Sonic ran as fast as he could through the forest, following the direction he saw one of the emeralds go as they scattered from Angel Island. He knew that if he went ahead of Tails and Knuckles, it would give him a chance to get the first emerald and would make the rest of the journey a lot easier. With his gifted speed, Sonic can beat Discord to the emerald, rather than let him get a head start. While running through the forest, he noticed that it started to change as he ran deeper into the woods. After noticing the change, Sonic started slowing down and looked around the new area. The sun started to rise after he walked around for a while.
"Where am I?" he asked himself. He looked at the trees and said, "These trees look too different from the ones from earlier." Realization struck him after he got a better look at the trees. He then said, "Hold on, are these…apple trees?"
Sonic walked up to one of the trees and saw apples on them. He then ran up the top of the hill the apple trees were on and saw a barn, a town, a castle on the side of a mountain far away from the town, a forest to the right of the town, and a cloud sanctuary not too far from the castle. Sonic questioned the place he was at and ran past the apple farm. The sun had completely risen once he arrived in the town. He looked around the place to see if anything was out of the ordinary, especially since he believed that one of the emeralds had been sent to this area. As he looked around the town, Sonic was surprised to see the inhabitants in the town. "Ok, either I'm very tired, or I'm seeing nothing but ponies here," he concluded to himself in disbelief.
As pointed out, the town he was in had nothing but ponies walking around. Some of the ponies he saw were regular ponies, while some had wings and some had a single horn on their foreheads. He was getting a couple of strange looks from some of these ponies, but he paid no attention to them as he walks through the town. Sonic sees a pink pony skipping along with glee, and he decided to talk to this pony since she was the only one not giving him a weird look. He catches her attention and says, "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"
Upon seeing him, the pink pony's response was a prolonged gasp and she ran away, leaving a confused Sonic behind. He shrugged off the odd behavior and started looking for another pony to see if they could be more useful in giving him answers. While Sonic was walking through the town, he felt that the place gave off a very peaceful feel to it. He was never one known for walking, but with the peaceful feeling he was getting from the town, he couldn't help but walk around, smiling to himself.
Sonic eventually found himself in a park, and he spotted a lavender pony with a single horn on her head laying on a bench reading a book. Seeing that he was still getting strange looks from the other ponies, he was hoping that this pony would be more helpful than the last pony he spoke to. Sonic walked up to her and said, "Hello there." The pony paid no attention to him and says, “Hello.” She wasn’t being intentional with this behavior; Twilight Sparkle is known for being very engrossed in her readings to the point that she loses herself whenever she does them. Noticing this and not wanting to waste any time, Sonic tapped on the page she was reading and she instantly snaps out of her concentration seeing the gloved finger. She looks up and sees Sonic, she was a little surprised after she saw him, not familiar with an anthropomorphic hedgehog. He introduced himself to her, his hand already extended out to her, and said, "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. What's your name?" The pony put her hoof in his hand and says, "I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you Sonic."
Sonic says to the purple pony, "I’m sorry if that was rude, but I’m kind of in a hurry. Can you tell me where I am? I'm trying to look for something that belongs to me. Can you also tell me about the ponies here? I've never seen any with wings or horns before." After hearing the questions, Twilight said, "Sure, I don't mind. This place is Ponyville. As you can see, a lot of ponies of different races live here. We have earth ponies, the ponies with wings are known as Pegasus or pegasi for more than one, and the ponies with horns are known as Unicorns, myself included," she finished while pointing to herself. Sonic nodded in understanding, knowing the town he is in and the different kinds of ponies.
"And the farm I ran through as well as that castle?" he asked. She said, "The farm you passed by is known as Sweet Apple Acres, a friend of mine works and lives there. As for the castle, that is my actual home Canterlot. My mentor Princess Celestia had assigned me to live here not too long ago. She and her sister Princess Luna live in that castle and rule all over the land of Equestria." "Equestria? Wow, I didn't think it went that far…" Sonic thought to himself in surprise. Noticing the clouds, he asked, "Are those clouds a sanctuary of some kind, or is it a big cloud formation?" After looking at where he was pointing, Twilight said, "It's a place. The place you're talking about is Cloudsdale. Other pegasi live there, and only the pegasi can live on the clouds. Two of my friends lived there before coming to Ponyville."
