"Welp, I guess this is it," Sonic said as the entire crew stood at the border from the edge of the Aristocratic Quarters looking out at the desert.
"Wow, I am starting to sweat already and we haven't even moved," Twilight said as she wiped her brow.
"Did you pack enough water for everyone," Sonic asked Twilight.
"Yep, I packed about 10 canteens of water, each worth about 2 bottles of water," Twilight responded.
"Cool, hopefully that will be enough to get in and get out before we run out or gets dark."
Sonic turned to look at the group of anxious and excited ponies. The crusaders seemed to be acting the bravest of the group, talking about what they would do if they ran into any monsters out in the desert. She was hard to see, but Sonic noticed Fluttershy cowering and shivering in the very back, covering her head with her hooves. Rainbow Dash was trying to pep talk her into getting her psyched up for the expedition, doing that though was like trying to talk to a brick wall. Rarity was trying to talk her way out of going into the desert claiming that it would "ruin her complexion", Applejack would not allow her to, countering by saying Sonic needed their help with finding the emerald. Pinkie Pie was just hopping up and down while continuously asking when they would be going. Sonic looked up to Twilight and Twilight looked down at Sonic. They both stared at each other, sending a mental message to one another. Sonic gave a slight nod to Twilight and stepped up to the group, prepping for a speech.
"Alright everyone," Sonic said, getting their attention, "It may or may not be dangerous in this desert, so I want all of you to stay close to me, no splitting up and no going off on your own to explore something that caught your eye. Stay in the group, stay close to me, and stay safe. Is everyone ready," Sonic was met with silence, "Good, let's move out!" Sonic said as he turned around and pointed out towards the desert. Marching, leading the group into the unknown.
o.0.o
"Oooh, this is so boring," Zomom said as he sat up straight on the rock he was on, "Dr. Eggman said that I was supposed to watch out for the blue morsel and stop him from getting too close to the emerald, but I haven't seen it or him yet and it is almost lunch time. Or is it dinner time? Oh well, either way, it is time to eat." Zomom pulled a huge sandwich from his supposed back pocket and was about to take a bite until he saw something in the distance.
"Huh?" Was all he could ask himself as he watched the figures in the distance, not noticing the sandwich slipping out of his grasp. The sandwich fully slid out and landed on the ground with a pitiful plop. Zomom looked down at the sandwich and stared at it for a short while until the saddening realization hit him. "OH, DARN IT, whoever made me drop my sandwich is going to pay," he said as he jumped to his feet to stand on the rock, shaping his hands into a crude pair of binoculars and staring out at the silhouettes.
"Hmm, *GASP*, IT'S THAT BLUE HEDGEHOG, I guess it is time or action now," Zomom said to himself. He jumped to the ground, causing a miniature earthquake in the process, and began stomping on the ground in rapid succession. "Hey you, wake up, it is time to fight," he yelled at the ground. After a few more stomps the ground began to shake on its own. Zomom felt the vibrations and jumped out of the way just in time for a giant, 10 story tall worm with teeth going around the entire circumference of its mouth, to pop out of the ground. Zomom looked up at the worm waiting for it to notice him. The worm looked around for the source that was disturbing it until it looked down and saw its master standing a mere 2 feet away.
"Hey, that blue snack is on his way, you know what to do. Eat him, crush him, anything. Although I prefer eating him, no use letting him go to waste. Got it?" The worm gave an ear killing screech in response. "Good, now go get him." The worm obeyed its master's command and dove underground again, heading towards Sonic and his group's location. "Now I will make another sandwich."
o.0.o
"Um," Fluttershy umed, "Excuse me, but does anyone else feel that?" The group stopped in their tracks at Fluttershy's question to feel what she was talking about. The group all felt a slight vibration underneath their hooves, which worried Sonic for he had felt a vibration like this before. Sonic knelt down to both knees and put his ear to the ground to listen. The group noticed him, and they all eyed Twilight to ask him what he was doing. Twilight got their message and walked over to Sonic to see what was up.
"Uh, Sonic, what are you-"
"Sh, I am listening, because I've felt this kind of quake before." Sonic focused very intently on the ground, listening to what possible threat lie underneath. Sonic's eyes widened as he heard the screech of the all too known well animal. Sonic shot to his feet and turned to the group.
"EVERYONE, JUMP," Sonic exclaimed as he jumped to the side, followed by the others. They were just in time as the giant worm shot out of the ground and screeched, causing a visible air-wave to rip the sky.
"WHAT IS THAT THING," Twilight frantically asked turning to Sonic, waiting for a response.
"It's a Sandworm, but I thought they were only found on the Lost Hex in my world, have you ever read a book that mentioned one of these things?"
"None that I've read, but we have a lot of mystical creatures in our world. I am sure all of them would have been cataloged though, so I am not sure."
