//------------------------------// // There's a Crisis in my Gala, and You're All Invited. // Story: My Little Hedgehog: Generations // by TheOtherOne41 //------------------------------// OH SHI- AN UPDATE Now let me say this. Because it's been so long, my grammar, spelling and over all story-telling ability is rusty, so please ignore any deterioration in quality if any. This WILL be revisited at some point. "So tell me again, why don't you want to go in here?", asked Sonic. "It was the worst night ever, ok?" replied Rainbow Dash, standing nervously at the 3rd gate. For once, she knew exactly what she was getting into. Staring at the Caterlot Castle, or a miniature version of it at least, memories of her past flooded back, namely the struggles her friends went through on that day, and her own humiliation in front of her idols. The Grand Galloping Gala was a night best forgotten for all of the ponies, except Celestia herself. She loved the chaos. "Come on, how bad could it possibly be?" taunted Sonic as he gave her a friendly nudge, Rainbow Dash turned to him, completely straight faced. "I dunno, does the sight of one of your friends having a nervous breakdown, while another is treated like filth by royalty of all ponies, complete with the destruction of one of the castle's rooms sound fun to you? All while being embarrassed in front of the people you’re trying to impress?" "Yes. But is it as bad as running through a burning city, being chased by a tornado which all the while is throwing freaking cars at you, complete with burning monsters out to kill you?", Sonic confidently replied. "...Oh, and your younger self had to experience the same stuff as you at the same time. mustn’t forget that", he continued. Rainbow Dash just stared at him. "I get the point", she muttered. Her attention was drawn to the complementary statues that came with every gate. This time it was Blaze and Rarity that got the stone treatment, though to be fair, Blaze appeared to put up a fight. Rarity on the other hand appeared to have passed out behind her. Again. "Well at least we know where they wound up. But you know, unless you go in there, these two aren't going to become normal again", Sonic added. Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. For once in her life, she was not 100% willing to go all out to save her friends. She still didn't know what happened to Shadow and Fluttershy, and Sonic was being rather vague about where they are. "Just how do we get them free Sonic, your being awfully in the dark about all this..." "Trust me, go in there and relive the past. You'll save them" Somewhat satisfied with his answer. Rainbow Dash took a gulp and slowly entered the gateway. The entrance was literally a gate into the castle grounds. For once, Sonic heard sounds by the gate. Fireworks and inaudible chatter came out of thin air, like it was a figment of his imagination, but he knew the truth. Rainbow Dash disappeared into the white mass, like she walked through a mirror, leaving Sonic alone, with only the statues of his friends for comfort...until he heard footsteps behind him. "Sonic! I'm glad to see you’re ok!" yelled Fluttershy, or whatever you could call a yell from her as she ran up to hug him. Her heart leaped knowing that there was hope of returning home. Sonic returned it, while caught off guard but none the less happy to see them alive and well. By her side was Shadow, who still kept his serious expression despite all he went through. "Please tell me you know where we are!", she begged. Sonic gave her a gentle smile. "I don't, but you shouldn't worry. We'll be fine" "What happened here Sonic?", he mumbled. Sonic looked at them both, scratching his head. "I don't know, Rainbow Dash just entered a gate in time, to what she called the "Grand Galloping Gala" or whatever", he replied. Fluttershy stepped forward. "The Grand Galloping Gala? That was a long time ago...I remember acting a little funny that night", she quietly confessed. Her words meant one thing to Sonic and Shadow, as they turned to each other, but Sonic had another question on his mind. "Hang on...if this is just like before, then there must be 2 people going through time...and since I've only seen Rainbow Dash do them, that must mean-", just as Sonic was about to finish, a small colourful blob walked around from behind Shadow, and with it brought Sonic the same amount of shock he felt when he met his younger self for the first time. "You’re kidding me...", he muttered. "Who are you, and why are you so blue?", squeaked the tiny Rainbow Dash. Sonic tried not to giggle at the sight. He wondered if this is what his other friends thought when they met his younger self for the first time. "We found her just outside the Winter Wrap Up gate", whispered Fluttershy. The little filly looked curiously at the two hedgehogs and then back to her. "...What are you guys?", she squeaked, "You don't look like ponies". "We're hedgehogs. Don't ask about it" Sonic muttered. Explain to one pony about how they are different, explain to them all it seemed. "Does she know about...you know...?" he asked cautiously. The little filly's attention was drawn the mysterious gate behind her. Without a word, she dashed into it before any of them could react. One pony's past is another's future. "Oh my...now what do we do?" asked Fluttershy quietly, not completely wanting to know the answer. Sonic said nothing as he looked off to the right. A massive golden gate stood on the distance. Beyond it was a massive barrier of black smoke. Whatever was beyond it was a total mystery to Sonic and Shadow. ... Once again, Rainbow Dash found herself with a different look, a more 'formal' look. Out of nowhere she was wearing a dress and her normally 'messy' hair was styled. It wasn't comfortable, all it did was just remind her of what happened, and now she was living it for a second time. She just sat there, at a table with one of the Wonderbolts. Usually that'd be the best thing since sliced bread, but since she didn't really get a whole lot of attention, it really wasn't. This time, she'd make some changes. She wasn't going to live it again. Nervously, she approached Spitfire, who was in the middle of conversing with