An idea suddenly struck her, and she said, "Speaking of my friends, would you like to meet them?" Not wanting to be rude to her, Sonic said, "Sure, I don't mind." And with that, they left the park with Twilight leading the way. After leaving the park, Sonic asked, "Hey Twilight, I bumped into a pink pony when I got here, and she gave me the weirdest response I'll ever get. Do you know her by chance?" Twilight playfully rolled her eyes and said, "Oh that was Pinkie Pie. Was her response a gasp of surprise?" He thought about it and said, "I think so. She just ran away from me after that." Twilight said, "Yeah, she gave me that kind of response when I first got here myself." An idea popped into Twilight's head as she knew what her pink friend had in store for the new guest. With a knowing smile, Twilight said, "Let's go to Sugarcube Corner and check on her, we're already close by." And with that, they were on their way to Sugarcube Corner.
With what Twilight told Sonic, Sugarcube Corner is a bakery where the ponies get their treats. She also told him that Pinkie lives there along with the owners of the place, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They arrived at Sugarcube Corner in no time and upon arrival, to Sonic's surprise, Sugarcube Corner looked like a giant gingerbread house. He shrugged it off and went inside with Twilight. It was dark inside and by the time the lights were turned on, everypony jumped out and yelled, "SURPRISE!" Sonic, to say the least, was surprised by this.
After settling down from the shock, he asked, "What's the occasion?" The same pink pony from before suddenly approached him and said, "It's for you, Mr. Blue Spiky person! I figured with a new person in town, you deserve a nice welcome party." Sonic looked around Sugarcube Corner and had seen streamers, balloons, and a lot of party decorations scattered throughout the room. He scratched his head in amazement at the sight and asked, "How did you do this so fast?" Pinkie said, "I'm the world's best party planner! I know everypony in Ponyville, and I also work here. So, inviting everypony and getting the cakes ready were already easy peasy. Oh, wait right here, I'm going to get my friends here."
Before Sonic could get a word in, Pinkie hopped along, going to get her friends over, leaving a stunned Sonic behind. He turned to Twilight and asked, "Is she like this all the time, or for parties?" She said with a smile, "A little of both. She's a very nice pony don't worry about that. Also, the ponies she will be bringing over are my friends."
Pinkie later returned to Sonic and Twilight with four other ponies and from there, each of the ponies introduced themselves. Pinkie introduced herself first and said, "As Twilight told you I'm Pinkie Pie. I enjoy throwing parties for anypony that's new here." Sonic nodded in response.
The next pony that introduced herself was a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail. She said, "I'm Rarity; I live in Carousel Boutique, designing clothes for my friends and anypony that requests a new dress or outfit for a formal event. I've made dresses for my friends for the Grand Galloping Gala very recently. I take great pride in my work, and any pony who has requested something from me has never been dissatisfied with my designs." Impressed by what he heard, Sonic said, "That sounds cool." She then said, "I'd like to make you a formal outfit later on darling. Just looking at you, I had a sudden inspiration to make something 'dashing' for you." Sonic felt a little uneasy about her request. He was never one to wear clothes, but if she is as good as she says, he couldn't deny her the chance for the outfit. He said, "I'll…consider it. Just no pants"
The next pony to introduce herself was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. She said, "I'm Rainbow Dash. I'm the fastest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale. I've pulled off a Sonic Rainboom a couple of times. The other pegasi and I, handle the weather here in Ponyville." Sonic nodded at what she told him. He then said, "Fastest flyer huh? I've been told that I'm the fastest thing alive." Feeling challenged, Rainbow Dash glares at him suspiciously from his claims and says, "And who says that?" Sonic simply says, "Anyone who knows me, so other than myself, the whole world." Rainbow Dash was fuming at Sonic's cocky behavior, something he didn't pay much attention to. Sonic says, "Tell you what, I'm looking for something that belongs to me. When I'm done with it, I wouldn't mind a race with you to prove it." Rainbow Dash pressed her muzzle to his nose, her magenta eyes glaring into his emerald green eyes. She says, "It's on! Err…" Sonic says with a smile, "Sonic." She repeated herself and said, "It's on Sonic!"
Sonic lightly chuckles at this, seeing that he's already ruffled her feathers with him being himself. The next pony to introduce herself was an orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat, with a yellow mane and tail. She approached him and said, "I'm Applejack. I work on Sweet Apple Acres not too far from here." Remembering the farm, Sonic said, "I ran through that area when I arrived. I'm sorry for trespassing." She then said, "Ah it's nothin' to worry about, as long as you didn't take any of my apples." Breathing a sigh of relief, he said, "No worries there, I didn't take any of them."
