//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Jokes on You // Story: Sonic New World // by ColossalParadox //------------------------------// "HAHAHAHA!!" The entire group of travelers, all except for the Hooves family as they worked on the TARPIS, sat around at an outside cafe. They were all taking a small break from searching for the emeralds in San Franciscolt, sitting and laughing at the jokes they all told to each other. Sonic put on cocky smile and shifted forward from his reclining position and leaned forward to tell his joke to the group. "Okay, Okay, I've got one," Sonic started, clearing his throat afterwards, "So, a horse walks into a-," Sonic paused and opened his eyes he didn't remember closing and looked at the three small fillies anticipating where his joke was going. He very well knew that he couldn't say "bar" for they would most likely be asking what that was and no one was going to want to explain, he was going to have to re-word it. It was only a few moments later until Applejack cut in to find out why he had froze. "Uh, you Ah'right sugarcube? Ya froze up in the middle of your joke," Applejack said in concern. Sonic shot his gaze to her after she had spoken to him and stared at her. He shook his head a couple of seconds later to clear his thoughts. "Uh, Yeah, yeah, I'm alright, I just got distracted, HM HM, let me start again," he commanded rather than asked," So, a horse walks into an ice cream shop," the crusaders seemed intrigued at this, "and walks up to the counter. The vendor notices that the horse is sad, so he leans over and asks 'why the long face'." Sonic finished, with a wide grin. He was met by complete silence, all except for his fox friend that was quietly chuckling in his seat, running schematics on the TARPIS, with permission by the Doctor. The reaction Sonic got from his joke was the complete opposite from what he expected, rather than a boisterous roar of laughs from his friends, he received complete silence and a few hateful gazes from them. Pinkie processed the joke a few times in her head until making an "AH HA" movement with her hoof and leaned up quickly in her seat. "OH, I GET IT...... Hey," she said, placing her hooves on her hips in an angry manner and cast an angry gaze over at Sonic. All Sonic could do from the hateful gazes was to sink down in his seat with a sheepish grin. "To soon?" He asked in a hopeful tone, shrinking down in his chair more when he did not get a response. "HEY, SONIC, IS THAT YOU?" Shouted a voice from a distance. Sonic heaved up from his low position in his chair and perked up his ear to listen, the origin of the voice coming from an all too familiar loudmouth of a friend. Sonic looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from and smiled when his suspicions were proven correct, "Knuckles!" The red echidna ran up to where the group sat in the outside cafe. Sonic quickly stood up from his seat, prepping to welcome the echidna. "What an appropriate and convenient time for you to show up Knuckles," Sonic said in a thankful tone, "Where have you been?" "I was just following the signal you gave out to my handheld, until I see you all sitting here about 10 minutes later. What was the point in making me walk if you were just going to come get me in the first place?" Knuckles asked sternly. "We had no idea you were here, it is just coincidence that we landed in the city you were in," Sonic responded. "Landed? You mean in the Tornado," Knuckles asked. "No," Sonic responded in a flat tone. "Then what?" "Look a couple of inches to your right," Sonic answered. Knuckles slowly turned his head to the right to see what Sonic was talking about. All he saw, however, was the Trio of travelers who were working on a giant blue box. Knuckles cocked his head to the side in confusion and looked back to Sonic for an answer, which Sonic was happy to oblige. "Looks can be deceiving," he said. Knuckles just looked back to the box and gazed at it, wondering how it got them all here. He decided not to worry about it too much and instead ask when they were leaving. "So, can we leave yet," Knuckles asked. "Can't," Sonic responded. "Why not," Knuckles asked in return. "Because the Doctor said the TARPIS needs some repairs," Sonic answered. "Oh, okay, that makes sense, I just have two questions though." "And they would be?" "Who is 'the Doctor' and what is a TARPIS," he asked. "I'm the Doctor," the Doctor answered, drawing Knuckles' attention to him, "and this beautiful machine here is the TARPIS," he finished, giving the TARPIS a few good taps on the side for good measure. Knuckles glared from the Doctor to the TARPIS and back to the Doctor, never keeping his sight on one thing for too long. Knuckles not knowing who the Doctor was reminded Sonic of something important he completely skipped over. "Oh, that's right! Knuckles," Sonic said, drawing his attention, "Let me introduce you to everybody." o.0.o "HAHAHAHA!!" Everyone laughed again and again, this time with the added company of Knuckles once he got to know everybody. He had ordered a drink, the cost courtesy of Twilight, and greedily sipped it from time to time making sure not to drink when someone was telling a joke. Knuckles downed the rest of the drink and sat it back on the table, smacking his lips together to get every drop possible. "Mmm, hey that was pretty good. What was that again?" He asked. "It was a Cocoa Whip-cream surprise," Twilight answered. "Well, I tasted the cocoa and whip cream, but what was the surprise?" "If we somepony told you it wouldn't be a surprise, silly willy," Pinkie answered from out of nowhere, rubbing his head with her hoof and disappearing back to her seat. Knuckles leaned in closer to Sonic after she did to whisper. "She must be a special case," Knuckles whispered. "What do you mean," Sonic whispered back. "I mean, the gears in her head are turning, just not in a syncopated pattern." "Don't worry about it, she grows on ya after a while." "Boy, She would have a blast with Shadow." "I like whispering too," Pinkie said, popping