//------------------------------//
// Episode 2 - Chaos Stranding (Part 4) 
// Story: Sonic EGX (Book 1) 
// by Will of Radiance 
//------------------------------//

Silver was walking down the hallway looking for his next class. His next class was art, so he looked at his schedule to see what class number it was. 

"Lets see, room 15." Sliver read his schedule. He was still genuinely interested in what this world had to offer. It wasn't everyday that he visited a world that wasn't a post-apocalyptic wasteland, so he wanted to see as much of it as he could. Soon enough he found the classroom and went inside.

Inside the classroom, he saw student sitting at drafting tables already practicing sketching what was on the front desk. There were fruit bowls, a small sculpture, and various other trinkets that the students were drawing.
Silver decided to make himself scarce and find a seat. 
As he passed by the other students, he observed that there were very talented students here, judging from their drawings. It intimidated him slightly.

"Man, looks like I have a long way to go." Silver said to himself, knowing that he had pretty much no art experience whatsoever, aside from the crude drawings that he did as a kid. 
However out of the corner of his eye, he saw that pretty purple haired girl that he saw earlier, sketching alongside the other students. His eyes were immediately drawn to her. He didn't know what it was, but something about this girl just made his heart skip a beat. 

"Whoa! It's....her again" Silver thought, beginning to blush a little. He was so entranced by her beauty. Then he noticed that there was a seat open next to her.
"Oh man! There's even a seat right next to her! Silver tried his hardest to contain himself.
"But.....do I take it? What will she think of me? Wait a sec- Shadow told us to not-" Silver mind began jumping all over the place, as he began sweating nervously, all while debating with himself whether or not to take the seat next to her. 

While Rarity was busy doing her rough sketch, she happened to sense a person next to her. 
She looked over to see Silver, sweating nervously, while scratching his head. It appear that if he was confused about something. 
"Hmm.....haven't seen him before. Rarity thought to herself. However since he appeared to be having trouble with something, Rarity decided to help him out. 

"Well, Hello there! Do you happen to be new here darling?" Rarity smiled at him. 
"Ah!-uh...." Silver jumped when he heard Rarity speak to him. His faced was now fully blushed red, and his heart was pounding in his chest.
"Oh crap! What do I say? What do I say!?" Silver couldn't think straight, as he never really properly introduced himself to a girl before.

Rarity could see that he was nervous, which made her giggle a little. She decided to calm him down a little.
"Aw... there's no need to be shy darling." Rarity stood up and walked over to him. 
Silver tensed up when she walked over to him. His breathing began to get faster, as he could barely contain his nervousness. 
"Oh geez! She's getting closer! What's she gonna do? Is she gonna-" Silver suddenly stopped hyperventilating when he felt her put his hands on his shoulders. 

"Relax....." Rarity said in her most soothing voice possible. 

Immediately, all tension in Silver's body completely dissipated as Rarity lightly pushed his shoulders down. He could finally think straight now that he's calmed down. 
"Uh....thanks..heh heh." Silver thanked her. Rarity giggled at his sincerity.

"Not a problem darling!" Rarity winked at him. 
"Say, how about you take the seat next to me?" Rarity offered the open desk next to her to him. 

"Oh uhhh....really?" Silver replied, trying to not blush again in front of her. 

"Of course!" Rarity grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the desk. 

"Whoa!" Silver didn't even have time to reply as he was swept into the chair by Rarity.

"There! That wasn't so hard now was it!" Rarity said cheerfully. 

Silver began to noticeably blush again. Not only was he entranced by her beauty, he was absolutely endeared by her kindness. 
"Wow....she's wonderful...." Silver swooned internally. 

"Oh! I forgot my manners. My name is Rarity. I may I ask what is yours my dear." Rarity politely asked, sitting back in her seat. 

"Rarity....that's....such a nice name. I'm..uh Silver." Silver politely said back, still blushing nervously. Rarity giggled some more at Silver's childlike sincerity. She could already tell that he was a genuine person.

"HIYA RARITY!!" Suddenly Pinkie Pie popped out from behind Silver with a burst of confetti. 

"WAH! Who the-?" Silver jumped again, surprised to see a poofy pink haired girl pop out from behind him. 

"Oh! Well if it isn't Pinkie....you sure know how to make an entrance as usual." Rarity greet Pinkie with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

"Oh man what a day I've had Rarity! First I tripped and fell into a vat of chocolate pudding! Then I met a talk dark figure with long arms and no face! Then I-" Pinkie jumped all around Rarity as she shared her made up stories. 
Rarity knew that Pinkie was making up these stories, but she didn't prod her on it and continued to listen to them like a mother would to her child. Silver just looked at Pinkie with utter confusion. 

"Uhhhhhh......" Silver was unsure of what to say, as he was too bewildered by Pinkie's wacky antics. 
Rarity then noticed Silver's look of confusion. Apparently Pinkie was too excited to even notice Silver.

"Pinkie!" Rarity said firmly. This caused Pinkie to pause in a wacky pose. 
"Would you please show a little manners and introduce your self to our new acquaintance." Rarity gestured  over to Silver. 

"Huh?" Pinkie literally flipped over like a piece of paper to face Silver. Silver, still utterly bewildered by her cartoonish antics, tried to force a smile.

"Uh......hi?" Silver gave her a little wave. There was a brief silence.



"OMG! OMG! OMG! I had no idea we had a new student in class today!!" Pinkie suddenly zoomed right in front of Silver. 

"Whoa hey! Take it easy!" Silver leaned back in his chair as Pinkie got right up in his face. 

"Uh Pinkie-" Rarity tried to calm her down, but Pinkie's couldn't contain her excitement

"Are you a new student!? What's with the marks on your face!? What's with the hair!? Are you from out of town!?" Pinkie began jumping all around Silver barraging him with questions in her excited stupor.

Rarity held her head in slight annoyance. 
Sigh oh Pinkie you're always like this. Rarity thought disappointingly. 

"Uh....hey listen! It's nice to meet you but.....can't we introduce our selves properly!?" Silver said amidst Pinkie's barrage of questions. 
Then Pinkie suddenly stopped upon Silver finishing his sentence, again in a goofy pose. There was a brief period of silence, with the three of them saying nothing.
"Uhhhh....?" Silver was unsure of what to say. But before he could say anything Pinkie suddenly hopped back into her seat, with her fluffy pink hair bouncing slightly.

"My name is Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie suddenly became much more formal in her tone, though she still retained her upbeat demeanor. 
"So you're the new student everyone's been talking about! Nice to meet you!" Pinkie smiled at him. Rarity proceeded to giggle at Pinkie's sudden change in tone.

