When Twilight and her friends arrived at the Gala, Pinkie Pie jumps out of the carriage with excitement. "We're Here! We're Here! We're Here!"
Spike's jaw nearly dropped at the sheer sight of the Canterlot palace. It was amazingly decorated for tonight. "Wow Twilight, you weren't kidding! Princess Celestia really outdid herself!"
"Look it's The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash smiles and points to the sky with her hoof. Her eyes glisten when she imagines herself flying up there with them.
The Wonderbolts were performing a spectacular air show for the guests. It was a breathtaking way to start the best night ever. After the air show, Spike and the girls went into the palace where they saw ponies dancing to the four-pony orchestra.
"Oh, it's so wonderful." Fluttershy said.
"HUH, Candy!" Pinkie Pie hops to the entree table.
"Hold on there sugarcube!" Applejack grabs Pinkie's tail with her mouth. "Princess Celestia's gonna be here any minute!"
Before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could make their appearance to greet everyone upstairs, Luna has a grotesque vision of things to come. When she closes her eyes, a disturbing image takes place, showing a huge fire that engulfs all of Equestria. She then sees a giant robot out in the distance, emerging from the flames like a demon from hell. It was unlike any creature she's ever seen before, and actually found it quite terrifying. By grabbing The Elements of Harmony with it's giant hands, it crushes them in a single grip, and finishes off with an evil laugh.
"Luna, Luna, are you alright?" Celestia asked.
Luna quickly opens her eyes. "I'm...I'm fine."
Alerted by the sound of blaring horns from Celestia's guards, the four-pony orchestra immediately paused their musical act. The other ponies turn to the stairs, while Twilight and her friends move in for a better view.
One guard speaks to announce an important message from the guests of honor. "Presenting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"
"Thank you all for coming. We are here tonight to present a reward for six of the most wonderful, and courageous ponies that have ever set hoof on our land. Not only have they defeated Discord..." as soon as she said that, Twilight and the girls expected the unexpected. They were being honored for all the heroic deeds they've done.
Celestia continued. "...But they have proven to us, that one day, they can become the true guardians for all Equestria!" She uses the magic from her horn to lift up an enchanted box, made entirely out of gold. Inside, were The Elements of Harmony.
"Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Please, step up here!"
Everypony looked at Twilight and her best friends as they ascend the staircase. When Celestia presents them with The Elements of Harmony, the girls tear up with joy. All the ponies cheered for them, but their festivities was about to be interfered.
Making it through the dark forest without a scratch, Cream was flapping her ears to keep up with Sonic. After reaching it's destination, the Egg Carrier's cannons were changing directions. Preparing to open fire on Celestia's palace. "Mr. Sonic, Eggman's up to something!"
"Uh-Oh! C'mon let's hurry!"
With Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Tails right behind them, Sonic and Shadow have finally made it to the Galloping Gala. The first pony that spotted them was a blue unicorn wearing a sorcerer's hat and cape named Trixie. She was walking to the Gala with a gray Pegasus pony that appears to be cross-eyed, named Derpy.
"Was that a hedgehog?" Trixie asked.
When Sonic passes the two mares, he noticed Trixie for the first time and couldn't believe his own eyes again. He looks at Shadow with a confused expression, wondering if he saw the same thing. "Was that a pony?"
Back inside the palace, the ponies continued to cheer but were rudely interrupted when the whole place began to shake.
"Target in sight sir!" Bocoe announced.
Dr. Eggman shouts from the top of his lungs. "FIRE!"
The Egg Carrier launches it's missiles everywhere, and fires it's cannons on the unsuspecting ponies. When they hear and see the explosions outside, the glass windows shatter from the impact. Everypony runs away in despair. Their cries for help were just begging for someone to answer. Twilight and her friends hold each other tight. They were terrified over what was happening. As the roof of the palace blows up, debris begins to tumble everywhere. One giant piece crushes the entree table.
"Our food!" Pinkie Pie cried.
While the four-pony orchestra moves away from the stage, a giant chandelier falls and smashes their instruments.
"Our music!" Rarity gasped.
For his safety, Twilight told Spike to wait for them outside.
"Girls, get behind me!" Princess Celestia tries to keep her ponies under control.
