry expression. ‘How do you like me now?’

Gristle’s expression finally lightened as he let out a chuckle. “All right, Spikes. You’ve made your point. Guess there’s a little more to you than I thought.”

Sonic just smiled, rubbing underneath his nose.

“Well, come on, don’t stop there! More, more!” said Skyboom.

“All right then… let’s try this. Gimme about ten or so seconds, then take it away with the drums. Start easy, but get ready to pick up the pace. You just try to keep up, Stripes.”

The others nodded, Gristle shooting back a sportive grin, and Sonic started playing again.

A low, deeper strum held for a few seconds, and then the Sonic really started to strum. This one didn’t start as swift, but built quickly. It had power, energy, and reckless abandon. Especially when Sonic’s fingers really started blazing over the strings.

The others were getting just as into it as he was. Skyboom quickly licked his lips between his massive grin, matching the hedgehog’s dancing fingers with perfectly synchronized drum beats.

When the final riff came to an end, the other creatures were left in awe.

“That! Was! Awesome!” Skyboom exclaimed, absolutely giddy.

Gristle was similarly pleased. “Not too shabby, ‘hog. Think you got my heart beating a few ticks faster with that one.”

“It’s a gift,” Sonic replied.

“I’ll bet some extra distortion here and there would make that one even better…” Skyboom pondered.

Ultimo smiled. “You’ve got some real talent there, Sonic. We could sure use someone as good as you as a replacement lead. Ever since–”

A round of more sullen faces was suddenly shared by the three Equestrians.

“Well… ever since we lost our last one.”

Sonic noticed the sudden change in mood, looking between the three of them. “Something happen?”

Skyboom’s ears fell flat and he looked down, and Gristle looked off to the side with a sour expression on his face, leaving Ultimo to answer him. “Let’s just say we had a bit of an unexpected falling out with one of our old friends.”

The blue hedgehog rubbed the back of his head. “You flatter me. But, I don’t really think that would work out so well. Having to go back home would probably put a damper on your whole ‘making it big’ thing.”

Ultimo smiled weakly. “Fair enough.”

He set the guitar back down in its case and locked it up, stepping out from the center of the yard. “Well boys it’s been fun, but I think I gotta be hitting the road now.”

“You’re going already?” Skyboom lamented, setting down his drumsticks and walking over to him, looking crestfallen.

Sonic offered him a sorry smile. “Sorry pal. I’d stay if I could, but I’ve got some major things to do. Places to see, and return trips to try and make. Besides, I’ve still got at least three different kinds of jackboots on the prowl for me. Wouldn’t want you getting in trouble over me.”

Ultimo couldn’t help smile. He sure was a stand-up guy.

“Aw… all right. Don’t be afraid to stop by if you’re ever in the neighborhood again,” said the gray pony.

“Sounds cool.” Sonic clasped his hoof again for a handshake and bid the others a farewell wave. “See you later, guys.”

Just as he started to bounce on the balls of his feet and stretch in preparation for his exit, Ultimo moved towards the back door, calling out to him as he headed inside. “Hang on, Sonic.”

His call made Sonic stop and look over his shoulder. “Hm?”

He came back through the door with two small blue sacks in his hand. “Take these before you go.”

The dragon tossed the bags towards Sonic. As he caught them, there was a metallic jungle that made the hedgehog give a questioning look. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Those are bits. Our currency here in Equestria. You can use it to buy food and anything else you might need. There’s twenty-five in each, fifty in total. Should be enough to keep you going for a good while.” Ultimo smiled pleasantly. “You seem like a good guy. You shouldn’t have to be on the run out there empty-handed.”

Sonic’s face slowly broke into a wide smile. “Dude, you are a lifesaver! I promise I won’t forget this!” he said gratefully, tucking the bags away and giving the three of them a thumbs up. “Wish me luck, boys. Take it easy!” And off he went, dashing away down the stretch of land curving out towards the bay.