Silver became slightly concerned at the notion that people were already talking about them.
"Uh, wait. People are already talking about us?" Silver asked her worryingly. Rarity wonder why he would be worried about such a thing.

"Oh yeah. Rumors do spread pretty fast here at CHS. But they go away just as fast." Pinkie casually waved off the notion. 
Then she suddenly whipped out her lunch box, put it on the table, and then quickly ate whatever was inside it. She then proceeded to fall asleep, with a bubble coming out of her nose. Silver was at complete loss for words.

"Uhh.....she's asleep." Silver said, still trying to comprehend Pinkie's logic. 

"Sigh I'm afraid that's Pinkie Pie for you darling. So nonsensical." Rarity gave a laconic description of Pinkie's personality. 
"But despite that she's a sweetheart inside!" Rarity added. 

"Huh....interesting..." Silver rubbed his human chin. While Pinkie Pie certainly was a unpredictable and goofy person, upon thinking about it some more, he actually found her antics rather funny, as he found himself slightly snickering about it. 


"Alright everyone class has begun!" The teacher announced from the front of the classroom. All the students in the class faced towards the front, paying attention to the teacher. The teacher examined the room, and noticed Silver sitting in the middle row of seats.

"Oh that's right. We have a new student today." She gestured over to Silver. Silver tensed up slightly, worried if he was going to have to introduce himself to the class. 
"Could one of you share their art supplies with him please?" The teacher added. 
Silver breathed a sigh of relief when the teacher said that. 

"Oh right? Your a new student here soooo......." Rarity searched her backpack for some spare pencils and erasers. Silver looked over to see her searching her backpack.

"Huh...Oh no it's okay I'll just-" Before Silver could finish his sentence, Rarity already was handing him a set of pencils, an exact-o knife, and an eraser.
"Uhh...I.." Silver blushed yet again in embarrassment. 

"Oh, It's quite alright darling." Rarity replied, her eyes gleaming with generosity. Silver was again endeared by her kindness. He smiled back and took the tools she offered him. 

"Sigh Thanks." Silver thanked her. Rarity giggled cheerfully in response. 

"Oh you! If you need anything else just let me know ok darling," Rarity said back. She then looked back at her sketchpad, brought out her own tools, and started sketching.

Silver turned to his desk. But he couldn't stop thinking about how kind Rarity was too him.
"Wow.....she's wonderful. I barely even know her and she's being so kind to me. Silver daydreamed about Rarity in his head. 
"....not only that, she's pretty too!" He was tempted to look over and gaze upon her beauty. However he managed to not stare, and continued daydreaming about her. 

"You're so naive."

Silver gasped when he heard a familiar voice in his head speak to him. He immediately stopped his daydreaming, overcome with a slight sense of guilt. 

"Sigh I'm sorry. I haven't forgotten about you.......Blaze" Silver thought, the memories of his time with Blaze penetrating his mind. He did his best to hold back the emotions going through him. 
He sighed as he let those memories rescind into the back of his head.
"Besides, I have a mission to do. I can't involve anyone in this. Silver remembered Shadow's words. He glanced back over at Rarity, who was continuing to sketch, humming to herself. 
Silver blushed a little, still remembering her kindness. However he decided to focus on blending in and finding the chaos emeralds. With that, he decided to pay attention to what the teacher was talking about. 

Rarity on the other hand, was thinking about Silver. But It wasn't about his looks or personality, it was about the energy she sensed from him. 
Rarity had a magic sense similar to Twilight's. Although not as sensitive, it was still able to pick up on magical energies, and she definitely sensed energy coming from him. 
"Hmm.....how intriguing. His energy is unlike anyone else's here." Rarity thought to herself, noting how different Silver's energy was to all the other students around her. Everybody else's energy had the same feeling to them, but the way Silver's energy felt to her stuck out like a sore thumb. 
From what she sensed, his energy was foreign, and didn't feel like equestrian magic. But it also was warm, innocent, devoid of any malice, which endeared her. 
"I should relay this to Twilight after school" Rarity decided to relay this information to Twilight later. 

1 Hour later

BRRRRRNGGGGGGG

Once again the halls filled with the sound of footsteps, and chatter of dozens of students.
Sonic stepped out of his biology class, and proceeded to stretch his legs having sat for nearly an hour without moving his legs. 

"YeeeaAAAAA!!!! Finally!" Sonic said as he stretched his body. However he double taked when he heard a familiar scared squeal next to him. He looked behind him to see Fluttershy, looking scared. 
"Oh....uh..sorry." Sonic apologized, feeling bad about scaring her with his loud exit. 

"Oh..I-It okay....I shouldn't have been scared in the first place." Fluttershy apologized back, holding her arm nervously. She still was somewhat shy towards him, given the fact that she just met him.

"I still don't understand why she's gets so scared easily. It's like she could burst into tears any minute" Sonic still wondered why she was so shy. Part of him wanted to make sure she doesn't get scared again. However Sonic then remembered that he had P.E next, and figured that he should be off now. Though he felt bad about leaving Fluttershy, considering how innocent she appeared. 

"Welp...I'm off. Nice to meet you I guess." Sonic quickly said goodbye to Fluttershy, and began walking to the school track. 

"Oh.... wait!" Fluttershy called to him. Sonic turned to hear what she wanted to say. Fluttershy hesitated before speaking, afraid of how he would react. 
"Uh....I-Is it alright if I come with you?" Fluttershy blushed as she finished her sentence, nervous about what he would say. 
Sonic put on a look of slight confusion. 

"Uh.....sure. Do you have P.E next too?" Sonic asked.

"Um.......no." Fluttershy said quietly, trying to think of a suitable excuse to try and hide the fact that she just wants to stay with him.
"I-I....I just.....uh....wanted to see a friend I know that's all!" Fluttershy finally responded. 

"Okay then...why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well...I just-"

"Hey Sonic!" Fluttershy jumped when he heard a voice call to Sonic. Sonic looked to his left, to see Silver run up to him, panting heavily from trying to find him. 

"Pant  Pant There you are! I thought I wouldn't find you in this crowd." Silver said to him, still catching his breath.

"Well what's the hurry?" Sonic asked.

"I just wanted to go to our last class together, you know just to make sure we don't lose each other you know." Silver elaborated. Sonic nodded in understanding. Silver then looked to his left, and saw Fluttershy observing their conversation. She looked away shyly when he looked at her. 

"Oh hey there! What's your name?" Silver smiled as he quickly introduced himself to her. Fluttershy then shyly retreated away from him as he spoke, unsure of what to think of him as she's never seen him before.

"Oh! uh! umm.....it's......eh-" Fluttershy studdered as she tried to overcome her shyness to say her name, but to no avail.

