//------------------------------// // Silver the Hedgehog's Story // Story: Sonic Adventure: Equestrian Style // by Someguy458 //------------------------------// Consciousness slowly came to Silver. He blinked open his readjusting eyes, and was confused by what he saw. He was in a rather nice room, atop a velvet couch. On one side of the room was a lit fireplace; on the opposite side was a large bookshelf; and on a third wall was a wooden door that looked somewhat like it belonged in a medieval castle. But on the last wall was a large stained glass window that was rather hard to see out of. It depicted a rising sun and moon over green fields, with two winged unicorns circling the celestial bodies. One of them was white with a pink mane, while the other was blue with a purple mane. Below that, a desk played home to a roll of parchment and a bottle of ink. "Wh-where am I?" He asked to nobody in particular, seeing as the room was otherwise empty. "Blaze? Anyone?" Silver stood up, wincing at a small spike of pain in his chest. He made his way to the door, and surprisingly found it unlocked. There was, however, a note taped to the inside: Will be there shortly - Please, make yourself comfortable! ~ Princess Celestia "A Princess?" Silver raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, where am I?" He decided to peek out the door. It was an ornate staircase wrapping around the outside of the tower he was in. Over the railing, he could see a nice-looking courtyard with plenty of plant life, as well as several statues of unidentifiable creatures. Patrolling around the grounds were quadrupedal horses in medieval-esque armor. Silver had never seen anything like it, and it made him feel uncomfortable. Had he somehow ended up in the wrong time period? In the wrong place? Was he still unconscious? All he knew for certain was that he didn't belong here. He wanted to be able to trust whoever wrote the note; he really did. But he had a weird sense of unease about trusting strangers who whisked him to unknown rooms, and he had no clue why. He prepared to levitate himself off the balcony and head off in search of home. But as soon as Silver activated his powers, they immediately threatened to fling him out of control. He spun wildly in the air for a moment, before he was forced to make a rough landing in order to avoid plummeting off the tower. Silver picked himself up and regained his bearings. What the heck had just happened? Curious, he tried to reach out and pick something up with his psychic powers. He accidentally picked up half the books inside the tower, as well as the desk, almost effortlessly. He instinctually shut off his powers, letting everything fall to the ground with a loud clatter. "Whoops..." Silver cringed at the noise and the mess. He almost went to use his powers to help pick everything up, as was his instinct, but stopped himself before he could cause any more damage. "What's up with my powers?" Feeling bad about having caused such a mess, Silver decided that he'd clean up while he waited for this 'Princess Celestia' to return. And he was going to need that time, if he was to do it without his powers. He'd cleaned up the desk and papers, and was a quarter of the way through the books when he heard a gentle cough behind him. He turned to find a tall white unicorn-pegasus standing behind him. She was incredibly tall - about twice his own height, made up mostly by her long neck and legs. Her multicolored mane and tail were almost ethereal in the way they sparkled and flowed in a non-existent wind, but if Silver were to look closely, he could indeed see individual hairs. She wore golden regalia on her head, neck, and hooves, and on her flanks were the stylized image of the sun depicted in the room's stained glass window. But what struck Silver about her was her face. It was still equine-like, but it also conveyed a lot of emotion in it. Her ears were perked in a way that expressed confusion, her lips were pressed in a show of concern, and her eyes, while appearing to follow the rest of her face at first glance, were also tinged with both a wariness and a compassion that only a long life could instill in a person. Overall, her appearance screamed that she could either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. She then spoke with a voice that contained both the compassion and the authority of a ruler, "Did something happen while I was gone?" Silver quickly snapped out of his shocked state and performed a hasty bow. "Sorry, Miss; I accidentally knocked over these books." The horse's face softened slightly. "Ah, I see. Here, let me help you." Her horn lit up in a golden glow, and the remaining books were engulfed in it as well. They all floated up and sorted themselves into their proper places. Silver was impressed; even he was usually only able to get the objects to float in the general direction he wanted. But she had such elegance with her powers, as though she'd been practicing for decades. As soon as the horse was done, she turned back towards Silver. "That's better. Now, let me introduce myself; I'm Celestia." "You're the one who left the note?" Silver asked. She nodded. "My sister found you in the gardens; would you care to explain why you were there?" "Well, that's just it; I don't know, either. All I remember is that my friends and I were fighting Dr. Eggman, then..." Silver shook his head, as if that might help him remember. Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Dr. 