//------------------------------// // 3. The Power of Love // Story: Sonic Frontiers x My Little Pony // by BronySonicFan //------------------------------// Sonic couldn't help but worry now. Cyber Space was a place that, as interesting and amazing as it looked, it could be a double-edged sword and attack him from behind. He was considering to return only when he got enough keys for the Chaos Emeralds, and then never return, even if the voice he heard before didn't liked the idea. There was also the strange energy of the island entering on his body everytime he saved his friends. So far it wasn't anything bad, but after he free'd Hitch, he started to feel pain. Not something that hurt that much, but still hurts. He only told Sunny and Hitch it was a new power to not worry them, but the truth was that he didn't knew what was that energy. Still, he wasn't going to say a word either. They were stressed enough with the fact that they're half ghost right now, so they didn't need to feel worried about him as well. "I know I promised to stop hiding things... but the least they worry, the better" Sonic stated. After running through half of the island, he finally returned to the metallic platforms... just to find Sunny and Hitch talking with one of those rock creatures. Sonic raised an eyebrow, approaching to them with a little smile. "Yo, guys" he called out, as Sunny and Hitch turned to finally notice him. "Who's your friend?" he asked. "Hey Sonic!" Sunny greeted with a smile. "Have you found creatures like them around the island?" she asked. "Plenty of them, actually" Sonic confessed. "But I have no idea of what they are" he added. "Apparently they're called 'Koco'" Hitch explained. "They've been the only habitants of this islands ever since the Ancients disappeared" he explained. "Huh?" Sonic exclaimed confused. "And how do you know that?" he questioned. "The Koco told us!" both Sunny and Hitch replied with smiles, while Sparky made gibberish sounds on Hitch's back. "They.... they told you?" Sonic asked with a bored expression, not buying it a single bit. Then, the Koco, that had a flower on their head, made some high pitched sound as they talked to Sunny and Hitch. Sunny nodded at her before turning back to Sonic. "This Koco says they need to find their one true love before it's too late" she explained. "They've been too shy to express their feelings, but if they don't do it now, they may never get the chance" Hitch added with a slightly worried tone. Sonic just looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. Not because of what they explained, but because of how they understood the Koco. "You... got all that, huh?" he asked to them. "I guess the dimension we are in is translating for us" Sunny pointed out. "I mean, I can even understand the critters, and you know that Hitch's the only pony that can do that" she confessed. "Yeah, it's something strange, but at the same time, it feels natural" Hitch confessed. "Well, you guys are the ones trapped in Cyber Space, so who am I to argue you?" Sonic said with a smirk. Sunny rolled her eyes and looked back at the Koco. "Well, don't you worry! We'll reunite you with your lost love!" she assured to them. "Yeah!" Hitch said with a smile, agreeing with Sunny's words and plan. Sonic, however, crossed his arms and looked at them with a bored expression. "I would think we've got more pressing issues, but..." he tried to say, while Sunny and Hitch frowned at him. "... Again, who am I to argue you?" he said, giving up and willing to follow Sunny's and Hitch's plan. Well, not exactly. Sonic decided to go and check around the island to look after more Chaos Emeralds, but so far, he got no luck. Sunny and Hitch, however, were serious about helping the Koco to find their true love. But they eventually crossed paths with another Koco, a mother. She was slightly bigger than the first Koco they met, and she had a purple flower on her head. She was really sad, and both Sunny and Hitch were worried about her. Then, a blue blur passed by at very fast paste, and they both knew who it was. "Sonic! Over here!" Sunny called out, raising her hoof. However, Sonic already disappeared, and they both looked around for a while, looking for him, until he ended up coming back. Sonic stopped and looked on their direction, then saw Sunny moving her hoof on a sign telling him to go to them, and Sonic smiled before reaching them. Then, the mother Koco made more sounds and looked at the ground in sadness. "This poor mother says she's lost her children" Hitch translated with a worried expression. "Can you lead her children back? Pleeeease?" Sunny begged with sad puppy eyes. Sonic putted on a bored expression at first, but then smiled and kneeled to talk to the mother Koco. "Sure thing!" he told her with a smile. The Koco jumped excitedly and danced around Sonic, while Sonic just smiled and chuckled a bit. After that, Sonic started to gather some Koco around, making them roll towards Sunny, Hitch and the mother Koco. Some bombs appeared suddenly at times, but Sonic managed