"Uh..it's Fluttershy." Sonic quickly intervened, not wanting to go through the process of her coming out of her shyness just to say her name. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nutter......why? That's a weird na-" Silver misheard what Sonic said. 

"IT'S FLUTTERSHY!!" Fluttershy suddenly yelled with her face blushing, obviously frustrated that another person has mispronounced her name. Silver and Sonic jumped at Fluttershy's sudden outburst. 
However Fluttershy double taked and then covered her mouth shamefully, embarrassed that she raised her voice again. 

"Uhhhh....sorry.....Fluttershy?" Silver apologized, making sure to get her name right. 

"Huh? Oh no! Uh....it's....a...alright....uh...whats...nn..your n-name?" Fluttershy asked him.

"Hm? Oh! um...it's Silver. Nice to meet you." Silver replied, easing up a little. 

"Yeah, she's a shy one." Sonic told him Silver about her shyness. 

"Oh really? Then...sorry if I made you nervous." Silver said to Fluttershy, trying to appear friendly. Fluttershy held her arm nervously, ashamed that he was apologizing for her shyness.

"Oh.....i-it's okay.....it's my fault anyways." Fluttershy said, her voice filling with sadness. She felt terrible that her friends and other people had to put up with her shyness. She wished she could break out of it, but she could never find the courage to do so. 
Sonic and Silver looked at her confusedly.

"Uhhh....cough" Sonic tried to think of a way to defuse the tension between them. Then he remembered his next class.
"Say uh...since we're all together, how about we go to P.E together okay?" Sonic tried to defuse her shyness. 

"I'm down for that!" Silver said cheerfully. 

" O-Oh! uh...s...sur-"

"Hey Fluttershy!" A rainbow haired girl suddenly popped out from behind Fluttershy.

"AHH!!" Fluttershy yelped in fear at Rainbow Dash's sudden arrival. Sonic and Silver also jumped back a little in surprise. 
"Eh...oh Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy smiled, relieved that it was someone she knew. 

"The one and only!" Rainbow Dash boasted. She then looked over at Sonic and Silver. She immediately recognized the two of them from the messhall, making her even more suspicious due to the fact that they were with Fluttershy. 

"Hey! You two are the guys from the messhall." Dash alluded to their previous antics, putting on a smug smile. Sonic and Silver both tensed up as they gulped nervously. 
"Fluttershy. These two giving you any trouble?" Dash asked Fluttershy.

"W-Wha-Uh...n-no. Why d-do you say that?" Fluttershy replied.

"Uhhh......yeah, what do you mean?" Silver asked. Fluttershy also looked at Dash confusedly, wondering what she was alluding to. 
Dash could tell that they were playing dumb, and she wasn't having any of it. 

"You know, the blue guy here saying something about....what was it?" Dash took a moment to recall what she heard. 
"Oh! Chilidogs?" She finally remembered. 
Sonic and Silver froze up, unsure of what to say in response. They exchanged quick glances at each other, thinking that the other was going to say something. 

"Hey! Say something!" Silver nudged Sonic. 

"What!? Why me!?" Sonic retorted through clenched teeth.

"You're the one who made such a ruckus in the first place!" Silver countered, slowly getting irritated.

"Oh yeah!? Well it's not my fault that this place doesn't have-!" Sonic and Silver continued to bicker and argue with each other, all while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watched. Rainbow Dash's face went from smug, to just plain bewilderment. 

"Theeey're.....not from around here...are they?" Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy nodded in response, just as confused about those two as Dash was. The two otherworlders continued to argue for about a minute, which already made Rainbow Dash impatient. 

"Okay! Okay! Hey! That's enough!" Rainbow Dash interrupted their arguing. They both looked at her confusedly. 
"Tell you what, let's just say.....I didn't see anything. In exchange, you both tell me your names." Rainbow Dash bargained with them. 
"Starting with you...Blue Boy." She pointed at Sonic. 
Sonic and Silver glanced at each other, believing Dash's deal to be fair. 

"Okay then." Sonic prepared to introduce himself. He stepped forward, and breathed deeply before he spoke. 
"The name's Sonic! Sonic the Hedgeho-Mmfff!!" Just as Sonic was about to finish saying his name, he felt Silver slap his hand over his mouth. 

"G-Genesis! His name is Sonic Genesis! Heh Heh...." Silver frantically tried to correct Sonic. Dash raised an eyebrow at them.

"Reeeaally?" Rainbow Dash said, not buying their facade.

"Yeah?" Silver said nervously, still restraining Sonic.

"....Because it really just sounded like he was about to say Sonic the Hedgehog? What do you have to say to that?" Rainbow Dash countered, her smug smile reforming on her face. 

Silver and Sonic began sweating nervously. They both frantically tried to come up with an explanation in their heads. 
"Dammit I totally screwed up this time!" Sonic commented on the predicament they were in. Rainbow Dash still continued to give them her smug stare, which didn't help them at all. But suddenly, Silver got an idea. 

"Uh....yeah! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Silver finally said. Sonic doubletaked at what Silver said. Rainbow Dash raised a confused eyebrow. 

"Silver what are you-? Ow!!" Sonic was about to question him, but was interrupted when Silver grabbed his spiky blue hair.

"You see! Heh heh... his hair, makes him look like a hedgehog. People back home called us hedgehogs all the time...heh heh...." Silver explained, still trying to keep a straight face as he was pointing at Sonic's hair. 

Rainbow Dash was not amused at their sense of humor. (Fluttershy giggled slightly in the background)
"Ha ha ha Very funny." Dash sarcastically commented. 

"Uh...I hate to interrupt, but don't you all have P.E in like 10 minutes." Fluttershy quietly reminded Dash. Dash checked the time on her phone.

"Oh shoot you're right!" Dash exclaimed. She was about to run off with Fluttershy, but she stopped to talk to Sonic and Silver.
"Say, you guy's don't happen to have P.E now do you?" Rainbow Dash asked them. 

"Oh! We do as a matter a fact." Silver responded, letting go of Sonic's hair. 

"Silver!" Sonic said to Silver through clenched teeth, not wanting to associate with Dash anymore than they needed to. 

"Heh! In that case you can tag along if you want. But don't come crying if you can't keep up slowpokes." Rainbow Dash smirked. She and Fluttershy began walk down the hallway. 
Sonic miffed at being called 'Slowpoke', decided to give her a piece of his mind. 

"Slowpoke? Oh yeah for your information, I'm the fastest thing alive where I'm from!" Sonic boasted, not having any of Dash's mockery.

"Sonic what're you doing!?" Silver said through clenched teeth. 

Dash sensing a challenge, stopped and turned to face him. 