Everyone stared at the worm that looked around for its target. It searched every direction but wasn't getting any good signs. The group was glad that it was confused and couldn't find them, until it dreadfully looked down upon them, taking a keen interest in Sonic's position. Sonic knew the worm was after him, but everyone that was close would also be harmed as well, so that is why he knew there was only one thing to do.
"Everyone, run, find some type of shelter while I take care of this thing."
"Sonic, have you ever fought one of these things before," Scootaloo asked.
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?"
"I have encountered them before, I just never fought one of this size before because they didn't have a very clear weak point."
"Oh, well, we believe in you Sonic, we know you can do it."
"Thanks, I just hope you're right, now GO, RUN!!" Everyone obeyed Sonic's command and ran behind some big piles of rocks that were nearby, peaking over them to watch the action that was about to take place. "Now, as for you," Sonic said, pointing at the giant blue worm in front of him, coaxing it to roar at him. Sonic started to run around the worm in circles, confusing it and making it dizzy. This caused it to keel over and fall to the ground. Sonic saw his opportunity at the exposed, weak under belly. He jumped, locked onto it, and with one quick motion he shot through the air and struck it head on. The worm gave out a screech of pain in response to the attack. The crusaders all went "Cooool" in unison at the action. The worm wasn't finished though, it got up and shook off the pain before diving down underground.
Sonic knew what was coming, and stopped to listen for the worm. He closed his eyes and concentrated all his senses on his feet, feeling for any kind of vibration. As he predicted, he felt the worm coming straight at him underneath and jumped to the side just in the nick of time. The worm got frustrated at this point and decided that physical attacks are too slow. The worm stated to hack and cough, causing some sort of bulge to make its way up its serpentine body. Sonic knew what attack this was and was quick to dodge it. The worm shot out ball after ball of purple acid at Sonic's locations, missing everyone of them.
Sonic dodged and attacked the worm's weak spot every chance he got, but was starting to get agitated and tired at the worm and decided it was time to end it. Sonic started to pick up his speed and ran towards the worm, dodging any and all acid it shot at him and ran around the worm's body to the very top. When he was at the top he jumped away from its face and did a Sonic Wind/ Homing Attack combo, dazing the worm and nearly knocking it out. Sonic landed on his feet and ran towards a giant rock that had concave shape to it. He ran up the rock's shape and turned almost immediately to start charging up a Spin Attack. Sonic's spin speed gained more and more with every second of power he charged until finally, he shot. Sonic rocketed down the rock and blasted past the group of ponies, blowing a gust of wind in their faces, Sonic could hear a faint voice of one of them complaining about their hair.
Sonic neared the worm after every passing second. He finally made it to the worm and blasted through its weak spot, causing the worm to rear up and screech in pain. Sonic rolled out of the other side and back towards the group, getting out of his spin attack and standing to look at the worm. Its screeches rang throughout the entire desert and into the streets of Saddle Arabia, causing everypony to stop and try to deduce where the sound was coming from. They quickly stopped caring, however, and went along with their business.
The group came out from behind the rocks and watched as the worm screeched for what seemed like hours, no one in the group seemed to be fazed except for Fluttershy, sniffling and crying at the pain it was in.
"Oh stop crying Fluttershy, there is no use in getting upset over a monster like that," Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy stopped immediately and turned slowly around to look at Rainbow Dash.
"How dare you. That is a living creature and it is in pain because of him," she said, pointing an accusatory hoof at Sonic. "Oh the poor baby, I can only imagine the pain he's in."
"Uh, Equestria to Fluttershy, did you miss the part where that thing tried to EAT US, we were lucky Sonic was here to stop it," Rainbow Dash countered.
"I am sure he didn't mean it, maybe all he needed was somepony to care and love him, perhaps he was just misunderstood, he didn't need to be assaulted."
"Oh, I understood him alright, he was crystal clear on what his intentions were, we all need to be thanking Sonic for what he did. Without him, we would all probably be-," Rainbow Dash was interrupted when Sonic held up his hand to stop Rainbow Dash from talking and signaling that he wanted to say something. Rainbow Dash nodded and backed down to allow Sonic to talk to Fluttershy. He came up to her slowly and knelt down, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Fluttershy, I know you have a deep passion and love for animals. But most of the things Rainbow Dash said were true, that thing was out to harm, well technically me, but it would have also attacked you all too if it got the chance. I was not going to allow it to have that chance. Yes, it may be screeching in pain right now, but it is still a worm. A worm can recover from all sorts of different kinds of injuries," Sonic put his hand underneath Fluttershy's chin in order to get her to look him in the eye, "This worm will more than likely recover, this was just to show it not to mess with us. So, don't worry your pretty little head, this worm will be fine." After Sonic's words, the worm stopped screeching and seemed as if it were choking. Sonic's eyes widened at what he predicted it to be doing.