After that, Sonic noticed a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, was hiding behind the other ponies. He walked over to the scared pony with caution. Once he was close enough, he said, "And who might you be?" The pony didn't look him in the eye while he was trying to talk to her. She weakly said, "I'm Fluttershy." He heard her speak, but he didn't catch her name. He put a hand next to his ear and said, "What was that? I didn't catch it." The pony said, "I'm Fluttershy," in the same weak tone from before. He was starting to feel impatient, but after catching part of the mare's name, he had a feeling he should keep his cool with her. He then said, "Ok, that time, I heard "shy". Could you please tell me one more time? I won't hurt you; I promise." After hearing him say this, she looked him in the eye and said with a smile, "I'm Fluttershy." He smiled at her after hearing her speak to him without feeling scared. She continued by saying, "I-I take care of the animals at my cottage. It's close to the Everfree Forest."
After meeting everypony, Sonic said with a smile, "It was nice meeting all of you." Wanting to know who he was, Fluttershy timidly asked, "So, who are you, if you don't mind me asking?" After hearing her, he said, "I don't mind." He then flashed a thumb up and said, "My name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm the fastest thing alive, I have saved the planet from destruction on more than one occasion, and I'm a real laid-back kind of person, despite what I go through." Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes at the "fastest thing alive" line, seeing that he takes pride in that title. She thinks to herself, "We'll see how fast your claim really is."
Fluttershy then asked, "Are you alone, or do you have any friends from where you're from?" He said, "I have friends back home. They should be joining me soon for what I'm looking for."
Realization hit Twilight once he mentioned he was looking for something. She decided it was time to see what Sonic was looking for and asked, "Speaking of which, what are you looking for?" Sonic said, "I'm looking for a very special gem called a Chaos Emerald. I've seen one of them fly somewhere in this direction." Rarity asked, "What's a Chaos Emerald, and how many are there?" He replied, "The Chaos Emerald is a stone that holds a great amount of power, and there are seven of them."
Confused about his actions, Applejack asked, "With somethin' that holds so much power in these Chaos Emeralds, why did you let one of them fly here?" Sonic said, "I didn't plan on them scattering across the world, I had a little mishap back where I'm from." All of the ponies looked at him questioningly while he continued to explain the situation to them.
"There was this dark creature that I thought I had defeated a while ago. It showed itself when I told my friend Knuckles to scatter the emeralds," he said. Everypony stared at Sonic in shock when he mentioned a dark creature. He felt a little lost seeing that they had gotten scared already. Rarity was the first to break the silence and asked, "Was this dark creature a giant by any chance?" He looked at the ponies confused to see that they knew the creature already. He slowly answered, "Yes, it was big." Pinkie then asked, "Did it come out of a portal?" After hearing them guess a second time about Time Eater, he then said, "Ok, this is getting a little strange. Do you ponies know something I don't know about the creature?"
Twilight spoke up, and said, "My friends here had nightmares last night. They each told me that they saw a dark creature. Its appearance was smog-like, with clock gears seen behind its arms, as well as its back, and it had blue eyes and a blue mouth that glowed. It had abilities like manipulating time and space, tracker shot beams, lasers, immobilizing spheres, and it can open portals and suck anypony into them."
Sonic stared at them in shock. He was told that dreams usually had a connection to the real world, but this took him by complete surprise. He decided to tell them about Time Eater since each pony has some knowledge of it. He said, "The thing that each of you saw, is known as Time Eater. The abilities that each of you saw, were only the tip of the iceberg. I've witnessed each of those abilities and more myself. I had to team up with my past self to defeat it. All I can say was that that was some birthday bash I had nine months ago. I also have a question for you ponies as well."
Twilight said, "Go ahead and ask." Sonic said, "Do you know a creature by the name of Discord?" The ponies gasped in shock, just hearing the name, "Discord". They all pulled Sonic outside Sugarcube Corner, just so they can talk to him privately and not disturb the party. They said in unison, "What about Discord?" He then said, "I bumped into him while I was on one of my runs. He made it rain chocolate milk on me and he turned the sandy beach I was running on into ice."
Before the ponies could question him any further, Time Eater came out of a portal, causing fear to go through them. Sonic got in front of the ponies, saying he was going to defend them. Time Eater started to tear the houses apart, causing the ponies in the homes to start running from the creature. It opened up a portal and attempted to suck the ponies in. Sonic ran over to the ponies and stood his ground. Time Eater opened a portal in front of Sonic and tried to suck him in, but instead of getting sucked into the portal, he was still standing his ground, not moving an inch. Sonic saw a glowing light on his left wrist. He looked under his glove and saw Chip's necklace glowing, and saw a barrier surrounding him and the ponies he was protecting. "Thank you, Chip," Sonic thought to himself with a smile.