to both dodge the bombs and protect the Koco. At the end, he gathered 50 Koco around, and he felt like they were enough. Suddenly, the Green Chaos Emerald popped out of nowhere and slowly got down until it landed in Sonic's hand. He looked confused at the Emerald on his hand, but since the Koco around him were dancing, he shrugged with a smile, putted the Emerald away and started to dance a bit as well. After that little dance, Sonic approached to Sunny, Hitch and the Koco mother, with the last one looking after her children. She looked around in search for them, while one of the Koco hid behind other two, looking at the mother Koco. Then, when they saw her flower, realized it was their mother, so they jumped happily and moved towards her. They both smiled at each other and twirled in the air, then they nuzzled to each other with happy smiles. But then, they started to shine bright, and the light coming from their bodies floated to the sky, where a strange symbol appeared, and the lights disappeared soon after. And then... the mother Koco and her child fell in the ground, like simple rocks. They were still smiling, but... they were gone. Sunny covered her mouth with a hoof, Hitch looked on with sadness while his ears fell, and Sonic couldn't believe that they simply... died, out of nowhere. Then, the Koco that Sunny and Hitch met earlier called their attention, telling them that they still needed to find their true love. "Okay! Okay!" Sunny told her with most honest smile she could give. "We'll keep looking" she assured to them. The Koco jumped happily and started to roll away slowly, also indicating to Sunny and Hitch to follow them, while the three friends looked on with worry. "Guys, they act like none of that happened" Hitch pointed out with concern. "Do we even know what 'that' was?" Sonic questioned with a concerned look. Both Sunny and Hitch turned to face the bodies of the Koco that just died. "No" Sunny said. "But I got a sense of... completion? Comfort?" she said. "Yeah, me too" Hitch confessed. "Weird" Sonic said, rubbing his chin a bit before focusing back on the matters at hand. "Let's keep moving. I want to wrap up our time here A.S.A.P." he pointed out with a serious expression. Both Sunny and Hitch looked back at him and smiled. "Sounds good to me!" Sunny replied, immediately following the Koco. "By the way, Sonic. Why did you danced all of a sudden?" he asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Sonic smirked back and rolled his eyes. "I just got a Chaos Emerald out of nowhere and there were Koco dancing around me" he pointed out. "It would have been dumb of me to not dance!" he added. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say" Hitch said with a smirk, now walking away and following Sunny. Sonic decided to keep moving forward as well. Probably if he kept helping the Koco, he'll end up finding the other two Chaos Emeralds. He managed to unlock all the Cyber Space levels of the Island, as well as the entire map. Now, he could use the Cyber Space portals to teleport around whenever he needed to. However, and for some reason, anytime he kept defeating enemies, they still gave him gears that he didn't needed. But that wasn't all, he also obtained all the keys from Cyber Space he could, yet no other Emerald showed up. "I guess I do have to keep helping the Koco if I want to get all the Emeralds" Sonic told to himself. And so, as he ran through a green hill, he saw Sunny and Hitch with the Koco, so he approached them slowly. However, they seemed to be too focused on their talk with the Koco, who just kept jumping and talking desperately. Sonic raised and eyebrow and crossed his arms, starting to loose his patience over the two ponies... at least until he heard something, and as he looked on certain direction, he frowned. "You again?!" Sonic asked with a bit of anger. The same girl that attacked him using the Titan appeared, and she had the same cold expression as always. Both Sunny and Hitch noticed her presence as well, with the former frowning as well and the latter raising and eyebrow confused. "Submit" the girl ordered. "Your reckless actions endanger the world" she informed. "Care to explain how saving my friends is a bad thing?" Sonic requested, still frowning. "You are an enemy combatant" the girl replied. "I will not share data with you" she added. "Who's this girl?" Hitch asked confused. "The creep that used that Titan to attack me" Sonic replied. "By the way, don't you think that was kinda overkill?!" he asked to the girl. "You are an enemy to be eliminated, and you are powerless compared to its might" the girl replied coldly. "What is wrong with you?!" Sunny asked with anger. "Sonic is just trying to save us! He wouldn't endanger anyone!" she stated. "And even if he did, is not intentional!" Hitch added, now frowning at the girl as well. "We've seen everything he's willing to do to help anyone who needs it! Like this Koco! He's willing to take a small detour to help them find their true love!" he pointed out, while the Koco hid behind