August 10th, 12 A.D
The distant explosions were finally becoming less frequent as I sprinted through the town, my eyes locked on the largest ship still in the sky. A swarm of black dots flew around it, engaged in a fierce dogfight. Ever so often one would explode as a few of the dots zipped through them.
I had no idea what was happening or who was attacking us, nor did I know who that mysterious creature from earlier was. He saved me after my parents… left me behind. So that was all I needed to know at that moment. Everyone seemed to be fighting in a ferocious battle and I was stuck in the back just trying to get close enough to figure out what was going on. As usual.
“Fawn!” someone yelled from behind me. I did not look back as they caught up to me. “Are you okay?” Shadow Breeze asked as he galloped alongside me in his pony form.
“Yep,” I responded, eyes forward. “Just trying to catch up with everyone.”
“You should stay back here, it’s not safe,” he warned as he flared his wings. “I’ll let your parents know you’re safe.” With that he took to the sky, heading for the fighting.
“Gee, thanks, I’m sure they’ll be happy to know,” I muttered to myself as I continued forward. I genuinely did not think they would care one way or the other. This wasn’t the first time they’d done something like this to me.
They left me, by accident, in the mountains a few years ago during a family vacation. I spent a month alone trying to find my way back, if it hadn’t been for Scamp tracking me down, I’m sure I would have died. Parents didn’t even notice I was gone, it was Spark who raised the alarm. Then there was the time I got kidnapped as a young filly and the kidnappers demanded money for my return. After a few weeks of no response, they felt bad for me and let me go. So that was a massive hit to my emotional state.
Dad thought I was camping that entire time. I don’t even understand the logic of that one.
All in all, I don’t know why they even adopted me. They act like I don’t exist half the time. And some days I wish they had left me in that orphanage. Spark is the only reason I haven’t left, he’s my brother and I love him. He always checks on me, even when he’s not doing so well himself.
The ship ahead suddenly splitting in half in a fiery explosion pulled me out of my own head. I watched as the swarm of dots around it suddenly started dropping, as if they lost the will to keep flying.
I picked up my speed and raced forward, not wanting to miss everything.
Finally after a few minutes I reached the part of town where the heaviest fighting seemed to have taken place. Weird robots, like the one that attacked me, lay everywhere, most laying in pieces. I saw a few of the Bronies and Scamp’s friends standing around a destroyed mech of some kind. Above them I saw my dad just hovering, looking proud of himself.
A frown touched my face as I made it to the group, only a few taking notice of me.
“I’m not done yet!” a pony yelled. After squeezing through the crowd I saw it was Greg. Or I guess his evil clone Professor Dank Kush.
I thought this guy had been banished a long time ago? He had turned against Greg when I was a kid and went on a rampage. The Princesses and Frederic had cast a spell on him that was supposed to have locked him away. Looked like he had gotten out.
What really confused me though was the large round shaped man next to him, with a large mustache and a sinister grin on his face.
“It’s over, bro,” my dad laughed as he landed before them. “You and Egg guy here failed.”
“On the contrary,” the egg-shaped man said in a joyful tone. “It is you all who have failed.”
“We destroyed your Egg Fleet, Eggman,” a blue creature, similar to the one who saved me earlier, said as he stood atop the destroyed mech. “Unless you have another trick up your sleeves, I think we’re done here.”
“This was not the real plan, idiots!” Professor Dank yelled, looking to be very worked up. “All you have done is-“
“Spoilers,” Eggman laughed as he interrupted the green unicorn. “Okay, Sonic and friends. You’ve beaten us. Fair and square. Lock us up and throw away the key.”
“What?! No!” Professor Dank yelled in surprise. “We can still-“
Without warning Eggman withdrew a device and shot Professor Dank with some kind of beam, causing him to collapse.
“Hey!” my dad yelled as he rushed forward.
“He’s just incapacitated,” Eggman chuckled as he held up his hands. “I surrender.”