'Eggman'?" "Well, his real name is 'Ivo Robotnik', but my friends and I all call him Eggman," Silver clarified. "I meant, who is he, and why were you fighting him?" "Oh," Silver blushed. "Well, Eggman really wants to take over the world by any means, mainly by turning all the wildlife into robots." Celestia gasped. "That's terrible!" "I know! That's why Sonic the Hedgehog started fighting back against him - first on his own, before he eventually gained friends to help. And that's where I come in. You see, my name's Silver the Hedgehog. I come from a future where everything's been ravaged by Eggman, so I've been sent back in time to help prevent it." "You're a time traveler?" Celestia's eyes widened. "Our most powerful wizards are only able to go back a week." Silver chuckled hollowly. "Try two hundred years." If it was at all possible, Celestia's eyes widened even further. "Two hundred?! That's... wow!" Celestia sat down on the couch. "It must be so confusing for you, being so far away from your own time." "Yeah," Silver admitted, sitting down so his back was leaning against the sofa. "Where I come from, I'm usually alone for days at a time. But now, I have so many friends - honestly, it can get overwhelming sometimes! "But," the Hedgehog sighed, "I wouldn't trade them for anything." He reached inside of his left glove and pulled out a folded-up photo, unfolding it to stare wistfully at it. It was a photo of Sonic's birthday party, taken by Silver (using his psychokinesis to hold the camera). Silver himself was directly surrounded by Sonic, Amy, and Blaze, and they were all giving the peace sign to the camera. Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, and the Chaotix were also in the background, either talking amongst themselves or looking over at the four of them. Celestia motioned unobtrusively with a hoof, and Silver passed the photo to her. "This is such a cute photo," Celestia smiled. "Who are they?" "The blue one to my left is Sonic," Silver began to explain, "the pink one next to him is Amy Rose, and the cat with her hand on my shoulder is Blaze. And those guys in the background are Tails the Fox, Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog, Vector the Crocodile, Charmy Bee, and Espio the Chameleon." He pointed to each one as he named them. "Cream the Rabbit was also there, but she isn't in the picture." "You weren't kidding when you said you had a lot..." Celestia chuckled. "Who's holding the camera?" "I was," Silver said, "with my psychokinesis." Celestia raised an eyebrow curiously. "Care to demonstrate?" "I would love to, but for some reason, my powers are all wonky here - that's how all those books got knocked over." Celestia nodded, "I see...." She checked her pocket watch and sighed, before reapplying her happy face, giving the picture back to Silver, and standing up. "Would you like to take a walk? It's a beautiful day, and I'd love to take this conversation outside." Silver blinked. He was still slightly uneasy, but Celestia seemed like a nice enough character. "I suppose I wouldn't mind...." With that, he got up as well, and they headed out the door. As they walked down the streets of the city, Silver began to feel uncomfortable with all the stares he was receiving. "I'm beginning to have second thoughts about being out here." Celestia smirked. "You worried that you might get mobbed?" "I'm actually more concerned about freaking everyone else out," Silver corrected. The Princess giggled a little. "Well, as long as you're with me, they'll know you're alright." "Speaking of," Silver pointed out, "we never really talked about you." Celestia raised an eyebrow. "What would you want to know?" "For starters, what exactly are you?" Just a moment too late, Silver realized that a question like that might be seen as offensive. But before he could apologize, Celestia chuckled. "Straight to the point, are we? I'm what is known as an alicorn - a combination of an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn." "A combination?" "I have traits of all three - the wings of a pegasus, the horn of a unicorn, and the strength of an earth pony." Silver looked her up and down. That'd certainly explain her appearance. Although... "Is that also why you're so much taller than everyone else?" "In a way, yes." Silver blinked. Well, that was vague. He was about to ask her what she meant by that, when a pegasus and a unicorn suddenly sped by, both clad in doctor's clothes. Celestia and Silver exchanged a silent glance, before they began to follow the medics. When they arrived at their destination, Silver was surprised to find an injured Shadow being tended to by a dark blue alicorn. Like Celestia, this alicorn's mane was cosmic and flowing, although hers was more like a field of stars. She also had regalia on her, but hers was pitch black, and the neck piece was fractured. And on her mottled flanks were the image of a crescent moon, matching the icon on her neckpiece. She was also shorter than Celestia, almost exactly as tall as Silver (if not just a little bit taller). As Celestia and Silver approached, the two caught sight of them. "Sister!" The dark alicorn exclaimed. "Silver!" Shadow simultaneously blurted. He tried to sit up, but he grunted with pain, before the other alicorn held him down so he wouldn't hurt himself. "Well," Celestia remarked, "it seems like we've missed quite a bit." Silver was astounded. Up until this point, he'd kind of assumed that he was the only one of his friends that was here. But now that he'd seen Shadow, he was suddenly wondering just how many of them were in a similar situation. Was Sonic here? Maybe Amy? What about Blaze? But first, he had to ask the most important question of all: "Who's she?" Silver pointed towards the darker alicorn. "That's my sister, Princess Luna." Celestia explained, to Silver's surprise. "Luna, this is Silver the Hedgehog. Luna stepped forward and offered a hoof. "It is a pleasure to meet you." Silver took it in his hand and shook. "Likewise." "Okay, enough of the sappy stuff," Shadow rolled his eyes, somehow to Luna's amusement. "What, exactly, did we miss?" "Well," Celestia began, "it all started when Luna found Silver in the garden...."