"Oh really?" Dash said smugly. "That's quite the title you have." She walked over so that she was right in his face. She noticed that he was at least half a head taller than her, which mean she had to look up at him, but that didn't intimidate her in the slightest
"Is that really what they call you?"Dash asked him, wondering where he got all this bravado from.
Sonic was actually somewhat surprised he found somebody as cocky as he was in this world, so he decided to return the favor. 

"Hmph! You bet! What do you say to that Skittlehair?" Sonic countered. Dash flinched a little at the name he just called her, but she didn't let it bother her, and remained cocky all the same. 

"Yeah well, why don't you prove it at P.E Blue Boy?" Dash challenged him. 

"Ha! Bring it on!" Sonic accepted her challenged. 

"Then it's settled!" Dash offered a fist bump. Sonic, while surprised at the gesture, returned the fist bump with a smirk on his face, putting a little force into it. Dash, happy and excited for the challenge flipped her hair, and began walking down the hallway.


"Um....I'll see you there!" Fluttershy waved to them. She then ran off to join Rainbow Dash. Sonic looked at Rainbow Dash with an annoyed face. Something about her just ticked him off for some reason. He didn't know what it was, but it irritated him nonetheless. 

"Uhhh....Sonic are you alright?" Silver asked him, wondering why he looked so irritated. 

"Huh? Oh nothing! Sigh I'm just glad that's over." Sonic replied, glad that the girls didn't figure out their secret. 
"Nice save by the way." He added. 

"Well, learn to think before you speak ok. You nearly gave away our secret." Silver told him, beginning to walk down the hallway, following Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"I couldn't help myself alright?" Sonic complained back as he caught up with Silver.

"ah forget it." Silver replied. 


Somewhere else in CHS

Shadow was making his way to his Geography class, maneuvering his way through the crowds of students, trying to make himself as discreet as possible. He had already taken in a lot of information about this mysterious new world they were in. Unfortunately because his Chaos energy senses haven't kicked in yet, he had no idea if this world's people had any powers at all. But he remembered that their first priority was finding the Chaos Emeralds. However he was also equally concerned about Sonic and Silver.

"Sigh, those two better not be causing any trouble" Shadow thought, knowing full well that they were a handful to keep track of. 
He admittedly, like Sonic, was rather irritated that he didn't have his powers. If he had them, he could sense where the Chaos emeralds were from anywhere in this school. He looked down and his hand again and tensed his arm muscle, trying to conjure electrical power into his hand, but to no avail. 
He sighed frustratedly, kind of understanding Sonic's attitude. But he retained his focus on what was most important, the chaos emeralds.
"We currently have three of them, so the other's have to be around here. However that means we'll need to search outside the school as we-" Shadow's train of thought was interrupted, when he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Ow!" Flash Sentry said as stumbled a little after bumping into Shadow, while Shadow barely flinched. 
"Uh sorry about that." Flash said to him. Shadow glanced over at him, analyzing what kind of person he was at first glance. To him he seemed fairly average, and not that threatening. There was a period of brief silence between the two. Flash was slightly intimidated by Shadow's cold expression. 

"Hmph.....whatever." Shadow quickly diffused any tension between them and carried on his way. Flash looked at Shadow confusedly, wondering who he was.

"Who was that guy? Pretty sure I haven't seen him around before" Flash speculated. However he then noticed that he heard a sort of resonating sound in his mind. 
"What the-?" He held his head, wondering what the sound was. He also felt his skin lightly pulsating with an energy that was unknown to him. 
"Uhh... what's going on with me!?" Flash said to himself, starting to sweat as he didn't know exactly what his body was doing. But before he could question it, the strange pulsating in his body gradually stopped and the sound in his head ceased. Flash managed to calm himself down, however he was utterly confused about what just happened. He tried to think of an explanation but nothing about what happened made sense to him. 
"That was weird...." Flash decided to forget about it, and proceeded to carry on his way. 

Meanwhile

Sonic and Silver were sitting on the bleachers looking over the field. Sonic was just biding his time as he waited for P.E to arrive. Silver on the other hand was taking in his surroundings. He just couldn't help but be interested in this world, considering the time he was born in. Sonic noticed that Silver was looking around alot. 

"Sigh Silver I know you're interested in this world, but....don't you think it's better if we try to act more like the other students here?" Sonic commented. Silver couldn't help but be confused by Sonic's comment.

"Uh, what do you mean, how is being interested in this world not normal?" Silver asked him.

"I'm just saying. Isn't it more normal to act just as disinterested as everyone else? Like this guy for example." Sonic motioned to a depressed looking student sitting above them. 
"Hey you! School sucks doesn't it?" Sonic turned and asked the student. The depressed student glanced over at him, pausing for a few seconds before mumbling: "Yeah.....Same here"

"See? What did I tell you?" Sonic said feeling like his theory was confirmed. Silver was just as disinterested in Sonic's hypothesis as Sonic was interested in school. 

"Well fine, you act all disinterested while I learn things about this place that may actually help us." Silver retorted. 

"Hey, I have nothing against this world or anything....I just want to get home as soon as possible. That's all." Sonic gave a nonchalant shrug. However he saw Rainbow Dash out of the corner of his eye, who was stretching down on the field, while also talking to a blond hair girl wearing a 10 gallon hat. 


"So, what's your reason for not being here first again?" Applejack asked as she stretch one of her legs, making sure her hat didn't fall off. 

"Hm? Oh...ran into the guys who made a scene at the messhall." Rainbow Dash said as she warmed up by jogging in place. "Turns out the Blue haired guy is pretty sure of himself." 

"Really? How so?" Applejack asked, wiping some sweat off her forehead, curious about the two newcomers. 

"Well, he called himself 'The fastest thing alive'" Rainbow Dash relayed what she heard him say, trying to hold back a chuckle. Applejack doubletaked at her answer.

"Seriously!? Sure I know you're cocky, but he takes the cake." Applejack replied. Dash smirked at AJ's remark at her being cocky.

"Yeah, he even said he's going to prove it." Dash continued, stretching her back as she spoke. 

"Well...who knows? What if he is? Remember what I said a few days back, at how someone might just take your place at the top all of a sudden?" Applejack theorized. Dash was somewhat surprised Applejack even thought of that notion. 

"Oh yeah? What make's you think he's the one who's gonna beat me?" Rainbow Dash got in AJ's face. 

"I dunno? Just saying." AJ shrugged her shoulders.

