"NOT SO FAST!!" One of Celestia's Royal Guards shouted.
"HuaaaAAAHH," was all Sonic could say when he was starting to look back, but soon found that he was no longer able to move his feet and that he was floating about 17 inches off the ground.
With one swift motion of the guard's head he sent Sonic flying towards a cart, the ponies in the immediate avoiding the flying hedgehog as he smashed into the cart, sending bit of wood and hay flying in every direction.
"SONIC!!" Amy shouted from the group, Knuckles and Rouge holding her back from trying to revenge shot the guard or trying to assist Sonic so she herself would not be harmed.
The guard was about to make another attack as he advanced forward, but Celestia stopped him with one word booming from her mouth.
"ENOUGH!!" She commanded.
The guard nodded and stopped his movements of advancing towards the cart to continue his assault on the supposed convict, Amy ever so thankful for the Princess' intervention.
Sonic sat up with a grunt from where he was thrown into the cart, holding his head with his left hand and shaking his head from left to right, trying to clear his vision of the stars. A lot of the ponies and even Celestia watched with jaws agape at how Sonic barely had any scratches on him after the harsh attack. It had never occurred to any of them up until now just how durable the frail looking hedgehog was.
Sonic tried looking around from where he sat, testing to see if his vision was still available and if the stars had cleared. Sonic was distraught, however, as there was still a spot in his vision where a green orb still semi-obstructed his vision.
After a good rubbing of his eyes and looking up again, he noticed that the orb moved on its own through the air and not with his eyes. Sonic did not know how, but the green chaos emerald had literally dropped in from out of nowhere. He knew that they had not acquired the green emerald on their journeys and was not about to allow this window of opportunity to shut right in his face.
Without a second thought, Sonic pointed up into the air in the general direction of the falling emerald and shouted, "EMERALD!"
Following his finger, the entirety of the crowd looked up and saw the little green orb quickly following the direction of gravity back towards the earth.
Shadow, not wasting a moment, made his move. He ran away from the circle and hurdled over a section of the crowd of ponies. He ran up the side of one of the many buildings surrounding the area and jumped away once he reached the apex.
He flew through straight towards the spot where he could intervene with the emerald's downwards movement. After grabbing it, he began to fall back towards the small part of the giant market area in Ponyville. He fell straight towards a street lamp, all the crowd gasping at his questionable motives as fell.
When Shadow got to the appointed spot of his descent where he met the street lamp, he grabbed the neck of the lamp where it extended out of the post to hang the bulb overhead. To slow his moment, he spun around the neck a few times with one hand, releasing his grip when he felt he had slowed down enough to make a landing.
Shadow let go of the lamp when was coming back around to where it looked like he would make another turn, but instead he slingshot away from the lamp to the ground, landing on the ground with a slight thud as he extended one leg out to slow his momentum as he slid to a halt.
Almost eyes were wide at the amazing skill the black hedgehog had just performed, all except his friends who cheered about his performance; Sonic just smiled at the talented hedgehog and gave him a thumbs up in confirmation of a job well done.
Shadow straightened himself out and brushed the dirt that had accumulated in his fur away and looked at Sonic. Shadow closed his eyes and did something that surprised even his friends, all except for Sonic.
Shadow smiled back at Sonic and opened his eyes, also giving Sonic a thumbs up. Sonic chuckled at the new found enthusiasm in his usually dull friend. All these good feelings and awesome moment would have to end soon however as one of Celestia's guards approached Sonic, Shadow, and the rest of the gang. Remembering the situation at hand, Sonic slowly stood up with his hands in the air, now having to accept the consequences of his actions.
The guard pulled out two pairs of shackles and proceeded to place the hoof-cuffs on Sonic's wrists and the others on his ankles, ensuring that Sonic would not be running again anytime soon. He then led Sonic back to his friends who were also being placed in custody. He could see out of the corner of his eye that, thankfully, Shadow was not making things any worse as well and complying with the guard. A nice, short, peaceful walk back to his friends seemed to be out of the question as well.
"That was a really stupid move hedgehog," the guard bluntly stated as they neared his friends.
"Well, I never made myself out to be a genius either. That would be Tails," Sonic said, pointing to his two-tailed friend as best he could.