Time Eater tried to attack the barrier, but it repelled its attack, leaving the dark creature frustrated. Time Eater opened another portal and left the area. Twilight and the rest of the ponies came next to Sonic, amazed at what they had seen from him. Before any celebrations could be done, Sonic said, "I think Time Eater is also trying to get the Chaos Emerald here as well." Twilight said, "I think Princess Celestia might have it. We need to go to Canterlot right away."
The ponies went to the train station, got on a train, and headed to Canterlot. Sonic chose to run up there instead. After seeing him run next to the train, the ponies were amazed to see how fast Sonic was going, before he broke the sound barrier to get to the train station, leaving the train behind as he waits for them in Canterlot. Sonic saw that Time Eater was not having it easy looking for the emerald as it continued looking in other areas. "I hope that train gets here soon," he thought to himself impatiently. After a few moments, the train arrived and the ponies rushed out to get to the castle, Sonic joining them behind.
After arriving at the castle, the ponies and Sonic entered to see a worried Princess Celestia pacing herself in the castle. Twilight said, "Princess Celestia, we have a problem over in Ponyville." Celestia then said, "I know Twilight, I've seen the creature not too long ago. Do any of you know what that is and what it might be looking for?" Twilight points her hoof at Sonic and says, "According to Sonic here, the creature is known as Time Eater." He interrupts her and says, "And I believe that Time Eater is here to look for something that belongs to me called a Chaos Emerald, your majesty," he finishes while bowing to Celestia in respect.
She waves off his notion and says, "There is no need to bow Sonic, but I think I might know what you are looking for. A purple object flew into the Canterlot Garden last night. I've had my guards get it and I have it locked away. I mentioned this to Twilight earlier, and if it is what that thing is looking for, then I’m glad that we retrieved it for you Sonic." Sonic was relieved to hear the news that the emerald was safe. He then asks, "May I take the emerald back with me? I'll need it to get rid of Time Eater." She nods to him with a smile and says, "Of course, follow me."
Celestia led Sonic and the six ponies down the hallway to a chamber that the ponies remembered from Discord's release. The ponies grew worried, thinking that he might have taken it as he did with the Elements of Harmony from the last time. Celestia opened the chamber with her magic, and with a sigh of relief, the purple Chaos Emerald was still there. Sonic grabbed the emerald and was glad to have it in his possession.
Applejack said, "Whew, I thought that it was going to be taken or something." Celestia looked at them in confusion and asked, "Why would you think that?" Sonic said, "I was telling the ponies here that I bumped into Discord the other day before Time Eater showed itself in Ponyville." Surprised by this, Celestia said, "Discord?! But these ponies defeated him six months ago." Wondering how it happened, Sonic asked, "How did they defeat him?" Before the other ponies could say anything, Pinkie said, "We used the Elements of Harmony on him last time. He was turned to stone, just like out there."
She pointed her hoof outside to Discord's statue in the Canterlot Garden. It was still in one piece, leaving Celestia confused about how he managed to escape if the statue wasn't destroyed like last time. She then asked, "Sonic, would there be any other things that Time Eater does that we should be worried about?" He then said, "It can bend reality, I guess that it might have done that to get Discord out of the statue that you are telling me about." A voice suddenly says in excitement, "Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Give the hedgehog a prize."
Everyone started looking around to try and find Discord, but his voice was echoing in the castle just like last time. He then appeared in front of everyone. Sonic gripped the purple emerald and was ready to fight him if he tried something. Discord saw the emerald in his hand and said, "I'm here for that Chaos Emerald." Sonic said, "You're not getting this from me without a fight Discord!" He shook his head and ask in annoyance, "Ugh! Why does everyone always want to do things the hard way?"
Sonic whispered to the ponies and said, "Everypony listen, if those Elements of Harmony you were talking about earlier stopped him last time, I'd say go get them." Also whispering, Twilight said, "But we don't want you to be stuck with him on your own. We'll stay and help you." He then said, "As much as I appreciate it, I can handle him on my own, I don't want anything to happen to either of you if you stay. Plus, I have one of the Chaos Emeralds, I should be able to hold my own."
Twilight and her friends nodded in understanding and left the castle. Discord was about to use his magic to stop them, but Sonic stepped in front of him and kept him from using his magic. He glares at him; Discord sees the fire in Sonic’s eyes as he was showing him that he wasn’t going to back down, or let anyone get hurt on his watch. He rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, you'll do for now hedgehog."
Discord then snapped his fingers and teleported him and Sonic outside the castle. The fight between them started, Discord started by trying to blast Sonic with purple spheres. He dodged them with ease and had a grin on his face afterward. He then said, "Time Eater has taught you some tricks I'm guessing." Discord said with a smug look on his face, "You could say that."