Coach Armor blew his whistle loudly, signaling that P.E had begun. 
"Alright everyone P.E has started! Let's go!" Coach Armor shouted. All the students who were waiting on the bleachers and on the track headed over to the center of the field. He happened to notice Sonic and Silver, who he didn't recognize from the other students he usually had today. He tried to recall if he was told by Celestia if there were going to be any new students, but nothing came up in his mind. 
"I didn't know we had new students today."  Armor said to himself. He shrugged the suspicion off before he could question it. 
"Ok guys. Apparently we have some new faces here today. Other than that it's the same routine: warmup, strength training, and aerobics." Armor explained to them.
"Should be easy for you two to follow along. Just watch what the others are doing." Armor further explained to Sonic and Silver. 

"Right!" Silver said enthusiastically. Sonic just shrugged disinterestedly. 
With that, Armor proceeded to walk them through various warm up exercises, which involved stretching and aerobic exercises. Silver had no problem following along with the exercises, while Sonic just did the minimal amount to follow along, still bored out of his mind. 
After about  ten minutes of warming up, Coach Armor waved them over to do some strength training.
The exercise was bench pressing. Coach Armor had all the students gather in front of the two weight benches.

"Alright everyone, I'm sure you all know how to do bench presses. We'll start at 45 pounds, and for every 10 you manage to do I'll add on another 5 pounds. Don't try and over-exert yourself. Just do as many as you think you can without straining muscles." Coach Armor explained to them. Silver was rather worried about how he would do, while he knew that he was physically capable, he was nowhere near Sonic's level of physical strength. Sonic himself wondered how strong he would be without his powers. 

Two by two the students went up and lifted the bar. Rainbow Dash went up and managed to get to 95 lbs before she couldn't do anymore. She went back to sit next to Applejack, letting out a disappointed sigh. 
"Sigh Man, could have done more." She grumbled to herself, her arms sore. While she didn't want to admit it, physical strength wasn't her strongest suit. 

"Ah don't be so hard on yourself. You can't be the best at everythin'" Applejack smirked as she got up to go and lift. All the students visibly looked up at Applejack as she went over. 

"Hey, how many is she gonna do time?" One student whispered to her friend. 

"Man AJ is strong! How much time do you think she spends at the gym!?" Another student said. Sonic and Silver noticed the other students whispering about Applejack's strength. Silver scooted over over to Rainbow Dash who sat nearby.

"Hey, is your friend really as strong as they say?" Silver whispered to her. 

"Just watch." Dash said without looking at him. Silver and Sonic saw Applejack get on the bench and grip the bar. With that she started lifting at 45 which she got through no problem, and she blazed through most of the single digits. She then moved onto 100 pounds, then 105, then 110, then 115! As the number went up, the group began chanting the numbers as they went up. 

"120!..........125!.........130!" Silver began chanting along with the other students. Sonic looked over and smirked, knowing that Silver was having a good time, not to mention he was also surprised at Applejack's strength. Rainbow Dash smiled as her friend showed off her strength. 
Soon enough Applejack was on 200, and she was still going! Though she was visibly starting to sweat now. 
"Okay, c'mon baby!" Applejack strained as she continued lifting. When she was on 230 pounds, she was starting to grunt as she lifted each time

"Come on AJ get to 300!" Dash cried out. Applejack focused on lifting, she was currently at 275. She paused for a moment to catch her breath. 

"Hey, you good?" Coach Armor said, worrying that she might have over exerted herself. 

"Pant Pant I'm good. Just put the next weight on." Applejack replied, sweat running down her forehead. Armor said nothing as he put the next set of weights on. Applejack put her all into lifting the last few sets. When she finally finished 300 she sat up and yelled "300!!" As she pumped her fist into the air. All the other students cheered as she got up and went over to sit by Rainbow Dash. 

"Heh, show off." Dash snarked as Applejack sat next to her. 

"Oh pfft! You're one to talk!" Appljack snarked back. The two then laughed at each other, knowing that they both did their best. 

"Phew! Very nice Applejack. Now who's next? Oh it's you two." Coach Armor looked over at Sonic and Silver. All the other students instinctively glanced over at them. Sonic could sense Rainbow Dash eyeing him with her smug smile. Since he accepted her challenge, he guessed that he had to beat her weight limit. 

"Alright I guess I'm up." Sonic got up and walked over to the bench. 

"Do your best Bro!" Silver cheered him on. Sonic sat on the bench and gripped the bar. He was ready to see if he retained any of his physical strength in his current form. 
Upon lifting the 45 pound weight, he found that he lifted it with relative ease, only facing a little resistance. A brief feeling of relief ran through his arms. He then continued to lift some more. He got through 50 through 75 no problem however 80 lbs it where he started to have trouble. He managed to lift 80 and went on to 85. He began visibly sweating and was grunting each time he lifted. 

"Uh..you okay? You gonna call it quit's here?" Coach Armor offered for him to stop. While the offer was tempting, as he was tired and his muscles were burning. But if he called it quits here, then Dash would be able to lift more than he would, and he wasn't going to have that. 

"Pant I can....Pant do more" Sonic replied. With that Coach Armor put 90 pounds on the bar. Sonic strained as he lifted the bar 10 times. Then Coach Armor put on 95 pounds. 

"Okay okay okay..." Sonic then gave it all the strength he could muster to lift the bar at 95 pounds. Afterwards Sonic managed to lift 95 pounds. He gasped deeply when he finished. 

"You done?" Armor said to him. 

"Pant Pant Yep.....whew." Sonic said as he sat up and walked over to sit by Silver and Dash. His arms were pulsating and his head was covered with sweat. But he didn't care, he at least was even with Rainbow Dash's weight limit. 

"Heh...not bad....for a newbie." Rainbow Dash said in a semi-mocking tone. 

"Hee Hee...oh yeah....I'm just getting started!" Sonic said, his confidence growing. He wasn't gonna let Dash one up him that easily. Dash on the other hand wasn't going to let Sonic take her place, so she prepared to beat him in the athletics exercise.

"Alright last one! Silver you're up!" Coach Armor called to Silver. 

"Huh!? Oh me?!" Silver wasn't paying attention when Coach Armor called him. 

"Yes you. Now come on we don't have all day." Coach Armor replied, getting somewhat impatient. 

"Okay okay I'm coming!" Silver quickly got up and walked over. He could immediately feel all the other students eyes follow him as he walked up to the bench. It made him nervous, but he didn't let it show. 
He sat on the bench and gripped the 45 pound bar. He took a deep breath and prepared to lift. 
"Ok....here goes!" Silver then lifted with all the strength he could muster. However, Silver found that no matter how hard he tried to lift, the bar wouldn't budge. 
"Huh?........" Silver said in confusion. There was no way he couldn't lift 45 pounds! He tried pushing again. This time he just managed to lift the bar off the hooks, but he couldn't straighten his arms. Soon his arms gave in and the bar sank down with a loud clang, leaving Silver panting in exhaustion. 