in between Knuckles and Sonic and promptly ending the discussion they were having. Knuckles and Sonic leaned away from each other and decided to have public discussion instead. "So Knuckles, did you by chance happen to find a chaos emerald on the way here," Sonic said aloud, accidentally drawing the attention of everyone else. "Nope," Knuckles responded, leaning his chair back so it was only on two legs, "But now that you mention it," he said, making his sentence a cliffhanger. Everyone leaned closer when it seemed like Knuckles was going to continue. "I did see a poster a back that way with a picture of a singing pony and the grand prize listed for first place was 'a shiny, new type of gemstone never before seen'. If you ask me, that sounds like the description of a chaos emerald," Knuckles said, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. Everyone thought about the important news that had just been revealed to them, contemplating if what Knuckles had described was what it sounded like. They all pondered how they would be able to get it and what they needed to do. "Knuckles, did the poster say what color it was," Tails asked. "I think it said light blue, or something like that," He responded, opening one eye when he did and immediately shutting it afterwards. "That sounds like a definite chaos emerald to me," Tails said. "Doctor, would you check the scanners to see if there is a chaos emerald within about, say, 25 miles," Sonic asked. "Of course, let me step inside for a second and see," the Doctor said, unlocking the TARPIS and walking inside, closing the door behind him. "Didn't you also say that there was a singing pony on the poster," Tails asked. "Yep," Knuckles responded. "OH! That's right!" Rarity blurted, "They are having their annual singing competition here in San Franciscolt. Fillies and colts aged 9-12 will be able to enter and try to win a one of a kind prize. Oh it is an exciting time indeed," Rarity day dreamed. The Doctor finally stepped out of the TARPIS and locked the door behind him, turning to the group when he confirmed it was locked. "Scans confirm a possible trace of an emerald in that direction," he said, pointing his hoof in the direction in which Knuckles said he saw the poster. "Welp, that settles it," Applejack spoke up, "one of ya'll are gonna have to enter that contest and try to win the emerald," she said, looking to the four fillies that were in the group, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky. "That is bit of a bold thing to say Applejack," Twilight said. "But it's true," Sonic cut in, "you don't very well expect us to go in there and steal it do you?" Sonic didn't expect and answer from them, which he smile at. He stood up and walked over to the four young fillies and knelt down to them. "So, one of you is going to play another major role in helping me get back home. I'm glad I decided to bring you with me," Sonic said, getting the Cutie Mark Crusaders to smile and blush a little. They all looked in different directions, not wanting to be the volunteer that goes up on a stage. Applebloom and Scootaloo quickly get the same idea and look to the unicorn that is between them, still pondering who would go. "What about Sweetie Belle," Applebloom suggested first. "WHAT!?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "Yeah, come on Sweetie Belle, you are the best singer out of all of us," Scootaloo encouraged. "But, no, I can't, I-" Sweetie stuttered. "Sweetie Belle," Rarity chimed in, "I must agree that you are a very good singer, but if you do not feel comfortable going up there and singing, then you don't have to." "Oh great, now I'm at a crossroads," Sweetie said, "If I do go on stage, I might mess up and make myself look like an idiot. But if I don't, I'd be letting everypony down. What do I do?" "Hey now," Sonic comforted, putting his finger under Sweetie's chin to raise her gaze up to his, "You won't be letting anyone down by not going up there. It would just be a foolish thing to do because the fact is already established that you are a great singer. Plus, you are a Cutie Mark Crusader, and if I have learned anything, it is that Cutie Mark Crusaders aren't two things." "Strong and brave," Scootaloo guessed. "Smart and fast," Applebloom guessed. Sonic only shook his head. "No, I have learned that a Cutie Mark Crusader is not a quitter, and that a Cutie Mark Crusader is not a loser," the CMC's perked up at this remark, "You are going to win because you are a winner. You won't lose because we know you won't. And if you think the task looks too difficult, do what I do, laugh at it. Show the challenge that is nothing you can't handle, don't even let it think for a second that you think it's hard, don't even pay it a second thought. This is will be like a walk in the park," Sonic finished, his speech seeming to have a very positive affect. Sweetie Belle was now full of courage and a new burning passion that she had never felt before. She knew it was up to her to win the emerald for her friends, especially Sonic. She was even assured that nopony would think differently of her if she lost. She rose her head to look at everypony and put on a cocky grin. "Okay, let's do it." Everyone cheered at her willingness to sing for the emerald. Their small cheer had disturbed the ponies around them, however, so they quieted back down to an acceptable state. They were unsure of what to do next, so they decided to find out when it was. "Knuckles, do you remember catching a glimpse of when the competition was?" Sonic asked. "What's today?" He asked back. "Thursday," Twilight responded. "Tomorrow," he answered. "A'righ, that gives us a whole day of rehearsin'," Applejack said. Everyone got into separate groups and began chatting about what different routines and songs she could sing. The crusaders, however, knew what she was going to be singing. "You know what you're gonna be singin' Sweetie Belle," Applebloom asked. "Yep," she answered, looking between Applebloom and Scootaloo before answering, "the Cutie Mark Crusaders theme."