Sonic then pulled out the purple emerald and fired powerful chaos energy at Discord. He dodged it, but Sonic ran with great speed and punched him in the face, sending him flying backward. Discord rubbed the hit off with his eagle claw. Sonic stood his ground and was charging up powerful chaos energy with the purple emerald. Discord, seeing this, was about to attack again, but Time Eater showed up and grabbed him, pulling him into the portal and out of the fight. Sonic saw Time Eater and fired a Chaos Spear from the emerald, but Time Eater disappeared into the portal before it made contact.
Celestia asked in surprise, "The fight's already over?" Sonic said, "No, they’re going to try and get the other Chaos Emeralds.
There are six other emeralds out there." She said, "I see. Would you mind if I assigned Twilight and her friends to accompany you to get the remaining emeralds?" He said, "No, I don't mind at all. Thank you, princess," finishing with another bow. Celestia said, "Thank you Sonic, and good luck. The fate of the world rests in your hands as well as the ponies' hooves."
Discord and Time Eater arrived back in the Center of Time. Discord was furious with Time Eater for stopping the fight, but before he could say anything, Time Eater yelled, "I told you Sonic was a lot stronger than he looked! He even had one of the Chaos Emeralds and you still try and fight him!" Discord retorted by saying, "I had the plan to fight back!"
Time Eater sternly said, "You listen here! I need your chaos powers around to help me defeat Sonic! If you are killed before I get my revenge, it won't do me any favors!"
Discord sighed in defeat and said, "Fine, so what do we do now?"
Time Eater said, "We must get the other emeralds to help us out. There are six more out there, all we have to do is find them before Sonic and the ponies do."
The ponies arrived at Twilight's home and got the Elements of Harmony out of the book from last time. They were about to leave until Spike burped up a scroll from Princess Celestia. He opened the letter and read it to everypony. It read:
Dear Twilight,
I have assigned you and your friends each an important task. I am assigning you all to accompany Sonic on his mission to collect the remaining Chaos Emeralds that he needs to look for across the world. I also advise you to take the Elements of Harmony with you so you can use them on Discord once again. Don't worry if Sonic chooses to not have you join him on his quest, he has already agreed to this and is looking forward to you all joining him. The fate of Equestria, as well as the rest of the world, rests in your hooves.
Signed,
Princess Celestia
After Spike finished reading the letter to the ponies, Sonic had already arrived outside the library and said, "I see you got the message from the princess." The ponies turned to see him standing there. Fluttershy said, "Yes, we have." He then said, "Ok, let's move out everypony." Before he could leave, Sonic noticed a purple dragon and asked, "Who's the dragon?"
Twilight realized this and said, "Oh, right, you haven't met him yet. This is Spike, he is a baby dragon, and more importantly, he’s my number one assistant. Spike this is Sonic the Hedgehog. Spike put his hand out and said, "Nice to meet you Sonic." Sonic grabbed his claw and said, "Same here little guy."
After the quick introduction, Sonic asked, "Is everypony ready to go on an adventure?" The ponies all nodded, saying they were ready to go get the remaining Chaos Emeralds. Everyone stepped outside and they were about to head out, when they heard a few voices yelling, "Sonic!" He knew who the voices belonged to and smiled. Everyone waited and a few minutes later, Tails and Knuckles arrived in Ponyville.
Sonic said, "Everypony, these are a few of my friends here. The one with two tails is Miles Prower, but my friends and I call him Tails, and this is the red echidna I mentioned before, his name is Knuckles. Guys, these ponies are Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy." After everyone exchanged their hellos, Sonic was caught in a hug. His suspicions of who was hugging him were confirmed after he heard the voice say, "Sonic! I knew I'd find you!" He said, "Amy? How did you get here?" Amy simply said, "Tails told me where you were, and I followed his directions after he told me." Sonic rolled his eyes at her response but smiled to himself.
Starting to feel embarrassed, Sonic said, "Do you mind letting me go? I and some friends of mine need to save the world again." After letting him go, Amy asked, "Can I join you?" He was going to say no, but he knew she was going to join him even if he did. He then said, "Sure, with what we are dealing with, we need all the help we can get."
Amy then introduced herself to each of the ponies and with that, Sonic and the gang were ready to leave Ponyville. Tails' radar a nearby emerald from where they are. Sonic said, "Everyone gather around me, I don't want anyone getting left behind." After everyone was close to him, he raised the purple emerald and used Chaos Control to teleport everyone to the next emerald's spot.
One emerald down, six to go!