"Uh.......you really can't lift 45 pounds?" Coach Armor said in disbelief. Sonic himself was confused as well. He thought that Silver's life living in a post apocolyptic world would have increased his strength. 

"Pant Pant No! No way I can't do this!" Silver then gave one last push as he strained his arms to lift it. However after about 10 seconds of straining himself, he fell limp on the bench, his strength completely drained. Everyone was silent for a minute. Rainbow Dash wanted to make a snide comment about him, but even she felt too bad for him to say anything. 

"Um.....you okay?" Coach Armor said, still bewildered that Silver couldn't lift 45 pounds."

"Pant pant pant I'm done." Silver managed to say through his exhausted stupor. He got up and slowly walked back to sit by Sonic, as his face turned red from utter embarrassment. Luckily the other students didn't saying anything. Silver sat down beside Sonic, the embarrassment churning in his stomach. 
Sonic, feeling bad for tried to say something to him.

"Uh, you okay Si-"

"DON'T JUDGE ME OKAY!" Silver immediately got defensive. Sonic fell silent, and decided to not say anything to him for a while. 

"Okay, that's all of us let's move on to the next exercise guys." Coach Armor announced. All the students then moved to the center of the field to start aerobics. Coach Armor still felt bad for Silver, and was also still confused as to why he couldn't lift 45 pounds. 
"Man, poor guy. Must not eat enough protein." Coach Armor speculated the reason for Silver's lack of strength. He was about to go over and join the other students, but then he accidentally bumped in the weight lifting equipment, knocking one of the weights off. The weight fell to the ground with a loud 'CLANG!!". 
"Whoa!" Armor stumbled back in surprise from how unexpectedly loud the sound was. However, he then noticed something about the weights. He got down and looked at how heavy it weighed. It said 95 pounds. Armor then realized that he forgot to switch the weights that Sonic had when Silver came up. A wave of embarrassment swam over him as he realized this. 
"Man, sorry kid." Coach Armor said. 

Meanwhile

Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer were in the middle of their last class for the day: Physics 2. The teach presenting an example of how time and speed can be used to calculate distance using a specific equation. 
Unfortunately for Twilight, she couldn't focus on that at all. Her mind was still on that malicious person she encountered in the library that supposedly looked like Shadow. Her heart was racing and she was sweating even though it was only room temperature. She put her hand on her chest and sighed.
"Don't worry Twilight. Everything will be fine. You have friends here who will look out for you. There's a solution to this. There has to be. Twilight told herself, trying to calm down. Granted it didn't help much, but the personal pep talk managed to allow her to keep her composure in class for the most part.

Sunset Shimmer was more calm about this situation. But she was equally concerned about this predicament as much as Twilight was. She was also angry at whoever it was that wanted to threaten Twilight, and all of her instincts pointed to Shadow. Though she had no empirical evidence to prove that theory, she still needed to stay on her guard.
"Ok. Something is definitely going on. That new guy Shadow is up to something. Twilight says that it wasn't him. But I can't draw any conclusions yet. For now I need to focus on protecting Twilight, and finding out what's going on." Sunset organized her priorities in her head, while simultaneously focusing on class. "I can try looking for Shadow later"

Inside, Twilight's backpack, Spike was keeping a close eye on the glowing yellow emerald. He had to keep his distance because even his touch caused it to react. While he watched the emerald intently, he wondered how Twilight was taking all of this. He knew that Twilight could handle herself back in the Alternate Equestria, but here, he felt like she didn't have a full grasp of how things worked. 
"Twilight, I hope you know what your doing. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. Spike thought, his concern for Twilight growing. He then let out of long yawn. All this watching of this mysterious emerald made him tired. With that he decided to take a short nap.

While Twilight managed to keep her composure for a little while, it was broken when she suddenly heard the dark figure's voice in her head. 
"You and this world are all pathetic!" She heard the figure say in his spiteful voice. Twilight held her head in anguish as it started to hurt from the figure's words. 

"No. Your wrong!" Twilight spoke back in her mind. The voice said nothing in response, but the pain in Twilight's head persisted. Twilight could barely open her eyes, as the pain in her head was like a migraine, and it wouldn't stop. On top of that her own thoughts were jumbled, and she couldn't think straight. 

"Twilight. Twilight! Twilight!!!" She suddenly brought her head up when she heard a voice call to her. Now that she could see straight, the pain in her head gradually went away. Everyone in class was looking at her, including Sunset, who was looking her with worry in her eyes. Twilight's faced blushed embarrassingly. 

"Twilight, are you okay. You don't look so good." The teacher said to her, she had called on her because she look like she was having a migraine. 

"Sigh I'm sorry, I....just have a lot on my mind today." Twilight replied. The teacher felt a little sympathy for Twilight.

"Well, if you are not feeling 100%, feel free to catch some air for a minute or two okay?" The teacher said to her. Twilight sighed in relief. She needed some air after what's been going on.

"Thank you. But I'm okay now, I promised" Twilight assured the teacher. 
Sunset felt a bit of relief now that Twilight was okay. However just to be sure, she reach over and put a hand on Twilight shoulder.

"Huh?" Twilight looked over at Sunset, wondering what she wanted to say.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Sunset reassured her. 

Twilight smiled at Sunset, silently thanking her for looking out of her. The two then turned their focus back to class. 

"I need to figure out what going on as soon as possible." Sunset's knew she had to find out what was going on before Twilight went home. She knew that they were going to meet with everyone later, so she was going to relay everything that she knew to everyone so that they can all help Twilight get home safely. 

Meanwhile

Back out in the sport field. All the students were getting ready for the mile long run, which was four times around the track. They were all lined up, stretching before the Coach Armor blew his whistle. 
Silver was still somewhat depressed at how he couldn't lift 45 pounds, but he didn't let it bother him so much for at least he could try and make up for it with his running. Sonic, unlike the others, wasn't stretching. He didn't feel like he needed to warm up like the others, because he thought he would naturally be fast like the others. Silver looked over at Sonic and noticed that he wasn't stretching like he was. 

"Uh....aren't you gonna warm up a little Sonic?" Silver asked him. He knew that Sonic was fast, but he didn't have his powers like before, and the fact that Sonic was acting like he could run as fast as he could back home, which he couldn't. 

"Ehh....don't need to, I'm feeling good as is already!" Sonic's confidence in his new body's abilities were high. "Yeah, this should be a piece of cake."

"Pfft! Keep telling yourself that blue boy." He heard Rainbow Dash snarkily  comment as she stretched her arms. He noticed that Dash had taken the spot next to him. "You remember our challenge right?" Rainbow Dash reminded him of the challenge he proposed to her. 