his leg. The girl looked at them with a bored expression. "'Love.' An emotional status too vague and varied in its definition" she said with her eyes closed. "No way. Where did you read that? Wikipedia?" Sonic retorted with a smirk and his arms crossed, while Sunny and Hitch at his side snickered. "UGH!" the girl exclaimed, now feeling annoyed. "You three are too ignorant to be helped!" she stated, before disappearing once again. "Again, who... um, what was that girl?" Hitch asked again. Sonic raised an eyebrow before crossing his arms. "Aside from being a pain? No clue" he said with a smirk. Suddenly, Sunny noticed something as she ran away. Both Hitch and Sonic looked at each other before following her. Once they reached her place, they understood what called her attention: some giant ruins that looked like pyramids. "These look like... homes" Sunny pointed out. "But they're similar to pyramids, right?" Hitch questioned. "Yeah" Sonic affirmed. "I wonder if the Ancients used to live here..." he wondered. "It's beautiful" Sunny said with a small and sad smile. "But there's also a loneliness. Not only this place: The land in general feels sad, and empty" she added with concern. "Yeah, I got the same feeling" Sonic admitted, crossing his arms. "And I think it's tied to the ruins, weird robots, and other stuff we've encountered" he pointed out. "Gotta say, the more we learn about this place, the less we get at the same time" Hitch said with a small frown. "True" Sonic admitted, before smirking. "But on the plus side, I've got plenty of room to run around!" he stated. "And you never know how many new routes you may discover!" Sunny pointed out with a smile. "Yeah!" Sonic cheered. "But I'll try not to have TOO much fun finding a way to restore you, guys!" he assured with a confident smile. Both Sunny and Hitch chuckled a bit after that. Then, Sonic suddenly felt his quills vibrating again, and he took out the mp3 player, seeing that Eggman uploaded new memos. "What is that?" Sunny asked. "A mp3 player I found on Eggman's assets near those metallic platforms" Sonic explained. "Eggman's trapped on Cyber Space as well, so he keeps updating these memos to the mp3 player. Gotta say, I've been discovering new things with each new memo!" he confessed with a smile. "Wanna check out with me?" he asked. "Sure thing!" Hitch said with a smile, while Sunny nodded. Sonic then pressed the play button to hear the new memos. "It appears the Starfall Islands act as the CPU for Cyber Space. Once I'm out of here, I need to secure them at all costs. I'm not able to access the data too readily, but it appears the entire history of the Ancients is recorded here in Cyber Space. More than that! They logged their memories, their desires... it's almost like they encoded their very souls into this place. Now then - how can I use that for my benefit?" the first memo played. "So... Cyber Space is some kind of VR?" Hitch asked. "Yes... and no" Sonic replied. "I don't understand it at all myself, and Eggman has been saying some useful things about Cyber Space, yet is still hard to tell" he pointed out, then pressed the play button again. "Sonic's on the island. Of course Sonic is on the island. I can't remember the last time I had a good night's scheme without him ruining it. Still, for a purely organic creature, obtaining Mach 1 of his own volition is impressive. I'm man enough to admit that" the second new memo played. "Well, there goes the surprise factor" Sonic said with a bored expression. "Still, I'm impressed he compliments me as much as he hates me" he confessed with a smirk. "At least he won't bother us that much" Sunny pointed out, also smiling a little. Then, Sonic pressed the play button again to play the next memo. "It appears Sunny Starscout has been dragged into the mix. Clever girl. Tenacious. She's come a long way since our first meeting on that Winter Wishday. Her Alicorn magic is something fascinating, to tell the truth. Too bad she wastes her potential by allying herself with someone like Sonic" the third memo played. "Of course, Eggman has to mention everyone I'm proud to call my friend and treat them like if I was the problem" Sonic said with an eye roll. "I'm surprised he thinks I have potential" Sunny confessed. "I thought he hated us" she pointed out. "Pretty sure he does, but he also respects us at the same time" Hitch guessed. "Kinda weird, if you ask me" he added, then Sonic pressed the play button again. "Tsk. Hitch Trailblazer is also here. I have to say that it bothers me how straight and fair he gets when nobody listens to him, but I admire how dedicated he is to his work. Anyone else would have given up on the third failed attempt, but he holds his own until the end. I like that kind of attitude; it makes a fight more interesting" the last memo played. "Guess not even Eggman resists my charm!" Hitch said with a smirk. "That, or he's just having manners" Sonic said with a bored expression. "That was the last memo, so I guess it would take a while for new memos to show up" he pointed