“No you don’t,” the blue creature said as he jumped down and landed next to Eggman. “What’s your game here?”
“No games, Sonic. You have beaten me. Fair and square.”
“He’s lying,” came a voice from the right. I looked over to see the same dark creature who had saved me earlier. He was glaring at the round man, his arms crossed. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at him, a strange feeling washing over me.
“I know,” the blue one, Sonic, said as he began to tap his foot rapidly.
“Doesn’t matter, he’s surrendered so that’s it. It’s over,” my dad said as he stepped up to the larger man.
“Lance,” Scamp warned as she walked towards them, covered in cuts and bruises. “Let me handle this.”
“I got it,” my dad laughed as he stopped before the large man. “Ready to go to jail, pal?”
“Indeed I am!” Eggman said with a hearty laugh as his hand suddenly shot forward and grabbed my dad by the face. The gauntlet on his hand began to glow the same color as holy energy. Everyone rushed forward as the man let out a joyous sinister laugh. “Toodles!” he said as Sonic went to grab his hand. In a flash, the egg shaped man was gone, leaving everyone, myself included, confused.
“Lance!” my mom screamed as she rushed to my dad. But my dad was still standing, looking perfectly okay. Just a bit confused.
“I’m okay,” he assured us as he turned to face the group. “I just… huh, I don’t know what he just did but nothing feels off.”
“What’d he just do though?” someone in the group asked.
“Nothing good,” Sonic pointed out.
“Well, he’s no longer in this dimension,” Bronwyn said as she stared at a device in her hands. “It looks like he’s returned to his original dimension.”
“I don’t like this,” the dark creature said as he turned to leave.
“Hey, Shadow, we don’t have to leave just yet. We can take some time to enjoy our win and get to know these guys,” Sonic called after him.
“Eggman is up to something,” the dark one, Shadow, replied, still walking away. “We do not have time to play around.”
“Oh come on!” Sonic said as he suddenly zoomed up in front of Shadow. “Loosen up and just enjoy yourself!”
“Never,” Shadow said as he pushed past him. “You can do whatever you want. I’m going back to stop Eggman.”
“We have plenty of time for that later,” Sonic said with a wave of his hand.
“No, we don’t,” Shadow countered as he continued on.
Sonic looked back towards us and gave a shrug. “Well, I’d love to stick around and mingle, but I can’t miss my ride outta here.”
“It’s alright, Sonic,” Scamp called after him. “Thank you for helping us.”
“Don’t mention it. Where ever Eggy goes to cause trouble, I’ll always be there to stop him. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to come back and we can have that feast you were talking about.”
“I’ll hold you to it,” she said, giving a nod and returning to the group. It was at that moment I realized I had been so absorbed in watching Shadow and Sonic that I had not noticed everyone else leaving, taking Professor Dank with them.
Sonic gave a two finger salute before dashing off, heading in the direction Shadow was walking.
As Scamp walked past me, she stopped, regarding me with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t see you during that whole debacle,” she commented.
“Yeah, I was trying to get here but I can only run so fast, Sensei,” I said, giving her a weak smile.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her expression softening.
“Nothing,” I muttered, glancing around her at the two creatures walking away.
“Fawn,” she said calmly.
“They left me behind again,” I admitted, causing her eye to twitch. “If Shadow hadn’t shown up, I think I’d be dead.”
“Fawn I’m so sorry,” she said as she put a hoof on my shoulder. “I’ll talk to them.”
“No, it won’t matter. They didn’t change the last few times you spoke to them,” I said with a sigh. “Besides, I’m already eighteen. I’m way too old to worry about what they think of me.”
“They love you, Fawn,” she assured me.
The memory of the Watcher killing me in front of my dad because I was ‘the least favorite kid’ flashed through my mind. “I guess.”
“They do,” she said as she squeezed my shoulder. “Come by my house tonight. Mallo and I will take you out for dinner while Spark watches Shayla.”
“I might,” I said with a small smile. “Thank you, Sensei.”
