//------------------------------// // Run Through Speed Highway (Old) // Story: My Little Hedgehog: Redux // by TheOtherOne41 //------------------------------// Because this is the 10th chapter (actually 11th due to 2 being merged, but I digress) I will release a few more hints about the story. Namely themes. Also, I took the time to fill in some parts of the story. I rushed the ending so I tidied it up a little. There is some new dialogue and some changes. The moon shone brightly over the city. Its brightness only adding to the infinite amount of lights surrounding Speed Highway. Lampposts and lights from the tall skyscrapers caused a single aura of light to surround the cityscape. On top of a large stretch of road stood 4 figures. A hedgehog, a cat and 2 ponies. The hedgehog and one of the ponies looked eager to go through the highway. The other 2 looked less that pleased to do so. "What's the matter Blaze? Scared of heights?" Sonic asked with a grin. Blaze focused on the tarmac below, trying not to look over the sides of the road to the tiny looking streets below them. They were after all very, very high up from the ground. Rarity on the other hand was very curiously looking over the sides of the highway, in awe of her surroundings. "This place is simply dazzling! I wish I could have seen this place before", she exclaimed happily. "Yeah, I've been here a few times in my life. It's a good run", Sonic replied. "It's full of loops, corkscrews and other awesome stuff. It practically goes up, down and all around" "Sounds like my kinda place!" said Rainbow Dash. "You ready to run this thing?" "Sure! Let's go!" and he blasted down the hill. Rainbow followed him. At the end of the hill was a large loop, and without stopping, Sonic went right round it and continued on through the twists and turns of the highway. Rainbow Dash flew through the loop at incredible speeds and dashed after Sonic. The two disappeared into the distance, leaving Rarity and Blaze by themselves at the beginning on the road. Rarity awkwardly looked at Blaze. "So....." Rarity started. Blaze turned to her, paying attention. "Why did the others split-up again, I was half listening" "Shadow run off. He said something about 'the emerald's power' and Fluttershy and Twilight went after him. As for the other two, I dunno. I think they are just wandering the city" Blaze looked at the ground, her feet suddenly became interesting. "You know, I'm sorry for demanding the emerald off of you" "Oh, it's quite alright. i was probably going to use it for a dress anyway, and you have a much bigger use for it" she replied. "You make dresses?" "Of course. I'm a fashion designer after all. Though I must say I have never seen a dress like yours Princess Blaze" Blaze gave her a smile. "Please, don't call me a princess. But thank you, you should show me some of your work when we have time. I'm quite interested", Blaze replied. Rarity's eyes lit up. "Oh I shall! I can see this as the beginning of a beautiful friendship" Rarity exclaimed. She gave Blaze a friendly hug in return. Blaze stood there frozen at this sudden act, though she remained grateful. She was beginning to like Rarity, the same way she did when she met Cream for the first time a long time ago. She let go and returned to the road. "So, are you going to run this thing?" Rarity leapt onto Blaze's back, she turned to give her a look of confusion. "What do you think you are doing?!” she demanded. "Well I can't run as fast as you, or teleport so how do I keep up?" she explained. Blaze sighed. She hoped this friendship didn't completely consist of this. It was how horses usually work. But in reverse. "Ok fine, but I am a little afraid of extreme heights...so I might have to close my eyes at some points. Hold on tight by the way" "Wait what?!", Rarity cried. Without answer, Blaze ran right down the hill. Rarity held on for dear life, screaming in Blaze's ear, which caused Blaze to react. "STOP YELLING AND START DIRECTING!!", she screamed back at her. "LOOP COMING UP!!", Rarity yelled. The two yelled all the way around the loop. When they were done, Blaze stopped yelling, but that didn't stop Rarity as she screamed directions directly into her ears. "LEFT! RIGHT! RIGHT AGAIN! LEFT!" as the two boosted through the track. Meanwhile, much further ahead, Rainbow Dash was through the air. She looked down the notice that Sonic was not there anymore, there was no road left either. Before she could think about where he was, a helicopter flew right up beside her. She looked at the bottom of it to notice a familiar blue hedgehog hanging onto the side. He gave her a salute as they flew through the air together which Rainbow Dash happily returned. She flew at the side of the helicopter, making sure not to get to close to the blades. After a while, Sonic dropped from the helicopter and effectively skydived to a small platform attached to a tall skyscraper. He somehow landed gracefully despite the fall. He leapt onto the side of the building and ran straight up it, until hitting a platform to stand on, connected to the side of the building. Rainbow was already there waiting for him. "Dead end. What do we do now?", Rainbow asked. Before she could answer, the 2 were drawn to the sound of a pony screaming. They looked over to see Rarity and Blaze making a massive jump over from the building they were previously on and witnessed the ridiculous sight of Rarity hanging onto the poor cat. Blaze had always been able to jump higher than Sonic, she