Bet you're wondering why my shoes were windy. Here's the deal: Rainbow was still upset that I won the near-land race, so the day after, she challenged me to a sky race. Roborygon suggested that Rainbow blow wind on my shoes, which gave them the 'Bluster' element. We began to do the sky race, but it came to a halt when Rainbow spotted the flying ship and took on the blue guy and mice that came out, who I recognized as Magolor and the Squeaks respectively. We retried the sky race after we saw Pummel and Roborygon put Magolor in the way of the giant boulder, which was hilarious and awesome at the same time.
Rainbow Dash declared, "First one to the Wonderbolts Arena and back to my place wins!"
"You're on!"
"On our marks, get set... GO!" And we were off.
"..."
"...Well, that kind of let me down," Rainbow said after the incredibly short (due to our speed) race. "It's a draw."
I replied, "But Pummel's Rotom recorded the race. Surely someone won!"
Pummel's Rotom sadly said, "My apologies, but Rainbow Dash is correct. It's a perfect tie, down to the nanosecond!"
I frowned. "So we're perfectly matched when it comes to speed. But I'm not gonna stop there. I won't stop until we've got ourselves a winner!"
Rainbow grinned. "How about an awesomeness competition?"
"My thoughts exactly."
Rotom looked surprised. "But I have not been programmed to judge for awesomeness!"
"Then it's a good thing that I have!" All right, Roborygon came! "I know that there aren't any rules for awesomeness competitions, but I shall judge how many points certain actions get. Since both of you can now fly, this shall take place in the skies above Equestria. The competition ends in the following conditions: I call it, or when one of the participants is sufficiently dumbfounded and in awe. If you desire, I can set a target number of points for you to reach."
I shook my head. "Nah, I'd rather this be a no-holds-barred competition. I'm gonna reach for the stars!"
"Very well. The awesomeness competition begins in T-minus 3, 2, 1..." Bang! "Oh, and since you mentioned it..."
Rainbow Dash gasped, "No way! Sonic, is that your theme song?!"
I replied, "Nah, but it's a famous song from one of my games."
"You have your own game series?! Aw man, if only I was that awesome..."
Roborygon said, "Don't worry, Rainbow. There's a couple of online games starring you. I'll explain later. And besides, you have your own theme tune, but you don't hear it because you're faster than sound itself. Anyway, the competition is now underway!"
I started by Spin-Dashing into a few clouds in a bowling pin formation.
"Cloud bowling gets twenty points!"
Rainbow shaped a cloud into a lightning bolt before using a storm cloud to strike it with real lightning.
"A lightning bolt cloud energized with real lightning gets fifty points!"
Man, that was smart. I countered by doing a windmill, kicking up a tornado. I then ran into the tornado before shooting out the top.
"A Sonic Adventure reference! That's one hundred points!"
Rainbow growled before flying away. I knew she wasn't throwing in the towel, because I saw her coming back at a really fast pace. Faster, faster... BOOM! Aw, yeah! She Sonic Rainboomed into the tornado!
"Incredible! A Rainboom Tornado! That's worth--wait, what's this?"
Yeah, unfortunately for Dash, while she was picking up speed, I shaped a bunch of clouds into my head and the seven Chaos Emeralds, and I also shaped a giant one into Eggman's head before destroying it. Rainbow was just shocked.
"And that's the game! A technical knockout!"
I couldn't help but feel bad for Dash. Not only was she shocked, but I could see tears well up in her eyes. I walked over to the cloud she was sitting on and patted her back. "Don't beat yourself up, Rainbow Dash. This was just a friendly competition, so everyone wins. Besides, that Rainboom Tornado was amazing, so I've got to hand the victory to you. Plus, while I'm the fastest interdimensional runner, you're the fastest local flier."
Rainbow stifled a tear. "Thanks, Sonic. That's pretty nice of you to give me the win. You're a pretty cool guy yourself."
"Hey, Rainbow! Get down here and lend me your help!" Sounds like a certain treasure-hunting pony needs Rainbow down on the ground.
Rainbow asked me, "Wanna come with me? That's the totally awesome Daring Do calling me!"
We found the mustard-yellow Pegasus mare in adventure gear near a forest close to the shore we crossed to reach the Dragon Lands. "Glad you could make it, Rainbow. Who's your friend?"