"Everyone, behind the rocks, NOW!!" The group nodded at Sonic's command and sheltered themselves behind the rocks, looking over them to see what it and what Sonic would do. Sonic ran to the other side of the worms vision, away from the group so the acid wouldn't splash them, but it did not turn. This worried Sonic as he thought the worm was aiming to blast them with acid.
"Everyone, DUCK," Sonic yelled to the group in order for them to be safe from the worm's attack. They all hid themselves behind the rocks and awaited Sonic's next command. After a few more hacks and coughs, the worm finally shot out what was choking it and fell to the ground, but it did not shoot out what Sonic expected it to be; the others looked out as well to see what it was. A shiny ball of yellow light shot through the air towards the group and over them from the force of the cough. Sonic and the group immediately recognized what it was, a chaos emerald.
"I'VE GOT IT," Rainbow Dash yelled, taking off towards the sky in chase of the emerald. Sonic was quick on his feet too, running after Rainbow Dash in order to catch the flying emerald. Rainbow Dash caught up to the emerald and tried to grab it, but all she did was fumble with it and caused it to start falling towards the ground. "Oh man," she said as it started falling. Sonic, however, was coming up that same concave rock formation and shooting off the top to intercept the falling emerald. He caught it in mid flight and landed on the ground, sliding to a stop in front of the group. Rainbow Dash landed behind Sonic with wide eyes, amazed at the stunt he just performed. "Wow," was all she could say.
Sonic held out the emerald to the group to allow them to see the emerald. Everyone gathered in a circle and stared down at it. They became mesmerized at the shininess of the emerald, excited and scared at the power that was contained inside of it. Sonic chuckled at all of their admiration and got their attention.
"One down, six to go," Sonic said with a new found confidence. Sonic stowed the emerald in his "pocket" and walked around the rocks to the worm, followed by the group. Sonic tapped on its cheek and stepped back to allow the others to examine it. Fluttershy was the most anxious about the worm.
"I-is it-," Fluttershy stuttered.
"No," Sonic responded immediately, "No, it is just knocked out from pain and exhaustion. It should be moving here soon so we should probably get going. We sure showed it though huh?" All Sonic got in response was a cold glare from Fluttershy. His smile disappeared instantaneously and cleared his throat. "Anyway, we should probably get goi-," Sonic was interrupted as the worm slowly got up and shook its head. The worm looked at Sonic and the group for a moment before giving and angry screech and dove underground. It was too silent for what just happened and Sonic decided it was time to leave.
Sonic was about to open his mouth until he noticed that everyone was moving, and so was he. Everyone started panicking and started yelling for help to get them out. The worm had started and whirlpool of sand underneath them, it was far from being defeated. Sonic couldn't think while everyone was in a panicked state so he did the only thing he could do, run.
"He used every ounce of strength in his body to run around the whirlpool and grabbed one pony at a time. He could not hold on to all of them at once so he told them to start a chain. The chain consisted of Sonic at the front, followed by Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and the 3 crusaders. They all held on to each other for dear life and prayed that Sonic could save them from the huge whirlpool of sandy death.
Sonic did not have enough energy to run all the way out of the sand-trap. Sonic felt that this might have been the end for them. The whirlpool increased in speed with every passing moment, Sonic was weak from dehydration, and was slowly moving away from the edge of their freedom. He frantically reached for the edge of the ground and put all his strength into running to it, but it was all for not as he barely kept them in the spot the were in now. Sonic looked back at the others with tears in his eyes and gave them a look that said "Were not going to make it". They all frowned and looked down with their eyes closed, thinking that at least they were going to go together. Sonic felt the last of his hope slipping away and accepted the truth of their demise, until they all heard a strange sound.
They all looked up and watched amazed as a strange, blue, wooden box appeared out of nowhere. They continued to watch it until it fully faded into reality and the sound stopped. Without much time to think, the doors opened up to them and a caramel stallion with a spiked back, black mane and a blue suit with a white tie appeared in the doors. He held out his hoof to Sonic and said, "Come with me if you want to live." Without a second thought, Sonic grabbed his hoof.
"Alright, ready in there, ONE, TWO, THREEE," he counted as he heaved the group into the box. They all tumbled inside and the doors closed behind them. They all looked inside at the strange place, what they thought was just a small box made of wood was an entire building on the inside. Sonic turned to look at the strange stallion that had just saved them and was met with a knowing smile. "Yep, it's bigger on the inside, I've noticed," the unknown stallion said, somehow knowing what Sonic would say.
Sonic looked around the room at everyone else to see if they were alright, but noticed there were two others that were recently not in his group. A gray mare with blonde hair and bubbles for a cutie mark and a unicorn filly with a more purplish coat. They both waved at Sonic with sheepish smiles, which made Sonic turn back towards the stallion in question who was walking towards a big control panel.
"Who are you," Sonic asked the stallion, who chuckled at his question; almost expecting him to ask it. The stallion slowly turned around to Sonic to answer his question.
"I'm the Doctor."