"It seems like this is what happens all the time in my life. Questions. Nothing but questions. But of all the things to happen in my life, this is admittedly the strangest. I'm not in my world anymore, that I can tell, but I'm in one like it. For that matter, just what is with all the horses? Well, they're not really horses, they're ponies by the looks of it, do they rule this land? It shouldn't matter, but why can some of them fly? Just what did the doctor do? What happened again? A machine...and then, nothing, I'm here all of a sudden. I wonder what happened to Sonic, or the others. Hmph, it doesn't concern me. All I care about right now is find the Chaos Emeralds and getting out of here"
He looked down from the branch of the tall tree he sat on off to the distance. When he woke up, he was on the edge of a dark forest. It was no more than a couple minutes ago that he woke. He took notice of a collection of buildings where the many ponies walked about and interacted with each other. He had no reason to investigate where he was thoroughly just yet. He looked off to notice some other things. Namely a farm with a huge collection of apple trees. He saw a fairly sized red pony kicking some of the trees. He couldn't clearly see why. Looking back towards the town, he spotted another individual pony in the town. It was pink and was bouncing up and down for no reason. She was clearly happy about something, she wasn't alone either
"Wait...is that?” he questioned. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the figure alongside the pony. It was blue and unlike the others, it was walking on two feet, looking all around the town, occasionally turning to talk to the pink pony. "Nah, it can't be. If it was....him, he'd be running around for no reason like he always does. Hm" he looked down to the large blue gem he held in his hand. It was glowing slightly. "If I don't find the 7 Chaos Emeralds, I'll never get back"
He jumped from the tree and landed gracefully on the ground below. He figured anywhere would be better to look than here on the edge of the forest. He looked forward and saw a large collection of various animals in perfect harmony, as if they were playing together. But compared to the large house that had even more animals crowding around it, that was normal. There were animals that he knew perfectly well wouldn't get on well with each other, which made it all the more bizarre when they were all together peacefully. He decided to investigate the structure and skated away at a steady speed. Going past several trees and animals, which could only turn to look at the large creature that sped past by them. He didn't know what to find there, but he might find something.
"YOU WANT TO TRY ME TOUGH GUY?!" boomed a female voice. He skidded to a complete stop and turned toward the source of the voice. The voice sounded like it was going to break, as if it wasn't usually this loud, almost like a really loud whisper. He turned to a large oversized brown bear, staring down a small yellow pony. The pony was surprisingly standing on its two hind legs with the other two in some sort of fighting stance. It had a long pink mane with a matching pink tail and it had large yellow wings. It looked at the bear with determination, though the pony didn't look like it could fend for itself against such a beast. It was like a bee trying to attack a eagle, it just wasn't going to work out.
He sighed as he turned toward the bear and held the blue emerald in his hand. "Urgh, no rest for the wicked..." Putting the emerald away, he stretched his legs and arms, as if preparing for a race. In an instant, the hedgehog blasted toward the bear at breakneck speeds, catch the bears attention for a very brief moment and before it could even think about defending itself, he kicked it with such force that the bear flew far into the distance, roaring all the way, as it vanished into the nearby group of tall trees. The ground shook slightly as the bear hit the ground with an audible thud. The yellow pony looked completely startled, her mouth open wide in shock of what she just saw. Merely seconds ago, she was staring face to face with a great bear. Now she was looking a black and red creature that was still in mid-air after kicking her aggressor away, it fell to the ground in front of her and it was still looking off to where it kicked the bear. She took notice of the creature’s appearance.
It was around her height, but stood on two legs. It was mostly black, yet the strange spikes on the back of its head had streaks of red on them. On its chest was a small tuft of white hair. It had striking red eyes and a very serious expression and it wore white gloves with golden rings on its wrists. She took notice of the metal shoes on its feet. They were yellow, black, red and white, but they didn't look like any other pair of shoes that ever existed. He wasn't smiling and it was like he never did.
"Um...thank you kind sir...but the bear really wasn't-" The creature turned toward the yellow pony. She lowered her head slightly. She was thankful for the stranger's help, but there was something unsettling about him. She felt intimidated. "...much of a problem" she finished her sentence. It just looked at her with a serious expression. "My name is Fluttershy. May I ask what is yours?" She nervously smiled.
The creature simply turned and walked away. Fluttershy went after it. She caught up and walked at its side.
"I'm sorry if I came up as ungrateful sir. I really appreciate the help." She said shyly. It looked at her.
"Hmph, its fine" It replied gruffly.
"What is your name?"
It looked into the distance and continued to walk alongside Fluttershy. "I'm Shadow the Hedgehog and you'd best be careful. I might not be around next time" Fluttershy was puzzled. Did he believe she couldn't take care of herself?
"Shadow, huh?...that's a rather fitting name" she said to the black hedgehog. Shadow said nothing in return. Fluttershy had no idea that Shadow was incredibly anti-social. "I'm sorry if I offend you, but for a hedgehog, you look a little...tall"
"Hm. I wouldn't blame you for saying that. I'm not from your world" Shadow said with blunt honesty. Fluttershy didn't quite know what to say in return. Someone from a different world? Was he dangerous? He stopped and turned toward the yellow pony. "Look, if you want to help me. It's best you leave me be, unless you have seen one of these..." Shadow showed Fluttershy the blue Chaos Emerald. She looked at it in awe. "...then we have nothing more to discuss"
"Wow, what a beautiful gem", she said, examining her refection in the emerald.
"Believe me, It's more important and powerful than it looks. Now If you'll excuse me" Shadow then turned as he walked off.
"Wait!" Fluttershy called. Shadow stopped and turned toward the pegasus. "If you’re just looking for gems, then you should come with me. My friend Rarity might have one like that. She has all kinds of gems. She's a dress maker you see." Fluttershy gave off an innocent smile, she was happy to help a stranger who saved her.
"Hm. Why is it I always get tied up with some random person on my missions. Her information will have to do...." Shadow thought to himself. "Alright, take me to this pony you speak of. It's Fluttershy, right?"
"Yes, but there are some things I need to take care of first. Sorry, but please wait, for a bit." and she turned and walked toward the group of animals. Shadow followed after her, hoping not to stuck waiting for hours. Who knows if there was an emerald with this 'Rarity', but he had nothing else to go on. He joined the pony as the sun began to set.