wasn't as fast as him though. The two began to descend toward the ground at the halfway point. Rarity's screams got louder at the prospect of her doom. Blaze clenched her eyes shut tights and drew her arms and legs close to her chest. A ball of flames formed in front of her. Rarity stopped screaming for a few seconds and stared at what was happening. Rainbow was as well, yet Sonic looked at it as if it was 'run-of-the-mill' Blaze threw her arms and legs back as an aura of fire enveloped her, she blasted forward toward the platform as she managed to boost in mid-air. Rarity started screaming again as they completed the gap. Blaze landed on the platform with a hand on the ground. Her landing shook the ground a little due to the speed she was going at. Rarity finally let go as an annoyed Blaze looked at her, flames still burning off her body. "Heh...sorry about the screaming...", Rarity muttered scratching her head. Blaze rolled her eyes and looked toward Sonic and Rainbow Dash, the latter was standing in awe. "How did you do that?!", asked Rainbow Dash with almost child-like curiosity. Blaze gave her a small smirk. "Just a little thing I have always been able to do. She brought up a hand and as if out of nowhere, flames danced around her fingers. The sight amazed the two ponies, but not the hedgehog. He gave her a small smile, which Blaze happily returned. "So, what's the situation?" She walked to the end of the platform. It was based on a hole in the building, at the end was a glass hanger. The 4 went over to the end, with Sonic continuing to the glass floor of the hanger. He looked down the streets below. "So...what now?", asked Rarity. Sonic smiled to them and motioned them to stand next to him. Cautiously, Rarity and Blaze stepped forward onto the glass, with Rainbow Dash doing so with no problems. It creaked loudly under the weight of the 4, and all 3 turned to Sonic, who had a rather malicious grin on his face. He raised his foot high off the ground. Blaze's face froze with horror. "No, SONIC DON'T!", but her pleas were ignored as Sonic plunged his foot hard onto the glass. Large cracks forming over the glass as it began to give way... "GOING DOOOOOWN!!!", he yelled at the top of his voice. The glass completely broke and the 4 fell through the floor. Sonic immediately started to run down the building. Rainbow simply began to fly down alongside him, Rarity under her arm, who instantly started screaming. Blaze on the other hand tried to run down the side of the building at Sonic's side. It was all going well before her fear of heights got the worst of her as she lost her footing on the building. Sonic grabbed her and held her in his arms. He was boosting, a blue aura forming around them, with a hint of fire due to Blaze's influence. On the ground was Applejack and Pinkie Pie, gaping at the surroundings. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around the city with glee. "Wow! This place is huuuuuuuuuuuuge!!!" she shouted with glee. "Yeah it is", Applejack agreed. "Hey...what's that there noise?" she asked, looking around in all directions. "Does it sound like a pony screaming?" replied Pinkie. "Uh...yeah..." "Then it's that up there!" she shouted, pointing up the building next to them. A blue, purple, cyan and white speck was blasting down the building toward them. "Is that Sonic, Rainbow, Blaze and Rarity?" "Whatever it is, IT'S HEADING OUR WAY!! RUN!!" Applejack shouted out loud. She got out of the way quickly. Pinkie actually walked away from the building calmly. At that point, the 4 to a wild turn to the ground, Rainbow stopped flying and dropped Rarity down. Sonic on the other hand jumped from the side and slammed into the ground, small cracks forming on the hard concrete from the impact. He set the distressed Blaze down and stood silently. Unexpectedly, he threw his arms into the air triumphantly. "WOO! That was awesome!", he yelled happily. He looked over to Blaze with a smile. She did not return it. In fact she returned to him a mighty slap to the face. A massive hand mark was left on his face. He lightly brushed his cheek before Blaze grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, and brought his face close to hers. "Do that again, and I will make you regret it!", she snarled, flames flaring in her eyes. Sonic shrunk at her rage. "But at the same time..." she said more quietly. "You did stop me from falling all the way so..." and with that, she yanked him closer to her. She gave him a light peck on the cheek and let him go, turning to walk off. "Come on, let's go find Shadow" The 4 ponies looked back to Sonic. His normally blue face now bright red. Not with pain. He was blushing. Meanwhile, up high above them, 3 fillies were contemplating whether their next move would be a bad one or not. Scootaloo eased close to the edge of the highway with her scooter. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in tow inside the wagon behind her. Each of them with their helmets securely fasted on their heads. "Sweetie Belle, are you sure about this?", asked Scootaloo nervously. Sweetie gave her a warming smile. "Trust me, this'll be fun!", she replied happily. Scootaloo took a gulp before moving closer to the edge. She placed her feet onto her scooter and steadied herself. They hit the point of no return as they went down the hill, gathering speed faster and faster. The 3 yelled as they came up to the corkscrew, though they had gathered enough speed to go right through it with no problems. Still yelling, the three continued around the course, going up and down hills and through spirals. They hit a large ramp and leapt across the rooftops. Helicopters circled around the area. They continued though the course. Applebloom was loving what was happening, the 3 had never been in this sort of location. After a while the three landed on a rooftop with windows on it. "Scootaloo! Watch out for the windows!" yelled Sweetie Belle. "I CAN'T MOVE ANYTHING! WE'RE GOING TOO FAST!!" she screamed back at her. Scootaloo has zero control over the direction they were going and with a scream, hit the window and fell into the building. Inside the building was dark, with the sole light source being the windows in the roof. The 3 screamed as they fell onto the floor below, somehow unharmed. The wagon and scooter landed beside them. They looked around the room. There was nothing particularly interesting about the room, it seemed to be an office. Scootaloo looked around the room before she took notice of a small collection of gems on the floor next to them. There were 4 of them. 2 diamond shaped ones and 2 rectangular ones. The three circled around them and looked at them in awe. "Ooh! Pretty!" said Sweetie Belle. She picked up one of them and examined it closely. They had no idea that there was a figure behind them. "Step away from the emeralds..." muttered a male voice. The three turned toward the black hedgehog looking down on them. He looked at them angrily and they nervously backed away nervously. "We-we're sorry Sir!..." yelped Sweetie Belle. Shadow looked at them threateningly as the 3 fillies cowered in fear. "Shadow! Leave them, They are harmless!" shouted Twilight. She ran into the room and toward the black hedgehog. Shadow acknowledged her request and backed away from the 3. She ran up to the nervous fillies that calmed down at her sight. "Twilight! What are you doing here?!" asked Applebloom. Before Twilight could answer, Fluttershy entered the room and ran up to Shadow, who picked up the emeralds and took the one from Sweetie Belle. Twilight looked at the 4 emeralds in Shadow's hands, before turning to the 3. "What are you doing here? Well, how did you get here?" Scootaloo walked toward her. "We followed you...sorry. We just thought that we could get closer to our cutie marks..." she muttered quietly. Twilight gave her a calming smile, which Scootaloo returned. "So that's 3 Chaos Emeralds and 3 Sol Emeralds. We're making progress...where are Sonic and the others? We can get out of here now" asked Shadow. Twilight turned to him. "Allow me" replied Twilight. Her horn magically glowed, brighter than ever before. An aura of magic covered them and with a flash, they are disappeared, including the fillies in a flash of light. Elsewhere, Sonic and the others were walking around the city. They began to glow as well. They stopped to admire the light, Sonic studying is hands. "What is going on?-" he asked aloud. But without warning, they all vanished into thin air. They were teleported out of the city and back to Ponyville where all of them grouped together once more. Rainbow Dash looked about confused. "What the...what just happened?!" she demanded. "I brought us back" Twilight said proudly. "We found some emeralds!" Shadow gave the 2 Sol Emeralds to Blaze who nodded in thanks. Shadow gave one of the Chaos Emeralds to Sonic. It was a dark blue emerald that glowed to his touch. "and we also found these 3 wondering about the city...." she said pointing to the 3. Applejack and Rarity walked up to their respective sisters, who both reacted with worry. "Sweetie Belle! What were you doing at the city?! It could have been dangerous!" she yelled. "And you too Applebloom, what were you thinking?" added Applejack. The two fillies looked at each other and back at Scootaloo. She sighed and walked up to the two ponies. "It was me who suggested that we go. I'm sorry..." Rarity and Applebloom looked at each other and back at them. "I know you are desperate for your marks...but that was still an unknown location. Please be careful next time" Rarity said quietly, hugging her little sister. "Sorry sis" muttered Applebloom. "Oh it's fine, as long as you’re ok" said Applejack, hugging her little sister. Meanwhile, Shadow, Sonic, Blaze and Twilight were all crowded in a group. "So, we're getting somewhere, just 9 emeralds left" Twilight said solemnly. "Hm...I wonder where else we should look..." said Shadow. Twilight thought to herself before coming up with something. "What about the Everfree Forest They could be there" she said. "Well there's only one way to find out!" Applejack butted in. "But you three should stay put next time-" she continued before her eye caught something. "What is that on the roof?" she asked, pointing at a single rooftop. They turned toward the roof she pointed out. On it was a collection of spikes, staring at them all. It was difficult to see exactly. Sonic turned and walked up to the building, but the figure got up and jumped into the air. A strange glow of energy surrounded him as he hovered toward the group. Everyone looked up at him with curiosity. Twilight in particular looked very curious at him. "Sonic the Hedgehog...I might have known you had something to do with this" it muttered as it landed in front of him. It was a white hedgehog. "Well, well, well, Silver the Hedgehog....what are you doing here now?" he asked with a smirk. "Answer me this Sonic....Where the heck am I?" he asked with an exasperated expression.