out. Then, the Koco with the flower arrived and told to Sunny and Hitch to follow them. "She wants us to follow her" Sunny translated to Sonic. "I'll go with you this time" Sonic said. "I don't have anything else to do or find in the island, so staying with you seems like my best option right now" he added with a smile. After a few minutes, the trio arrived alongside the Koco to a zone full of high grass, and the Koco looked with worry as they made gibberish sounds. "Something wrong?" Sonic asked to Sunny and Hitch, since he couldn't understand the Koco. "They say their amore was stationed on the far side of the field" Sunny translated. "'Amore'? Seriously?" Hitch asked Sunny with a smirk and a flirty tone. Sunny blushed a bit and rolled her eyes. "Not now, Hitch..." she said with a little smile. "If you start acting like a married couple in front of the child, I'm outta here" Sonic said with his arms crossed and a bored expression. Now Hitch blushed too, but frowned at Sonic, then rolled his eyes and got back in track. "Anyway. The Koco says that this is the field..." he pointed out. The high grass was blocking the way, and to tell the truth, the grass looked in very bad conditions. "I'm not seeing a lot of farming going on" Sonic pointed out. "Hmm..." Sunny said, placing a hoof on her chin. "Maybe... if you used that new technique of yours, you can clean up all this wild brush?" she suggested. Sonic smirked at her and cracked his hands. "Leave it to me!" he stated, running towards the high grass and using his new ability to take it away. He also had to dodge some bees on the way, but aside from that, he didn't had any problem cleaning up the grass. Once he was finished, the Light Blue Chaos Emerald showed up. Sonic looked at it with a smile, then grabbed it and started to dance once again. He had to enjoy this if he was going to help the Koco, right? After that, he returned with Hitch and Sunny, and he saw the Koco jumping excited. He smiled at the sight, but he also had two questions wondering on his mind. "Hey, guys" Sonic called out. "All this used to be farm land, right?" he asked to them. "Yes" Hitch nodded. "The Koco make it sound like it was abundant, but now..." he pointed out with a concerned look. "I mean... it's grassy?" Sonic pointed out as well with a raised eyebrow. "Well, yes, but... I've seen this kind of recovery in areas Dr. Eggman damaged back in Maretime Bay" Sunny pointed out. "Something ruined this land, and it's barely begun to recover" she added with concern. "Then we need to make sure it has plenty of time to heal" Sonic stated with a smile. "By the way, I've been wondering... how you guys feeling?" he asked. "I mean, what's it like being all ghost-y?" he remarked. "Well, I don't know about you, Hitch, but I don't feel any different since you helped clear my mind, Sonic" Sunny replied. "Same here" Hitch said. "I guess it feels kind of... detached?" he said. "Have you ever flown around in a dream? Like you're lighter than air? That's what it feels like to me, anyway" he explained. "Yeah" Sunny said, agreeing on HItch's words before sighing. "I just wish we could finally land and be whole again" she added with concern. "Hang in there, guys" Sonic assured them with a frown, but not mad a single bit. "I'll figure something out" he stated. Back in Cyber Space, Eggman was once again on his Eggmobile, talking with the girl that attacked Sonic before with the Titan. "Keep tabs on the hedgehog" Eggman instructed. "I want constant updates!" he added. "Yes sir" the girl replied. "And keep looking for a way to get me out of here!" Eggman added with a frown. "I am evaluating all safe options" she informed. "Keep up the good work... Sage" Eggman complimented. "Thank you, Doctor" Sage replied with a smile. "In other manners, I am extending the range of my control, but I can still only command a few of the Ancients' relics at a time" she reported. Eggman rubbed his chin a bit as he heard Sage's new report. "Commendable, but what about finding me a way out of this digital dimension?" he asked a bit irritated. "I have run one million, seven hundred thousand and fifty simulations during this conversation" Sage stated. "There is no scenario to safely remove you from Cyber Space" she reported a bit concerned. "Unacceptable!" Eggman replied, closing the capsule of his Eggmobile. "Keep looking! Make it your number one priority!" he instructed, then boosted away from her. "But..." Sage tried to protest, but Eggman left already. "... Keeping you safe is my priority..." she muttered in worry. Meanwhile, the trio kept following the Koco around, as the Koco jumped away from them. It was already nighttime, meaning they spent the whole day with the Koco. "Don't get too far ahead!" Sunny told the Koco with a worried expression. "Hey, Sunny, she'll be fine" Hitch told her with a little smile. "I mean, she's being on her own for years. A few seconds more won't hurt her" he assured. Sonic, however, felt annoyed, and started to think that helping this Koco was a waste of time. "Maybe we should just