“We got your back, kid,” she said with a smile. “See you tonight,” she said as she walked past me. “Just keep your chin up, things always get better. Even when they don’t look like they will.”
I stood there thinking to myself, trying to decide how I felt about the whole situation. My gaze shifted up to see the pair of creatures enter the forest, disappearing from sight.
A thought hit me: I still hadn’t fully thanked Shadow for earlier. He ran off so fast I barely got a word out.
With a small smile I took off after them.
After entering the forest, I continued down the path, keeping my eyes open for them. I was afraid I’d lose them out here, as there were so many branching patches they could have taken. However I stayed on the main one, hoping they were heading for the large clearing at the end of it.
As I walked, I felt my phone vibrate. Pulling it out I was happy to see it was a message from my dad. But my happiness dwindled a bit as I realized it was just a mass text he sent to everyone. It was just a picture of him posing next to the destroyed mech with the caption ‘you guys see me take this fucker down???’.
I opened up our private text conversation and sent him a text. ‘Cool picture dad. I love you.’
A long two minutes passed as I walked in silence, waiting for a reply. He’d read it instantly but had not replied. My chest tightened as I looked back up through our past conversations, seeing it was mostly one sided. Which was okay, he’s very busy most of the time.
Finally, as I neared the clearing, my phone dinged, a large smile appeared on my face as I opened it.
‘Can you buy milk? We’re out. Thanks honey.’
I stared at the message for a long moment, feeling nothing at all.
“I’m just saying, we’re being very rude just kicking butt and dashing like this,” I heard the voice of Sonic say from up ahead.
“I don’t care, I’m leaving,” Shadow’s gruff voice responded.
The pair were standing in the middle of the clearing, a large portal open before them. Shadow was already moving for the portal, while Sonic still seemed on the fence. With him leaving my chance to thank him was slipping away, so I took off sprinting straight for them.
“Whoa, hey there!” Sonic called out with a wave as I approached. Shadow turned his head, coming to a stop as he saw me. “What’s up?” Sonic asked cheerfully.
“I just, uh…” I began, finding myself suddenly at a loss for words as Shadow turned to face me, crossing his arms. “Erm, I wanted to thank you again, for saving me back there.”
Sonic’s smile grew upon hearing this. “Shad, you went out of your way to save an innocent bystander? I’m proud of you buddy!”
Shadow grunted in response. “It was in my way.”
“You do have a heart!” Sonic teased, causing Shadow to glare with a large frown.
He shifted his gaze to me and gave a nod. “You’re welcome. Have a nice life,” he said as he turned and walked through the portal.
“Wait! I-“ I started to say, but he was already gone. I deflated a bit as I stared at the portal.
“Hey, don’t let him get you down,” Sonic said with a reassuring smile. “He saved you because he wanted to, he just can’t admit that.”
“Thanks,” I muttered in response.
“What’s your name?”
“Fawn Greenfield.”
The portal began to slowly shrink behind him, causing him to shrug. “Wish I could hang around and check out your world, but I gotta dash.”
I only nodded in response.
Sonic stepped up to the portal and turned his head to me, giving a two finger salute. “Sayonara, Fawn Greenfield.”
Then he was gone, with the portal still closing.
I just sat there, unsure of how to feel. I didn’t get to properly thank Shadow, or get to even talk to him. And now they’re gone. Unlike the others I can’t freely travel through dimensions, so I couldn’t even follow them. If Betty was here I’d finally take her up on her offer to leave.
My phone buzzed again, prompting me to check it. It was another mass text sent by my dad with a picture of him, mom, and Spark at the Mellowed Pie with a massive amount of food on the table before them. It was captioned ‘The Greenfield victory feast!’.
… they didn’t tell me they were celebrating.
A tear rolled down my face as I stared at the image. Another ‘family’ event I wasn’t told about.
My eyes lifted to the portal, seeing that it was now barely bigger than me. Anger and pain filled me as I threw my phone to the side, and on impulse, stepped through the portal.