That was when Gristle decided to give his two cents. “You just went and gave him all those bits? We put in some good work for those.”

Skyboom leaned in which a snarky smile. “Really breaking the ‘greedy griffon’ stereotype there, Gristle.”

“Shove it, Skyboom!”


Coming to a halt at partially green rock ledge on the edge of the bay, Sonic looked over the quaint scenery and weighed his options. ‘All right, I’ve got a full stomach and full pockets. Guess the only thing to do now is pick a direction to head in.’ He placed his hand above his eyes and looked out. Nothing but crystal blue ocean stretched for miles. The sight of it made Sonic’s face turn an uncomfortable dark blue. ‘Oh, sweet Chaos… So… much… water…’

Looking to the east, he could see a lush forest on the edge of Baltimare. Faint spikes of buildings stretched out in the distance beyond that. Another city. It seemed a much more viable option at the moment.

Until he remembered he had at least two different branches of military hunting for him. Memories of his pony pursuers, particularly the two flying, dark-colored mares from the castle grounds, and that flaming flight team leader crept back into his head. He was in no mood for another game of extreme pony tag. “On second thought… I think I’ll take my chances at sea,” he mused. Time away from horse society for a while sounded good.

Allowing himself a measured breath, he ducked and began to spin his feet. A bold grin spread across his face. “New venture, here I come!”

SHOOM!

He went blasting off the shoreline and over the surface of the water, off to whatever awaited him.


============
11:53 AM

Ponyville
============


Over in Ponyville, this particular bright day on the green grass featured a black and white game board with an array of different pieces set up on a low table. On either side of it sat two colts. The first looked studious and attentive. The other was far less happy about the current situation.

“Pipsqueak, when you said you had a new game we could try out, this isn’t what I had in mind,” Button Mash groaned.

“Come now, Button. If you can spend six hours at that arcade machine, you can play chess with me for a little.”

Button lifted his chin, looking at him morosely. “It doesn’t help when you’ve already beat me three times…” he moaned, leaning his a cheek into his hoof. “I barely know the rules of this dumb game. Where’d you even learn to play this?”

“My nana would always have board games on a shelf in her basement. My other young relatives and I would always play them together when we visited. Now come on, it’s your move,” he said, motioning his hoof in a circle.


Nearby, Spike sat on top of the white split rail fence adjacent the path leading from the school house. He bounced a small red bouncy ball up and down against the ground from where he sat, an antsy expression on his face. “Aw come on, come on… he should have been here by now.”

Before he could continue to wonder what the holdup was, a young colt with a light brilliant orange coat and bushy, moderate azure hair galloped into view and stopped in front of him. He panted hard with his head low, as if he’d just run halfway across Ponyville.

“Well, it’s about time, Base! I’ve been waiting here for almost twenty minutes! You know I’ve got errands to run with Twilight in the afternoon. I’ve only got so much time to spare in the morning!”

First Base could only smile apologetically between his heavy breaths. “Whew… sorry… whew… about that, Spike,” he said, sucking in a big gulp of air as he composed himself. “We were just having brunch with my big brother. He just finished his basic training to be in the royal guard. Now he’s gonna be a full-fledged member instead of just a cadet! And he’s only home for a few days before his real service starts. I just wanted to hang out with him as much as I could before he went back to Canterlot today.”

Hearing the explanation, Spike’s expression softened. The thought of getting to spend time with a rarely-seen older sibling tugged at his heartstrings. “Ah, well at least you’re here now.” Then he grew an excited look on his face. “Did you bring it?”

The colt smiled back at him. “Of course!” He held out his hoof to show a rubber, bright yellow bouncy ball about the size of Spike’s palm.

“Nice bouncy ball,” Spike said cheerfully, showing off his own. “I got this one last week with my last comic book.”

First Base gave the dragon a cheeky look. “Kind of small and dinky, isn’t it?”