"Huh? Oh! Right!......uh......what was it again?" Sonic asked, confused as to what the challenge was exactly. Rainbow Dash put on an irritated face. 

"Uh...Duh...whoever finishes the mile run first wins......idiot" Dash explained, as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Sonic was silent for a few seconds, as he realized how stupid his question sounded. 
"Uh....yeah! I knew that." He said, rubbing his head embarrassed. 

"Pfft Oh sure you did." Dash snarked under her breath. Like Silver she also noticed that Sonic wasn't stretching, which made her even more confused and suspicious towards him. 
"Your joking right? Even the most fit athletes stretch before running. Is he actually serious about that whole title thing?" Dash thought to herself, while still thinking his title was insane.

"Okay everyone take your positions!" Coach Armor called out to all the students. 

"Oh, looks like were starting." Silver pointed out to Sonic. 

"Yeah, yeah, I see that." Sonic replied nonchalantly. 

All the students got into position, waiting for coach armor to blow his whistle. Sonic and Rainbow Dash exchanged a glance, ready to out do each other in this exercise.

"Hmph! Hope you're ready......to eat my dust!" Dash mocked him. Sonic only chuckled a little in response, her mocking not affecting him at all. 

"Seriously kid, you don't know what true speed is." Sonic mocked back, his cockiness growing even more. 
At this point Dash was so astounded at Sonic's confidence it actually almost intimidated her. She had never met someone with as much confidence in their abilities other than herself. But that notion only drove her to push herself even hard so she could beat him. So she only smirked in response and looked back at the track ahead of her. 

Sonic looked forward at the track ahead of him. He knew that he didn't have his speed, but he knew that he's got to be faster than most of the students here. A smirk grew on his face as he prepared to blow all of their minds. 

"Ok guys! Everyone on your marks!" Coach Armor signaled all of them to get ready. Everyone assumed the runner's start position, ready to take off at the sound of the whistle. 
"Get set!" Everyone prepared to start running. Sonic readied to burst out from the start. 

"GO!!!" Coach Armor blew his whistle loudly. 
The second Sonic heard the whistle, he broke out into a full sprint leaving everyone behind him. 

"Ooh yeah!! That's right baby! I'm outa here!!! Wohooo!!!" Sonic cheered as he sprinted, everything around him appearing blurry. This is what he was waiting for, the chance to let loose and run. And even better, Dash was far behind as well. 

However from Dash, Silver, and the other student's perspective, Sonic was just sprinting really hard. Dash looked at Sonic with an utterly confused face as she maintained an even yet aggressive pace. 
"Uhh.....does he know that this exercise is about stamina, not speed? Is he that stupid?" Dash thought. Sonic's obliviousness utterly baffled her. However she then knew at the speed he was going at, he would tire out. Silver on the other hand, worried that Sonic had overestimated himself. 

As Sonic sprinted out of the first turn, he looked back and saw that everyone else were only halfway through the first turn, and he was already about to go into the next turn and finish the lap. This served to boost his confidence even more. 
"He he...What can I say I am the fast thing ali-" Before he could finish his sentence, he noticed that he was feeling a sensation that he hadn't felt in a long time. He was breathing heavier than usual, his heart was racing, and to his dismay, his legs and arms were getting heavier!

"Pant Pant Pant What....Pant..What's going on!? Pant!" Sonic said in between breaths as his sprint gradually slowed down to a stagger. Sonic tried to maintain his sprint, but the feeling in his body just prevented him from going any faster. Eventually Sonic realized what he was feeling. He has ran out of breath!
Eventually, Sonic's stamina was so low that his pace was now a slow walk by the time he exited the turn. He kept taking repeated gulps for breath to satiate his lungs.  
"Pant Pant Pant Okay......this is something I haven't felt in a long time." Sonic admitted to himself. After years and year sof being able to run at supersonic speeds with no physical limitations, it has made him complacent in his own abilities. He saw that he was walking up to the finish line to clear the first lap. Then he also noticed that Coach Armor was looking at him with the same confused expression from before. 

".......what?" Sonic asked as he continued to catch his breath. 

"Uhhhh......you do know this is a stamina based exercise right kid?" Coach Armor said, wondering if was legitimately something wrong with Sonic's head. Sonic stopped to say something to him. 

"Pant Pant Pant Well.....at least I'm done with one lap okay?" Sonic said, taking some pride in that he almost sprinted around the entire track. 

"See ya slowpoke!" Sonic heard Dash taunt him as she darted past him, crossing the finish line. 

"What the- Hey!" Sonic said as he forgotten that there were other's behind him. Then he saw other students running past him, which only made him more frustrated.

"Why you!!" Sonic broke into another full sprint again to catch up with the other runners.

"Tch! Hey what did I just say!?" Coach Armor yelled at Sonic for blatantly ignoring what he just said to him. Sonic was able to briefly catch his breath and start sprinting again. Sonic sprinted his way past the other students as he tried to reclaim first place.

"Doh! Hey watch it!" Applejack said as Sonic nearly elbowed her in the ribs.
"Just what do you think your doing?" Another female student said as he moved past her.
"Sonic, slow down already!" Silver retorted at Sonic as he shoved his way past him.

"Not in a million years!!" Sonic eventually made his way to the front where Rainbow Dash was leading the crowd, and then sprinted right past her.

"Later Skittlehair!" Sonic mocked her back as he rushed past her. 

"Wha?" Dash double taked at Sonic's persistence to keep sprinting. She just couldn't understand what was going through his head for him to think that he could sprint an entire mile. On top of that, him straight up passing her two times in a row started to irritate her. 
"Okay....." Dash gritted her teeth in annoyance as she began to pick up her pace. "......fastest thing alive my ASS!!" 
Dash then pulsed her leg muscles as she dashed ahead of the crowd, rapidly catching up with Sonic. 

Sonic looked back to see Dash rapidly catching up with him. 
"Oh shoot!!" Sonic increased his pace to try and match Dash's speed. At this point, the two were way ahead of the other students, and had already finished the second lap. 

Sonic panted hard as he desparately tried to out run Rainbow Dash. However he felt the fatigue and tiredness gradually envelop his body each time his feet hit the ground. 
Dash gradually caught up to Sonic as she showed that she could sprint as fast as he could. She could hear Sonic panting from how hard he was sprinting. 

"I don't know what kind of track you ran on where you came from.....but I think you're about at your limit!" Dash said to Sonic as the exited the last turn and were about to go into the last lap.

"Pant Pant Pant! Oh yeah! Says who!?" Sonic retorted. 

"Says me!" Dash pushed herself even harder and managed to overtake Sonic. 