All of Sonic's friends had upset looks on their faces. They were not used to the prospect of being arrested, especially when they were not involved with the crime. The guards were just afraid that they would be a threat and repeat Sonic's actions, which they knew was highly unlikely. Sonic noticed their depressed looks and decided to try and lighten the mood.
"So how many times does this make it that I was arrested for a crime I didn't commit, Tails?" Sonic asked him, everyone looking to Tails in anticipation of the response.
"This has got to be at least the third time, although us being arrested as well is a whole new feeling. We were outlaws sure, but we were never taken to actual prison. I guess there's a first time for everything," Tails replied in a depressing manner.
No one knew what to do at this point, all hope for trying to prove their innocence seemed lost. Celestia approached Sonic with a look of disappointment, shaking her head before talking to the hedgehog.
"Why?" she asked, "Why did you try to run? That just made everything this much worse," she said. Sonic, his friends, and all the ponies around could hear the sorrow in her voice.
Sonic looked up at her and decided that the truth was the only route to take now. 'No sense in making anything worse' he thought.
"I was going to return eventually, I was just going to try and find evidence of my innocence or discover the true culprit and bring them to justice. If no one here will believe me, then I will make them believe me," he responded.
All the ponies in the crowd turned to each other and began mumbling incoherent conversations. The group was unsure, but they seemed to be discussing their second thoughts on if he was the one that did it. One conversation he COULD make out went roughly like:
"Maybe, just maybe"
"But the photos are unmistakable, it has to be"
"Think of all the good he did for us, there is no way"
"That could have probably just been a ploy to get on our good sides and then strike when our backs were turned"
"Possibly, but then, possibly not. I guess we will have to wait for an official decree, but I retract my statements about him. He is a hero through and through."
Sonic smiled at the thought of that pony thinking he was a hero. Sure he was a great help and was always there in a pinch, but he had never liked the thought of him being some sort of saint or god, he was just doing what he thought was right.
Sonic and his friends were about to be led toward the chariot that would take them to their holding cells where they could not cause anymore "harm", until the Doctor stepped forward. Everyone turned their attention towards him as he stepped right up to Princess Celestia with a look of pure business on his face, Celestia's guards readying themselves in case he tried anything stupid.
"Princess, if I could say, for the time I have had Sonic and the others travel with me I have never met such a being with the will to do the right thing or be afraid to help anypony. I also have to say that during our travels, we have only made short pit stops here in Ponyville to "recharge" as I like to say. We never stayed in town for more than hour each time, that means Sonic would never had have time to decide he was going to go insane and rampage the town. You might have pictures, but I have a TARPIS. You want proof, there's your proof," he stated matter of factually.
The ponies around stared wide eyed at how the Doctor talked to the Princess. This was almost too much for them to bear because the Princess was practically being insulted right and left and she was not even flinching. The all snapped to attention when Celestia cleared her throat.
"Doctor, I appreciate your concern, but I do not have time to watch your box's little disappearing act. I am, believe it or not, on a tight schedule today. I must, with a heavy heart, bring Sonic and his friends back to Canterlot and keep them detained. I beg you not to make any of this harder than it already is," Celestia said, sounding as if she was on the verge of tears, but somehow maintained her composure.
The Doctor opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but decided against it as he noticed the rough time the princess was going through about having to do this; he could already see the purple bags forming under her eyes and the red on her cuticles to warn of oncoming tears. The Doctor simply bowed to her and turned around, walking back up to his family. To which Derpy wrapped him in a nice warm hug and Dinky nuzzled against his right leg. The Doctor smiled and closed his eyes, wrapping a hoof around Derpy as well and hugging her back.
One of Celestia's guards stepped forward.
"I still say that we should take the rest of the ones that traveled with Sonic, in my opinion. They could possibly be accomplices," he announced with a gruff voice. Celestia raised any eyebrow to him.
"Are you implying that my former student, PRINCESS Twilight Sparkle, and the Elements of Harmony, saviors of this land multiple times, would be guilty of treason?"
"Well, when you put it that way..," the guard trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.