Spike frowned. “Hey, size isn’t everything. Don’t you know the smaller ones bounce higher?” The corner of his mouth lifted into a challenging smirk. “How ‘bout we see which one’s better!”

First Base matched his expression, swishing his tail eagerly. “You’re on!”


Button focused in on the board, contemplating his next move. Being the much less experienced player, Pipsqueak had allowed him to be white so he could go first. Each of them had only made move so far, Button moving one of his pawns a single space to F3, and Pipsqueak followed with a pawn to E5.

Button rubbed his chin. During the last game he had taken quite a few of Pip’s pieces with a “hit and run” method targeting the flanks, mostly using the bishops and rooks. So, he would try in that vein again. He picked up his second-furthest-right pawn and moved it two spaces ahead to G4.

Pipsqueak gave a sly grin. He lifted his queen and moved diagonally it all the way to the side of the board to H4, giving a closed-eyed smile. “Checkmate!”

Button’s eyes widened, a strained gasp of shock coming from his throat. After a few moments of choked stammering, he threw his hooves up in anger. “Son of a goat!”

“Button!” Pipsqueak scolded. “Language!”

The colt only moaned, pressing his hooves into his face. “This bites! How did you beat me in just two moves?!”

Pip offered a sympathizing look to his friend. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Button. You were doing really well the last couple of games. You just made yourself a bit mentally tired, so you forgot to give your king proper protection and left an opening. It was really just dumb luck that you moved where you did.”

“I don’t think I’m cut out for this… I’d rather stick to my Joy Boy. That’s easier,” he said, looking dejected.

“Perish the thought, Button Mash. Don’t give up so easily. Even if you don’t win, it’s always important to learn from your mistakes. It’s how you get better,” Pipsqueak said encouragingly. Then he gestured to the board again. “Want to play one more time? Fifth time’s the charm?”

Before Button could answer him, their game table was suddenly knocked over. The board flipped and tumbled to the ground, and the chess pieces scattered everywhere, surprising both of them. A voice sarcastically cut in. “Ooooops.”

Pipsqueak turned to the source; his brows knitted together in anger. “Diamond Tiara! What did you do that for?!”

The offending pink filly regarded the two with a snooty sneer. She was flanked as always by her partner in crimes against decency, Silverspoon. “Hello there, losers,” Diamond Tiara snarked.


First Base and Spike stood side by side. Both boys glanced at each other with competitive faces, ready to go.

“All right, we’ll go on three,” Spike said eagerly.

Base held his hoof up high, with Spike matching his movement.

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three!”

Shouting the last one together, they threw their balls down at the ground as hard as they could, causing the round rubber toys to leap high into the air, barely visible as tiny specks.

“Which is it?!”

“Which one’s higher?!”

They looked up frantically at to see where in the air the bouncy calls had reached, both anxiously hoping theirs would be the winner.

“Can you see ‘em, Spike? Can you?”

Spike pursed his lips. “Not yet…”


“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass us?” Pipsqueak complained at the two spoiled fillies.

Diamond Tiara just flipped her mane in an uncaring manner. “Of course I do. I just felt like gracing you little hayseeds with my presence. Since everypony else is off on that silly little field trip to that dirty old settler pony town…” she scorned, her nose wrinkling at the mention of the location. “You should feel privileged.”

“All we feel is assaulted,” said Pipsqueak

Button Mash looked angrily at the two fillies. “Give us a break! Why don’t you go do things with your own friends?” Then his lip curved into a half smile. “Oh, wait a minute… you probably don’t have any.”

The two fillies suddenly looked very offended. Diamond Tiara whirled on him, her expression burning. “What. Did. You. Say?!”

However, Button wasn’t backing down. He stood his ground, and continued to call out the insufferable pink tyrant. “You heard me! Maybe if you weren’t such a jerk, maybe ponies would actually like you two! Heh, I’ll bet everypony is glad they don’t have to put up with you on the field trip!”