"Why you littl- Pant Pant"Sonic's fatigue caused him to stumble forward and lose his forward momentum. He slowed to a stop, bent over taking deep gulps for breath. He was sweating all over his body, his legs and arms were shaking, and his lungs felt like a vacuum sucked all the air out of them. 
Sonic spent a good fifteen seconds catching his breath, before he started walking towards the finish line. 

"Hey kid come on! Everyone's finished already!" He heard Coach Armor shout at him. 

"Yeah yeah I'll be- wait?" Sonic doubletaked, he then looked up to see that everyone else had passed him while he was catching his breath. He saw some students, Silver included, catching their breath. However a lot of the other students were huddled around Rainbow Dash, cheering for her. Dash herself was jumping with with joy at her victory.

"Oh yeah! That's right! I'm the best!" Dash boasted to all the other students who continued cheering her on. Sonic stood dumbfounded at what just happened. He just lost a race. The thought of it utterly infuriated him, and the more he looked at Dash's smug face just made even angrier. 
Unable to contain his anger, Sonic didn't bother finishing and just angrily walked off the track. He proceeded to angrily kick a soccer ball that was laying on the ground as he walked off. 

Dash happened to notice Sonic walk off. She didn't know why, but she wanted to know more about why he ran the way he did. While she did feel tempted to rub her victory in his face a little, she thought that she would interrogate him instead. 

"Hey hold up you guys I'll be back." Dash told the other students who were cheering her on, and went over to talk to Sonic. Applejack noticed that Dash had stopped soaking in the attention earlier than usual. 

"Hey Dash! Wher' ya goin?" Applejack asked her as she continued to catch her breath. 

"Oh uh....I'm gonna talk to Blue boy. He didn't look too good." Dash explained, then continued to go find Sonic. Applejack was confused, it wasn't like Dash to go talk to a newcomer.

"Pfft for all I know she's probably gonna rub her victory in his face." Applejack rolled her eyes as she thought of what Dash was going to do. 

Sonic had walked back into the halls of CHS with angry, yet defeated face. He felt humiliated. All his life he was the fastest thing in the world(his world at least), and now he got tired just from running a mile. The humiliation hit his stomach like an actual punch to the gut. 

"For the love of...God damn son of A....!" Sonic bitterly cursed as he pounded a nearby locker with his fist, the sound reverberating through the hall. He kept cursing the notion that he lost in his head, but the more he denied it, the more the loss sunk in.
"This.....this can't be....." Sonic looked down at his hand as he leaned his head against the lockers, devastated that he wasn't as fast as he was back home. Just the thought of that shook him deep down to his core. His mind flashed back to the scene of a young version of him, standing in front of a burning orphanage. Then a sentence formed in his head.

"You weren't fast enough

"Shut up!" Sonic pounded the lockers again as he shouted at the voice in his head. 

Rainbow Dash, who heard the pounding from outside, peeked in from outside, where she saw Sonic with his arm against the lockers. After hearing the loud banging from outside, she figured he wasn't feeling too good.

"Dang, he looks pissed" Dash thought. As tempting as it was to boast about her victory to him, she figure that would only piss him off even more. With that in mind, she slowly entered, and closed the door behind her. 

"Uhhh......hey there." Dash said. Sonic flinched at the sound of her voice. He slowly looked over and saw Rainbow Dash standing by the doors. Surprisingly her face wasn't completely smug, as it also had a little hint of empathy. But it didn't help improve his mood at all.

"Grrr......what do you want? You here to gloat?" Sonic said bitterly. Dash was surprised that Sonic knew about her temptation to gloat at him. But she maintained her prideful stance.

"Eh...not exactly." Dash replied, walking closer to him. "Look, I know you're new here and everything. But I'm gonna be honest with you......you made yourself look like an idiot out there." 
Sonic wanted to react angrily, but he knew it was true in a way. Granted, he didn't say anything in response. 
"....and I not saying that to be a jerk or anything. Its just....uh....I mean......who runs all out at the start of a mile run anyways?" Dash continued, still bewildered that Sonic went all out sprinting at the start. 

Sonic was both angry and confused. He didn't know if Dash was trying to help him, or to put him down. 
He let out a defeated sigh. He tried to think of something to say back to her. 

"Whatever.....just....." Sonic hesitated before continuing. 

"Just what? Come on.....say anything you want to me. I can take it." Dash said to him, prepared for whatever insult came her way. Sonic looked back at her. While she still had her smug smile, he could see in her eyes that she did feel a little empathy for him. But regardless, he wanted to get her back eventually.

".....I was a lot faster back home. I......honestly don't know what's going on with me today." Sonic said, turning and leaning against the lockers on his back. It was technically true that he was faster back home, but he knew that she wouldn't understand how fast he really was.

"Hmm.....well maybe the long trip here made your legs rusty or something." Dash said, instinctively giving her own legs a little stretch. While she was still skeptical about how fast he claimed to be, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Although it didn't appear to make Sonic feel any better. 
"Look, if you want a little advice from me, take it slow at the beginning. You'll just burn yourself out sprinting at the beginning." Dash offered some advice to him. Even she made that mistake at one point in her life, so in a way she understood why he was frustrated. 

"Hmph!" Sonic scoffed at her advice. The thought of going slow sickened him. However he stopped leaning against the lockers and turned to face her.
".......you owe me a rematch....." Sonic pointed at her, regaining a little of his confidence. "Mark my words, you haven't seen me at my best!" 

Dash smiled at his statement. She respected that he was willing to stick up for himself. However it didn't mean she was going easy on him. 
"Well then......How about next time on P.E, we race again, once you're at your best? How about it?" Dash proposed offering a fist bump to him. 

Sonic was somewhat surprised at her offer. While he was still upset at his loss, he still took solace in the fact that Dash was willing to give him a second chance. 
"Grrr......fine...." Sonic said with some bitterness still in his voice, and proceeded to return Dash's fist bump. 

Of course, Dash was satisfied at him returning the fist bump. 
"Well then.....I'll be waiting......blue boy" She said half mockingly. With that she flipped her hair and then went to exit the door. 
"You think you're the fastest huh? Well then, catch me if you can then....'Sonic Genesis'!" Dash knew Sonic was determined to beat her, so she knew that she couldn't let up, for she was determined to keep her place as the best athlete in the school. 

Sonic watched as Dash exited the door. He tapped his foot irritably as he thought to himself. He now had incredibly mixed opinions about Rainbow Dash. Her arrogant and cocky demeanor irritated him, but her capacity to show empathy lessened that feeling. However the fact that he lost a race did not fly with him. 

"Just you wait.....Rainbow Dash." Sonic said, knowing that he now had a new rival to beat. 

To be continued