"This is Sonic the Hedgehog. He's one of a bunch of awesome heroes from another world! How he got here is kind of a long story, but I can easily tell you he's just as fast as me!"
"Nice to meet you, Sonic." Daring shook my hand with her wing. "The name's Daring Do. By any chance, do you know about these guys?" Daring showed us a group of mouse creatures tied up in a rope.
I answered, "Those are the Squeaks, a group of treasure-hunting thieves who recently fought against Rainbow Dash. Must've gotten distracted when my pal Pummel Fist stopped their transport from being destroyed."
"I knew they were trouble as soon as they tried to steal an artifact from me," Daring groaned. "But why would your friend keep their transport from being destroyed?"
The gray mouse with a fedora and cape, Daroach, said, "We came here with an alien named Magolor so we could take Pummel and his friends back to their home. They were stranded here after a victorious battle against a world-destroying monster ended in the battlefield crumbling, forcing them to try to escape."
I added, "We were knocked out by debris, but my landing was softened when I fell through Rainbow's cloud home by accident."
Daring raised an eyebrow. "They're thieves that came to rescue you guys? That doesn't make any sense."
"Well, they were reformed by a friend of mine, who rescued their leader, Daroach, from being possessed by a being of darkness, Dark Nebula. Isn't that right, Daroach?"
Daroach replied, "That is correct, Sonic. Young Kirby defeated Dark Nebula using my Triple Star Cane. I should have known better than to steal that priceless treasure from this Indiana Jones wannabe, after seeing what Kirby was able to do."
Daring's eyes went wide. "One of your friends is this legendary hero I have heard of, known as Kirby?! I've heard much about him, but I've yet to see him in action. Also, who's this Indiana Jones that Daroach speaks of?"
I explained, "Where we come from, Indiana Jones is a fictional adventurer who searches for artifacts to take to museums. He doesn't have an alter ego, unlike you."
"He sounds cool. Anyway, why should I trust these guys?"
"You may not be able to trust them, but you can sure trust Kirby. Let me get him for you." In the blink of an eye, I had the pink hero in front of Daring Do, who seemed really surprised.
"...This is the same Kirby that was rumored to defeat Queen Chrysalis and a wizard named Hyness? I was expecting something a little bigger and cooler. This puffball doesn't look like he'd hurt a fly."
Rainbow insisted, "Remember the water sword hat? He used that against Chrysalis!"
"Really? I thought it was just for cosplay. The sword looked more like a water toy than a weapon. Besides, from what I heard, Kirby used a fiery sword."
"I know, but he changed his water sword into a fire sword! I know because my friends and I fought alongside him!"
"Right..." Daring turned to Kirby. "Sonic says you know the Squeaks. Do you really think they came to take you and your friends home?"
Kirby smiled. "Poyo!"
"How can you trust these guys when they tried to steal an artifact from me?"
Kirby seemed really shocked. "Poy?!" He then kicked Daroach in the face. "Poyaaa!"
Daroach pleaded, "Okay, we're sorry! We just thought Daring Do was a fellow thief that hunts for treasure."
Rainbow frowned. "Listen up, Squeaks! Daring Do is not a thief. She's a treasure-hunting hero!"
I added, "Yeah, and I thought you guys were reformed. What got into you?"
Daroach replied, "We may be reformed, but we're still thieves. Is there any place that we can go to find treasure that we don't have to steal from creatures?"
"I have an idea." Meta Knight made another stealthy appearance. "There's a mine in Ponyville that contains plenty of gems. Why don't you go visit it and excavate some gems? That is, if Daring Do approves."
Daring glared at the Squeaks. "You promise you won't cause any trouble after I let you guys go?"
"We promise."
Daring released the rope, freeing the Squeaks. "Hey, swirly eyes, I'm guessing you want that little thing you were flying in?"
The tiny mouse with a green mustache and glasses with a swirly pattern replied, "That would be nice, Daring Do. After all, it is my main means of transportation. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get around when you don't have feet?"
"You sound kinda desperate. Fine, I'll get it for you." Daring Do flew away and returned with a small UFO. She lifted Doc inside. "Stay out of trouble, Squeaks." Daring turned back to me. "So, Sonic, was it?"