another guest. For once, Rainbow Dash didn't mind getting away from them. She tapped her on the shoulder, to gain her attention. "Hey! Uh, you don't mind if I leave do you?" she almost whispered. She didn't feel right leaving them. "Not a problem, just return whenever you feel like it Rainbow" she replied, somewhat unfazed. Despite this being what she wanted, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but be offended further by her idol's lack of interest. Besides, she did save their lives after all. Walking out of the VIP section, she cast her mind back to everything that went wrong with her friends. Twilight couldn't get Celestia's attention, Pinkie Pie was not in her 'natural environment', Rarity met her Prince...who was a bit of a git, Applejack was unsuccessful selling pies, and Fluttershy....lost her mind. However, something wasn't right. Among the amounts of happy ponies, she couldn't see Pinkie Pie trying to have fun, it was all civilized like she never existed. Looking around again, Applejack's stall was missing, not an apple in sight. Something was wrong. ... "Wow! This place is BOOOOOORING!!! yelled the filly Rainbow Dash. Too many fancy ponies for her liking. She simply trotted through the main halls of Caterlot Castle, looking upon the ponies talking and laughing. There was not a single filly in the entire place, and she was about to learn why. "Hey kid! No fillies are allowed in the main building!", shouted a bigger stallion who Dash assumed to be some kind of guard. Without hesitating, the little filly flew out of the room and around the building, looking for a way out, passing through doorways, pillars and other groups of ponies, all being stirred up by the sudden rainbows flying around the room. Eventually, Rainbow Dash found a massive doorway, and flew outside. She flew up to the top of the castle and landed safely, staring down at the other ponies. "Heh! Still no match for the fastest flyer in all Equestria!", beamed Dash to herself. She took her time to analyse her surroundings, with no real luck. Ponies, Stallions, and that was about it. If she had just waited she would have met her idols inside the castle if she wasn't so hasty. Though there was something that she noticed. There was a pony. A pegasus, about to enter the building. She looked...familiar. She didn't get a good enough look to get any details, but she looked like herself, just a little bit. Before she could think any more of it, she felt the castle shake, as did the rest of the area. A stampede was approaching... "Pinkie Pie! Twilight?! Applejack! Girls?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, gaining the attention of everypony in the room. Even Celestia, who should be at a table eating cake was gone. Was she alone? She stopped panting, and allowed herself to calm down. "Hey, are you ok?" asked a random stallion. Rainbow Dash gave him a nervous smile. "Yeah, everything's just dandy!", she replied confidently. Only nothing was fine. She was in the past, where her friends were missing, while being trapped in a separate dimension with her friends with no exit in sight and with no idea as to what was happening to Equestria in reality. "Hey, it'll be fine, whatever it is, it could be worse", replied the stallion. The words shook Rainbow's core, back to how things originally went... "Well...it can't get any worse....", muttered Twilight, as the rumbling began... As if on cue, the room rumbled. Ponies panicked and ran for the doors, when they suddenly swung open. With them, hordes of animals of all shapes and sizes ran into the room and caused chaos. Rainbow Dash gazed into the dust to see a familiar shape, of a pegasus pony who was not quite herself. "Fluttershy!", she exclaimed happily, though her smile faded when she remembered what was next. "You're...going to LOVE ME!!!!" The words screamed through the air and around Caterlot, even among the chaos of it all. The filly Rainbow Dash, in a blind panic flew off the top of the castle and away into the distance, vanishing into thin air... "Ah! Help! Help! Scary Pony!", screamed Rainbow Dash as she flew out of the gates and past the startled hedgehogs. She stopped dead in her tracks as she came face-to-face with Fluttershy. "Um...are you ok?", asked the timid pony. Rainbow Dash screamed and flew into the black mist, clearing in the process. As it cleared, it revealed a large metallic gate made of rusty clockwork. The sound of aggressive thunder and lightning was all that could be heard through it. Rainbow Dash stated into the purple void which it held and looked back at Sonic. "A boss gate...", he muttered to himself. The tiny filly flew into it without a word as the 3 just stared at it. Sonic's attention turned to Fluttershy. "Why was she scared of you?", he asked. Fluttershy was just as confused as he was. She turned toward the gate she came from as colour swept across it. Above them, the letters "THE BEST NIGHT EVER" shone in an odd green colour. More colour suddenly returned to the gate. "Huh? How is it doing that? Only one Dash left the-", and before Shadow could finish, Rainbow Dash catapulted out of the gate, all scuffled and messy. She got up off of Shadow and looked up to the sign. "Pfft, as if-Wait a minute, Shadow!" she realised. She smiled happily at the less than amused hedgehog on the ground before turning to Fluttershy. She ran over to hug her friend. "I thought you were gone!", she exclaimed. Fluttershy smiled back at her. "We're ok. Mister Sonic told us what's happening", she quietly replied. Rainbow Dash turned to Sonic, who was still looking in the direction of the boss gate. "What's that?", she asked. "A checkpoint, in a way. It's another hole in time, but not like the others", he said, still keeping the information about the other Rainbow Dash close to his chest. "What's inside it?" "Only one way to find out". Rainbow Dash walked slowly up to the portal and stood at it entrance. The thunder and lightning brought back memories of a battle long ago. When she first met Twilight...slowly, she entered the gate. Leaving the 3 alone once more. "So what now?", asked Shadow. "Now we wait", replied Sonic, gazing at the statues of Blaze and Rarity, as they came to life...