When they first laid their eyes on the Egg Carrier, the main hatch opens up, and a swarm of Egg Drones drop down below. With weapons drawn containing both machine guns and Ion Blasters, the robots completely circle Celestia and the girls. They panicked after realizing that they were surrounded. To make matters worse, Eggman descends from the Egg Carrier and arrives inside with his portable Egg Mobile. Once he was in eye level with Princess Celestia, Eggman begins to speak.
"It's an honor to finally meet you, Princess Celestia!"
"Who are you? And how do you know my name?"
"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Dr. Eggman, your new leader! And I've come here to obtain the magical artifacts of unbelievable power...The Elements of Harmony!" The evil doctor looks from pony to pony, and found the blue Chaos Emerald. Rarity was wearing it around her neck, treating it like if it's just some ordinary piece of jewelry. "And that Chaos Emerald!"
Rarity yells to abstain what he wants. "You evil brute, I found this gem fair and square! There's no way I would just hand it over to someone with such lower class!"
"You can refuse if you want, but anyone who doesn't obey, will result in immediate termination!" The Egg Drones cock their weapons which gets Rarity's attention.
"Now pony, this way please." Eggman lowers his arm, demanding the white unicorn to give it to him.
"Pony?...I am a lady, and I wish to be addressed as such!"
"Enough!" Eggman shouted. "If you won't give me that Chaos Emerald, and The Elements of Harmony, then I'll just have to pry them from your cold, dead hooves!"
"Don't count on it baldy!" Rainbow Dash prepares herself for battle.
Before Celestia or Twilight can come up with a plan, they felt a slight breeze when a mysterious Blue Blur began circling around them like a cyclone with lightning speed.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack said.
The Blue Blur suddenly stops.
"Not so fast Eggman!" Sonic shouted.
Eggman stutters from complete shock. "What?...N-No...T-That's impossible! You can't be here!"
Knuckles smashes through the front door with Tails by his side. While Shadow used Chaos Control to warp himself into the palace with Amy, Cream, and Cheese.
Not a single word comes out from Eggman's mouth.
"What's the matter Eggman? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Sonic turns to the mane 6 with a smile. There were so many questions on their minds. Who is he? What is he? Where did he come from? How did he get here? Rainbow Dash was the first to reply.
"Is that a porcupine?"
"No, I think it's a hedgehog." Fluttershy answered.
"But he's too big to be a hedgehog!" Twilight said.
Celestia questioned the speedy daredevil. "If you don't mind me asking sir, just who are you?"
"There's no time for that now, you girls have to get out of here!" The Egg Drones aimed their weapons at Sonic.
"BLAST HIM!" Eggman shouted.
The robots opened fire, but Sonic was too quick for them. With a smirk on his face, the heroic hedgehog jumps high in the air to avoid their shots. Using his homing attack, he takes them out one by one, so fast that even Rainbow Dash was amazed with his speed. She's never seen a hedgehog move so fast before. Knuckles began uppercutting the robots, destroying some on solid impact. He then lunges himself to attack another one, and viciously bashed it's face in until it was reduced to a pile of shrapnel. When the Egg Drones open fire on Shadow, he dodged their shots by jumping over them. To attack, he grabbed one by the neck, hurling it into another.
"Hmph, get out of my way you spineless scrap metal!"
By using his warp technique, Shadow was able to get multiple strikes on different robots that exploded when he snapped his fingers. He also grabbed two more and warped into the air, slamming one to the ground, then throwing the other against a wall. It wasn't long for Tails, Amy, and Cream to join the battle too. Amy pulled out her Piko Piko Hammer to smash them up.
"Ha, take that you stupid robots. No one tries to hurt my Sonic!"
To defend Cream from danger, Cheese attacks the Drones by hurling himself directly at them. Like a speeding bullet, he penetrates through any robot that Cream essentially needs him to take down. Tails ran and slid in between their legs, catching the robots by surprise when they turned around. With his two tails, he snatched one of their weapons and began shooting at multiple drones with the Ion Blaster.
"C'mon girls we should help them!" Twilight said. Her friends joined in to protect Princess Celestia.
"Aaaawwww yeah!" Finally some action. Rainbow Dash spreads out her wings and takes flight. Dr. Eggman ducks when she passes over him. The robots targeted her, and tried to shoot her down. But like Sonic, her incredible flight speed was just too much for them to handle. "Let's see what you chrome domes are made of." Dash used herself as a battering ram and destroyed a line of Egg Drones on impact. Sonic watched and was completely astonished. So much speed in such a little pony.