“How… dare you?!” Diamond Tiara shouted, her face twisting with her growing rage. Silver Spoon said nothing, but stood glaring indignantly at the boys.

Then Pipsqueak spoke up again. “Just you wait, Diamond Tiara. One of these days your bad attitude is gonna get you exactly what you deserve.”

Diamond stomped a hoof forward, looming over the shorter Pipsqueak. “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

Bonk!

Bing!

Without warning, the two red and yellow bouncy balls finally came down from their return trip and landed right on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s heads.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Oooouuuucccchhh!”

The fillies let out pained whimpers, hooves immediately going to their heads to rub the sore spots as the balls rolled on the ground.

At that moment Spike and First base came running over. “There they are!” Spike knelt down and picked them both up in his claws, neither him nor Base appearing to notice the ironic justice their toys had just served up to the two snot-nosed fillies. Pipsqueak and Button pressed their lips together with their cheeks puffing out, fighting to contain their laughter.

“Whoa, they really don’t lie,” said Spike. “They were so far up I lost track of them.”

First Base was quick to retort. “I think mine was the winner.”

“No way! Let’s settle it with a rematch!”

“Bring it!”

“You stupid boys!”

The sudden shouts made both of them look over. Diamond and Silver Spoon stared at them angrily, their narrowed eyes pricking with traces of tears.

The boys just stared confused at the two.

“…Huh?” came Base’s intelligible reply.

Without another word Diamond Tiara jerked her head away and went galloping away to the left, Silver Spoon following close behind. “My father will hear about this!” Diamond cried, just before they both disappeared out of view.

Spike and Base could only stare after them, baffled.

“What was all that about?”

“Beats me.”

Button trotted over, his face wide with joy. “Nice going, guys! You scared them away!”

Spike just tilted his head with a questioning look, still oblivious. Pipsqueak, who had just finished picking up the board and scattered chess pieces, joined them. “Hello Spike, First Base!” he said cheerfully.

His entry caused First Base to raise a confused eyebrow at him. “Pipsqueak? What are you doing here? I thought you’d be on the class field trip to Appleoosa?”

The skewbald colt shook his head. “Afraid not. My parents and I just got back from visiting Trottingham for a week, so I couldn’t make it. We didn’t get back in until four o’clock yesterday,” he explained.

“So what’cha doing?” asked Button.

Spike held up the two rubber balls enthusiastically. “We’re having a contest. We’re trying to see which bouncy ball can go higher.”

Pipsqueak wagged his tail, eager to join in on the fun. “Can we watch? We can be your judges.”

“Sure!” Spike replied with a smile. “The more the merrier.”

Taking his ball back from the little dragon, First Base stood a few feet apart from Spike and faced him. “Now we’ll have someone else to watch me win!”

“Hah! We’ll just see about that.”

The two stanced while Pipsqueak and Button made the call.

“Ready…”

“Go!”

Another hard downward throw and the balls rocketed into the air once again. Placing their hooves and claws above their eyes to block out the sun, they all watched for the first sign of the balls. Again they had gone way high up beyond their sight. But after a minute, Button pointed up and exclaimed, “Hey, here they come!”

Sure enough the tiny dots of the bouncy balls came falling down. Seemingly evenly paced.

But then a shape cut across their sightline. A gray pegasus mare with a light blonde mane and bubbles on her flank casually flying around abruptly passed underneath the falling spheres. Spike’s red ball landed smack on top of her hindquarters and sprang off in a wide arch. While the mare jumped and looked around, blushing as she sought the source of whatever had just spanked her, Spike looked on horrified as his ball began to head towards town.

“Hey! My ball!”

His contest forgotten, the panicked dragon went running after his escaping toy, leaving the slightly regretful group of colts behind.


=================
12:09 PM
The Dragon Lands
=================


The middle of nowhere.