Celestia rolled her eyes with a slight smile at the apparent embarrassment the guard was producing. She looked back to the group consisting of Sonic and his friends, frowning when she remembered the matter at hoof. She took one careful step towards them, then paused to take in a deep breath before continuing. She walked up to them slowly, looking down at them as she towered way above their heads. They all looked up to meet her gaze, waiting for the words they dreaded to hear the most.
"I'm.." she choked up, "sorry we have to do this. If you have nothing else to say, then let us proceed to the chariots. Good bye everypony, be safe in the future," she said to Twilight and her friends.
The entire group looked to one another, their shackles clinking and jingling as they turned. It seemed like none of them had anything to say except for one thing.
Sonic turned to Twilight and the others.
"Thanks for helping us look for the chaos emeralds everyone, you have solid to me and my friends since day one and I can't thank you enough. Hopefully this will all get sorted out and we can continue looking for the last two emeralds.Thanks, again," Sonic praised.
After waiting for a moment, Sonic turned back to Princess Celestia and noticed a small tear forming on the edge of both her eyes. He decided not to point it out and nodded to her, signaling him and his friends were ready for departure. She nodded back at them and stepped to the side, pointing her hoof in the direction of the chariots. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge walked in the direction she pointed in, looking almost like a chain gang.
All the ponies watched as they walked, some with sadness in their eyes and a lot with anger on their faces; very few containing neutral emotions. Twilight sniffled a bit and stepped forward so she could project her voice for Sonic and his friends to hear.
"Don't worry Sonic!! We will work on getting the evidence to prove your innocence. Just sit tight and we will come visit you and your friends when we can!" Twilight announced.
Sonic looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her, entrusting his future to her and the rest of the traveling ponies. Sonic was forced to look back ahead as fumbled over a loose piece of gravel. Sonic quickly looked back once more to give her a nod and then turned his attention to the front again, getting smaller and smaller as he walked into the distance with Celestia leading them and Royal Guards on all sides of them. Twilight watched with a frown, but then furrowed her brow and turned to her friends.
"Come on," she commanded, "We've got work to do." Twilight walked past her friends and the family of time travelers and went inside Sugar Cube Corner, everyone assuming she was heading to the TARPIS. They all looked to each other for a moment before following after her, looking to clear Sonic's name before things took a turn for the worse.
o.0.o
In a dark alley back behind Sugar Cube Corner, the spy is busy establishing a connection with her queen. She had only stuck around long enough to hear Sonic and his friends being taken into custody so as to avoid being discovered by Celestia or her guards. She could not wait to tell the queen the good news.
"My Queen, our plan worked all too well. Not only has Sonic been arrested, but Celestia is taking his entire group of friends as well. This has been an amazing accomplishment indeed," the spy boasted.
"Yes, very well done indeed, spy. I believe that is all that is required on your part. Make your way back to base and we will begin preparations for phase two. Our time to rise up again has come to fruition; hurry now, there is no time to waste," Queen Chrysalis commanded.
"Yes, my Queen. Although, none of this would have been possible if it weren't for this chao-,". The spy cut her speech off as she was reaching into her bags for the emerald, but found it to not be there. At this point, the spy began to get cold sweats and started looking around her closest surroundings, searching for the missing emerald. Queen Chrysalis began to get suspicious.
"What is the matter spy? Were you discovered, did something happen?" Queen Chrysalis questioned.
The spy shot upright and answered her in a panicked tone.
"Nope, nothing at all my queen. I will speak to you later. Goodbye!" The spy quickly cut off her mental link with Queen Chrysalis quickly, her chest rising and falling as she hyperventilated.
o.0.o
Queen Chrysalis felt a quick, but sharp pain cross her head from the abrupt mental cut off. She rubbed her head as she contemplated what exactly happened.
"Very peculiar," she wondered out loud, "I hope my most trusted spy did not just lie to me."
o.0.o
The spy slowly backed against the wall of a building, still hyperventilating as she wondered what would happen if she returned without the emerald. She contemplated searching for it before going back, but she also knew that if she took too long they would become suspicious and send others out looking for her.
She looked side to side, hoping that the emerald would somehow magically be there. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't. The realization of what her future dawned on her and shot her head straightforward, uttering three little words.
"I'm done for!"