"Woah!"
While being surrounded by more of Eggman's robots, Twilight and Rarity used their magic to fire powerful energy beams from their horns. Facing back to back, the two unicorns defeated the swarm of machines before they can even attack. Rarity also used her magic to levitate the Egg Drones, making them crash into each other unsuspectingly. Applejack knew this special kick that always comes in handy when she bucks apples down from a tree. She bucks the robots hard, knocking them down to the red carpet floor. And even used her lasso to trip them up.
Eggman couldn't imagine what was happening. His creations that were purposely built for pain and destruction, was now being demolished by a bunch of ponies.
Adding more insult to injury, Pinkie Pie hops around, making it very difficult for the robots to get an accurate shot. She soon after hops on their heads, and giggles with a smile. Thinking that this was all just a fun game for her to enjoy. "Boingy...Boingy...Boingy!...This is fun!" Unable to concentrate, the Egg Drones tried blasting her, but end up blasting themselves in the process.
Because of Fluttershy's caring nature, violence is never the answer, so she had no intention on fighting. Instead, she tries to reason with one by starting a conversation.
"Um...E-E-Excuse me...sir?" The robot aims it's gun at her and fires a missile. Forcing Fluttershy to scream and run away as it chases her. Shadow quickly moves in and saves her by kicking the missile back to the robot, destroying it in a single bound.
"Um...T-Thank you." Fluttershy was quiet, but Shadow just stares at the pacifist pony before walking away. With their help, the number of remaining Egg Drones was brought down to 10. To avoid the rest of their shots, Sonic used his spin ball attack to run across the walls in a complete circle. When he stops in front of an Egg Drone, he realized that they were all perfectly aligned towards the exit by looking over it's shoulder. Using it's body as a shield, the speedy hedgehog charges at it to ram down the others in his way. Finally, a path was made for Princess Celestia.
"Princess, the exit's cleared. Y'all should get out of here now!" Applejack said.
As Celestia and Luna ran down the steps, 5 Egg Drones were still alive. They lock on their targets and prepare to fire.
"
Don't let them get away you fools!...ATTACK!" The robots launched a variety of missiles.
Luna and Celestia react by using the magic from their horns to form a barrier around everyone, protecting them from the explosion. But because of this, the entire hall was now set on fire. Once the barrier disappeared, everyone ran out the door. Rainbow Dash wasn't far behind, flying out through a window instead. More debris collapses and nearly hits Dr. Eggman, compelling him to retreat back to the Egg Carrier.
"Retreat! There's nothing more we can do here!" He managed to escape with only three of his Egg Drones. They used their thrusters to fly, while the other two were crushed by the debris.
Spike was really worried until he saw Twilight and the others as they ran outside. Thankfully, none of the ponies were hurt.
"Phew....thank goodness you girls are alright!"
Sonic turns around and sees Eggman fleeing the scene. He jumps to the roof of the burning palace and chases after him, not caring what damaged obstacles he has to avoid. When he finally makes it to the top, he was out of reach to use his homing attack.
"Eggman! Come down here and face us you coward!"
Eggman turns to Sonic before heading back to his fortress. "Errrr...this isn't over Sonic, I'll be back to kill you and your friends later!" While watching Eggman make his escape, Sonic clinches his hand into a fist with a look of remorse. "Then we'll be waiting for you Eggman!" The Egg Carrier flies away until it's out of sight. He jumps off the roof and lands on the ground next to his friends. But what happened next, was something they weren't prepared for. All the ponies were staring directly at them.
Unable to say anything, Tails whispers in Sonic's ear. "Uhh Sonic....they're ponies!"
"I know Tails, I'll handle this." From the look of it, his eyes weren't deceiving him. The blue unicorn that he saw earlier...was real. Sonic breaks the silence to check on the young mares, along with their goddess. "Is everybody alright?"
When the ponies nod their heads, Celestia and Luna approach the new characters to welcome them.
"We can't thank you enough for saving us, but I don't believe we've been properly acquainted! I'm Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna."
"A princess?" Sonic immediately takes a knee. His friends do the same, but Tails hesitates by gazing at her beauty. Knuckles grabs his shoulder and makes him take a knee as well.