It wasn’t the magical dimension of ponies as a whole. It wasn’t the rocky mountain he’d been chased through. It wasn’t even the unwilling airdrop into the nest of Equestrian military.

Now, Sonic was certain, he was in the middle of nowhere.

All around him was an empty, desolate, rocky wasteland. He had spent a good twenty minutes roaming up and down this part of the landscape, and there was nothing. Not a soul to be found. It was seemingly surrounded by nothing but desolate crags and ashen skies. Not even tumbleweeds seemed to drift about.

‘Sheesh… talk about a bleak place. Nothing but rocks and ash around here. Heck, even Sand Hill was nicer to look at.’ He absentmindedly kicked a flat stone and sent it skipping across the rough ground. “Half surprised there’s no green giant in a white cape and turban out here in this wasteland.”

Seeing nothing worthwhile to do here and no one potentially helpful, Sonic shook out his leg and was about to make tracks due east, when a voice interrupted him.

“Well, well, well. What have we got here?”

The sound of wings flapping and several impactful thuds of something heavy landing on the ground preceded the voice. Turning his head around, Sonic suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. More than a half dozen dragons, not so different in size from Ultimo, gathered behind him.

At the head of the group was a red, long-snouted one. The way this one looked at him and carried himself screamed ‘bully’ in Sonic’s head. His face immediately hardened.

One of the others, a white male with tall reddish spines on his head came up beside Garble and prodded him in the side with his elbow. “Look at this weirdo, Garble. What do you think it is?”

Garble as he was apparently called, grinned meanly. “I dunno. Looks like a freaky little hedgehog that lost his way.”

Sonic went flat-faced. ‘It’s pretty sad when the dragon version of Ogre is the only one so far to get my species right.’

“Actually, Yoshi, I know exactly where I need to be. Far away from wherever you jokers are.” With a flippant wave of his hand, Sonic started marching away without even looking at them.

His choice in the matter was unfortunately taken from him when Garble suddenly landed in front of him. The dragon’s jaw was clenched angrily. “Hold on one second there, you little blue squirt! Was that disrespect I heard? Do you not know where you are?”

“A bad car insurance commercial?” Sonic quipped.

Not understanding enough to respond back or not caring, Garble monologued on. “You’re in the Dragonlands! Home of… er, well, dragons!” He seethed, flexing out his wings. “We’re the biggest, strongest, baddest creatures in all Equestria! Griffons don’t mess with us, and all those puny little ponies shake like little babies at the sight of us! You know what that means? It means everyone around here shows us respect! If they know what’s good for ‘em.” He crossed his arms and bared his teeth in a wicked smile. “So whaddya think about that?”

“I think Vincent Tong deserves better,” Sonic answered, completely uninterested. “Now if it’s all the same to you, I’m busy. I’ve had a rough couple of days, and I don’t feel like hanging around for whatever this is.” He turned on his heel and started to walk away. He didn’t get more than a few feet before Garble landed before him again.

“You’re not going anywhere, pinhead!” he growled. “I don’t appreciate your attitude. So I think me and the boys are gonna have to teach you a little respect. Dragon style.”

The dragons began to close in around Sonic in a ring, blocking his way out and grinning fiercely. The hedgehog just groaned and massaged his temples. ‘Here we go again...’ He turned about to the reptilian teenagers. “Okay, look fellas. It’s been a really rough twenty-four hours. I’m really not in the mood to deal with you wild Charizards right now. So here’s the deal: you back off right now, and I don’t introduce your faces to the dirt.”

His remark only seemed to anger them further. They growled, swishing their tails and cracking their knuckles. A couple snorted smoke from their nostrils.

Resigned to his fate, Sonic exhaled and tightened a fist. His eyes narrowed on Garble, singling him out.

“Okay. You asked for it.”


================================================================


Artwork:

Skyboom


Gristle


Ultimo




Dragon Chaser




Gentle Heart