let them wrap it up on their own" he said with an annoyed tone. Sunny turned to see him with wide eyes before frowning. "We have to see this through!" she said with anger. "No. We. Don't" Sonic replied coldly, now frowning as well. "We still haven't found Tails nor Zipp, nor any of the rest of our friends!" he pointed out. "We've been wrangling children and taking detours the whole way" he added. Both Sunny and Hitch turned to see the Koco still jumping exciting and moving away, then Sunny growled and looked back at Sonic. "Are you telling me you would leave behind someone in need?" Sunny hissed with rage. "No!" Sonic replied, not able to believe that Sunny, of all ponies, would think something like that from him. "But... I'm also worried about you, guys" he confessed with a worried expression. "You can't help anyone if you're stuck in limbo" he pointed out. Sunny's frown disappeared, and she realized Sonic was right. If she wanted to help, she had to be back on herself, and Hitch as well. "Sunny" Hitch called out now. "Sonic's got a point here. If we really want to help the Koco around, first we need to go back to be ourselves" he pointed out with a smile. "Let's just keep looking for the rest before we can properly help others" he told her. Sunny smiled slowly and softly at him. "Alright" she said, then looked back at Sonic. "Then hurry up and save us too so we can find the others!" she stated with newfound confidence. Sonic smirked at her after this outcome. "Sounds simple enough" he said with confidence as well. "Also, sorry for snapping at you like that" Sunny apologized. "No problem, Sunny-bunny!" Sonic told her in a mocking tone. "Now, let's keep moving!" he stated. The trio followed the Koco around until the sun started to rise again. Amazingly, Sonic didn't seemed to feel tired, yet he did wanted to take a quick nap before keep going. Suddenly, the sky broke on red and glitchy glass, startling the trio. Then, the ground rumbled a bit and a light appeared quickly, but as soon as it was gone, all around them seemed to be turned on a sepia effect. But as if that wasn't weird enough: Sunny, Hitch, the critters and Sparky were back to normal. They looked at each other with confused expressions, then looked at Sonic, who just shrugged since he didn't knew what was going on. Suddenly, they heard explosions, and when they turned to the direction of said explosions, they saw the Koco... but something was different. They grew, and now they had a similar aspect to Chaos, the God of Destruction, but with larger legs, arms and 'quills'. They were running through a battlefield since they looked something, and Sunny tried to follow them, but Sonic grabbed her from a hoof and stopped her, since he didn't wanted her to get hurt. "Don't" Sunny shouted to the Koco. "It's too dangerous!" she added. However, the Koco kept running through the explosions and the attacks, and she finally saw her true love, hiding behind a rock until they felt someone else's presence. They got out of their hideout and saw the other Koco. Despite not having mouths, it was pretty obvious that they both smiled at each other. They ran to each other's arms and embraced in a hug, glad that they felt the exact same for each other. Suddenly, a giant explosion reached the Koco, and it started to expand, making Sonic, Sunny and Hitch to duck down and take cover. However, the explosion finished sooner than they expected, and once they opened their eyes, not only the sepia effect around was gone, but also the weird broken sky effect. And Hitch, Sunny, Sparky and the critters got back to their digital state as well, with the critters making complaining sounds and Sparky making gibberish sounds in disappointment. Then, Sunny noticed the bodies of the Koco on the same place where that explosion happened, and she immediately ran towards them, while Hitch, Sonic and the critters followed walking. Sunny kneeled and looked with sadness at the Koco, while Hitch placed a hoof on her shoulder and Sonic looked on with sadness as well. But the Koco, however, were smiling, because they could finally find each other and now were resting in piece. "They were reunited... right before the end..." Sunny said with a down expression. Hitch then kneeled and moved her head with his hoof so she could face him. "They're together now, and that's what matters" he told her with a smile. Sunny blushed a bit, but ended up smiling back and nodding with a bit of sadness in her eyes. Sonic looked at Sunny and Hitch with a smile as well, then he looked back at the Koco... and he couldn't help but think on Pipp. She was trapped too, and all this 'find your true love' quest made him realize how much he missed her now. Just her voice was enough to calm him down in the worst of the situations, but she wasn't here right now... Sonic shook his head, and looked in front with a determinate expression before looking back at Hitch and Sunny. "You guys rest, I'm going to keep moving" he stated to them. They both nodded at Sonic with smiles, while the hedgehog ran away.