"Do you care to introduce yourselves?" Celestia asked.
"Not at all!" Sonic stands up with his team.
"I'm Sonic. Sonic The Hedgehog! And these are my good friends,
Shadow...Knuckles...Tails...Cream..." He then rolls his eyes and lets out a big sigh. "...And Amy!" They each smile and wave when Sonic mentions their name. But Shadow folds his arms and looks away. He wasn't too pleased with meeting these ponies just yet.
"Just to clear something up, we're not really friends!" Shadow said.
"Gee...Thanks Shadow!" Sonic muttered.
Twilight and the girls giggled before confronting them.
"You don't look like any hedgehog I've ever seen!" Twilight said.
They introduce themselves as Twilight cleared her throat.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle! And these are my friends...Rainbow Dash!..."
"What's up!" Dashie responds.
"...Pinkie Pie!..."
"Hi!" Pinkie brings out her best smile.
"...Applejack!..."
"Howdy!" She steps forward and tips her hat to Sonic.
"...Fluttershy!..."
In a very light voice, she was too shy to look at them. "Um...H-Hello." Her cheeks blushed when Tails waved at her.
Twilight giggled. "...My number 1 assistant, Spike!..."
"Hey guys!" The baby dragon was very excited to meet the ones responsible for saving his friends.
"...And...Rarity!..."
"Pleasure to meet you!" Rarity bows her head, thanking them for being so generous. That's when Sonic noticed the Chaos Emerald around her neck. Eggman must have dropped it. Now it all makes perfect sense why he was attacking Canterlot in the first place.
"Huh?...Hey, where did you get that gem?" Sonic points to it and got the answer that he expected.
"Oh...I uh...found it!" Rarity stuttered.
"That's a Chaos Emerald!" Sonic said.
"Chaos Emerald?" Rarity raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"Yeah. This may be hard for you to believe, but that gem you're wearing might be the reason why Eggman was here!"
"Eggman?...You mean that disgusting brute that tried to take this from me?"
Sonic smirked. "That's him!"
"Do you know what these are?" Celestia asked.
"As a matter of fact..." Sonic and Shadow pull out their own two Chaos Emeralds. "...we do!"
Rarity gasped with her eyes sparkling. "HUH, there's more of them!"
"You betcha Rarity!" Sonic said. "There's a total of seven in existence. But you must know, these Emeralds are incredibly powerful. Even to this day their properties remain a mystery. Which is why we can't allow them to fall into the wrong hands."
"By the way, who was that intruder?" Luna asked. "I've never seen him before!"
There's no point in hiding the truth. Especially from Princess Celestia. Sonic and his four friends--excluding Shadow, occasionally take turns telling them everything they need to know. Answering a few basic questions: who Dr. Eggman is, what his intentions are, and more importantly, why is he here. Sonic began to explain by mentioning all the numerous times that he's encountered him in the past. Eggman will never give up until he achieves his goal of complete domination. Suddenly switching topics, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Tails, all talked about the Emeralds while the ponies listened. It's important that they know about this because it's the main source for everything's that happened so far. It is said to believe that the Emeralds themselves can heal teammates, and even revive the dead, for they are known as the providers of life itself. But not everyone can harness their power. Most of the time, the Emeralds are the ones that choose a host. Shadow cuts in and informs that once all 7 of them are collected, they'll grant the host a powerful super form with enhanced abilities.
Everypony was speechless. "Amazing!...They're just like The Elements of Harmony!" Twilight said.
"Elements of Harmony?" Shadow questioned.
Rarity responds. "Yes!...That maniac tried to take those too!"
Twilight used her own magic to show Sonic and Shadow what they were talking about. Her five pony friends were wearing a gold necklace with a different element on it, except for Twilight, who was wearing a gold tiara. " The Elements of Harmony are much like the Chaos Emeralds!" Twilight added. "Except they posses the power of magic. It's what keeps our world at peace."
"Well...I guess this is your Emerald so...here!" Rarity's front hooves quivered when she gives it to Knuckles. At first she refused to let such a beautiful gem go, but unfortunately, it was for her own safety from Dr. Eggman. 3 down, 4 more to go. That's when Sonic brought up the question.
"Where are we anyway?"
"You're in Canterlot!" Celestia answered. "One of the many places in Equestria!"
"Equestria?....Why would Eggman come here?" Knuckles asked.
"My guess is that he tried to get as far away from us as possible." Shadow replied.
"That reminds me...Do you have a place to stay?"
Sonic and the gang look at each other, but didn't know what to say.
"Well we, didn't really plan on staying that long." Sonic said.
Celestia smiled. "Nonsense. Anyone who's willing to risk their own lives to save my ponies is more than welcome to stay in Equestria. We just can't possibly thank you enough for this!"
"Yeah, you guys can stay with us. It's the least we can do." Twilight added.
"Sounds good to me!" Sonic reveals his gratitude by giving a thumbs up to the unicorn pony.
"Then it's settled!" Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash found all this acceptable. But meeting new friends for the firs time can still have it's limits. When Sonic turned around, they overlooked one particular thing...the palace was still on fire.
Rarity screams with a tear in her eye. "No! The Gala is ruined!"
Sonic's friends felt responsible for this, since Eggman ruined their event.
"Don't worry girls, we'll help you fix it!" Amy said.
"We will?" Shadow raised a brow, thinking this doesn't concern them.
"Of course we will!" Sonic insisted.
As much as Princess Celestia would appreciate that, they've already saved her from Dr. Eggman. "That won't be necessary. You've already done enough. Please, let us take care of this."
The newcomers step aside with ease, not knowing what to expect from these ponies. With the aid of Twilight Sparkle, her most faithful student, Princess Celestia materializes a magic spell to create a giant rain cloud. Putting out every single flame around her palace. It'll take months to repair the damage, but the only thing that mattered to her was ensuring that everyone made it out safely. This is one night they'll definitely remember for the rest of their lives.
"Hey, not bad!" Seeing how useful and unique their magic was; which can coincidentally give them the edge against Dr. Eggman, Sonic could think of just one word...remarkable. When the rain cleared up, Sonic and his associates followed the ponies as they head back to Ponyville. Maybe now they'll become more familiar with this strange new world.
Celestia snickered when Cheese was flying right next to her. "Aww, he's adorable! Does he have a name?"
"Um...thank you Ms. Celestia! His name's Cheese!" Cream said.
The princess of Equestria was so polite and hospitable that Cheese blushes from her affection.
Rainbow Dash takes a good look at Sonic. Still wondering how in the name of Celestia can he run so fast without even trying. She feared that he might actually be faster than her. Stealing her spotlight in Equestria. But it was such a reward to finally meet someone with her type of agility. In retrospect...a worthy opponent. "So you're suppose to be the fastest thing alive huh?"
Being extremely cocky, Sonic faces her with an arrogant smirk. Placing both hands on his spiky quills. "That's right! But your speed was impressive too! I've never seen anyone fly that fast before!"
Rainbow Dash proudly announced. "Well I am the fastest thing in all Equestria!"
"Really? Well then..." Sonic tries to play around at first, but Dash was up to the challenge. "...Why don't we settle this with a race! First thing tomorrow?"
"You're on!" Dashie's expression illustrates her competitiveness. "You're going down Sonic! I know this land inside, and out. And you just got here!"
"Hey, I'm a fast learner!"
It was then decided that Sonic would stay with Rainbow Dash. That way she can get more acquainted with him, and of course, challenge the blue hedgehog to a race wherever they go. It took a while for Fluttershy to get use to their new guests, but feeling more comfortable now, she offers Cream and Cheese to come live with her at the Everfree Forest. She could use the extra company. Since Rarity and Amy love fashion, she was the perfect choice and companion to stay with at the Carousel Boutique. It was rather compassionate for Knuckles when Applejack allows him to stay with her and the Apple Family in Sweet Apple Acres. Somehow, he'll find a way to thank her. Excited about meeting a new friend, Pinkie Pie invites Shadow to come live with her at Sugarcube Corner, but he refused at first until she begged him. And of course, who could forget about Tails?Being the intelligent one, he was more than welcome to stay at the the Library with Twilight and Spike. Tails was very fond of this place, and wanted to learn more about it. Perhaps Twilight can provide him with the answers.
"We want to thank you Princess for allowing us to stay here. But please understand that Dr. Eggman is still out there. So we must keep our eyes open!"
"It's our pleasure Tails. But don't worry, we'll be there to help you whenever he's found."
To Be Continued...