"This place is insane!" said Sonic. He and his friends were now inside of Twilight Sparkle's magnificent crystal castle, with Spike and the Princess of Friendship herself giving them a tour of its long halls. Tails looked around in wonder.
"I can't figure out how this place was even built. The architecture it must have required... and all of this crystal..."
"Actually, it wasn't built. It came from a chest." A chest? Tails looked at Spike questionably, who gave a mildly nervous chuckle. "Long story."
Twilight looked back and smiled. A surprising friendship had quickly grown between Spike and Tails. Twilight thought it was because they were the youngest of the groups, even though Tails seemed much older.
"Hey, Sonic." Spike tore the wild-looking blue stallion's eyes away from the shining walls.
"I was wondering if I could actually stay with you guys. I don't really get to hang out with colts very much, aside from Applejack's brother Big Mac. I figured I'd ask you because... well... no offense to any of you guys," he looked back at the four ponies walking behind them and turned back to Sonic. "But you kind of seem like the leader."
Sonic turned to his peers, sporting a sarcastic grin.
"Well, Spike, I don't really know if I'm the "leader", but I don't have a problem with it." He turned back to his friends. "Guys?"
Tails nodded, Knuckles and Silver shrugged, and Shadow let out a light sigh. Sonic turned back around.
"Guess you're good, then."
"Sweet! Hey, we should bunk in my room! There's totally enough space!"
"But not enough beds." Twilight was trying hard not to laugh at Spike's blatant enthusiasm.
"Well, we can get beds from some of the guest rooms. There are plenty in this place."
Twilight looked at Sonic and company for any signs of approval. Sonic winked. "I don't see why not. We'll help you carry them."
. . . . .
Soon almost everyone was carrying a crystal bed into Spike's room. Twilight and Shadow were each carrying one with their magic, walking side by side. Twilight had been amazed that Shadow had apparently gone from struggling to lift a cupcake to lifting a heavy single-size bed with magic in less than a day, but when she asked him about it later he said that he never struggled to lift the desert, he was practicing control. Apparently he had performed offensive spells and similar feats using the energy from the Chaos Emeralds. Good practice, he had called it. According to him, unicorn magic was more difficult to use, but fairly similar. His control over the bed was a little sloppy, though, and after he set it down Twilight could see a a thin sheen of sweat on his coat.
Silver, impressively, was levitating two crystal beds at the same time, and showing no sign of fatigue while doing so. He also had perfect control over the two sizable objects. Twilight could've done the same just as well, and more, and offered to do so, but Silver just took two at once without even blinking. Still, it shocked Twilight how easily he had converted to his former version of telekinesis to unicorn magic effortlessly. His magic was a shocking turquoise, similar to Rarity's, Twilight thought, but brighter.
Knuckles carried the last two beds into the room on his shoulders, and Sonic had gathered the bedsheets from all five beds in roughly three seconds flat, and proceeded to nearly vaporize out of the room, leaving Twilight and Spike with hanging jaws. They couldn't believe that anything on four hooves had the ability to move that fast. The only pony that Twilight had ever seen pull off speed like that was Rainbow Dash, and that was with wings. Twilight suddenly looked forward to tomorrow's race.
After the beds were set down on the ground in a semicircle around Spike's, The six boys began winding down and chatting lightly. The conversation eventually turned to the race between Sonic and Rainbow Dash that would be happening the next day. Spike jumped at the opportunity and started spouting about how Rainbow had only ever lost to Spitfire, captain of the famous Wonderbolts, to which Tails jumped in and replied that Sonic was completely undefeated in the Speed department, much to Sonic's amusement. This lead into a lighthearted argument that became Twilight's confirmation that it time to leave the guys to their supposed sleepover (or a "dudes' night" as Spike had called it). But before she left the room she made sure to stop by Shadow, who was standing by his bed inside the semicircle, watching Tails and Spike argue with blatant amusement.
"Children. Both of them." Shadow fought to withhold a laugh.
"Who do you think will win tomorrow?'
"I don't think that there's anyone or anything out there that can beat Sonic when it comes to speed, even when he's like this, but your friend Rainbow Dash seems confident even after seeing Sonic's abilities firsthand." Shadow shrugged. "I'm not sure."
At this point Tails and Spike were measuring Sonic and Rainbow's feats and heroic deeds, Spike seemingly losing ground on Rainbow Dash's accomplishments. Eventually he just sat there in awe as Tails gushed about Sonic's adventures, ranging from exploring ruins and rain forests from defeating giant robots and a liquid deity. Twilight turned to Shadow.
"Is all of that true?"
"Every word."
Twilight pondered this for a second. Sonic's life had been even more active than she had thought. He was in essence a superhero, who had performed acts of bravery nearly unimaginable. And yet, after all of that, here he was, on four hooves and attending a sleepover to amuse a baby dragon. It made Twilight wonder what Shadow had done in his lifetime (aside from nearly destroying a planet).
"Hey, Shadow?"
"Hm?"
"I'd really appreciate it if you went easy on Spike. He would never admit it, but the little guy is really intimidated by you."
"If I must," Shadow said with a hint of a smile. It only lasted for a few seconds before his face turned serious again.
"You and Tails will begin working tomorrow, correct?"
"Oh, uh, yes, of course." said Twilight. She didn't know why she suddenly felt disappointed. Of course he just wanted to get home. She tried to continue the conversation.
"How are your friends doing? They seem fine."
"They've adjusted surprisingly well. But they still want to return home, naturally. We left behind many friends and acquaintances. "
"Well, I hope I'm able to help." Twilight began to turn around for the door.
"Thank you for letting us stay here." Twilight turned back to him, surprise on her face. Shadow cleared his throat. "By the way."
Twilight smiled back. "My pleasure." She looked over to Tails, who was still spouting off from Sonic's seemingly endless list of achievements, with the baby dragon looking on in blatant awe.
"We'll start tomorrow morning Tails."
"Kay, thanks!" He quickly turned back to Spike and resumed his awe-inspiring story about Sonic's fight with a robotic Egyptian golem. Twilight turned to Shadow and nodded, smiling when he smiled back, and proceeded to exit the room and shut the door behind her, leaving the guys to whatever they had planned.
. . . . .
An hour later all of them were laying in their beds, and they were all still awake. Knuckles seemingly moved around every five seconds.
"I don't get how they sleep like this!" Knuckles was laying on his back, his forelegs curled up in the air.
"Relax your shoulders and lay your hooves by your side. That's how Twilight usually sleeps," Spike suggested from his bed.
Knuckles tried it.
"Huh. This actually isn't bad." Knuckles closed his eyes.
"I'm actually surprised you're having trouble sleeping, Knucklehead." Knuckles' eyes flew open at Sonic's comment. "Considering you usually sleep on the ground at Emerald Island."
"So it isn't hard for you, Sonic?"
"Hey, come on, buddy, you know as well as me that I can sleep on anything."
"Even a with a completely different body?"
"No sweat." Sonic rolled over so that he was facing away from Knuckles.
"What's Emerald Island?" Spike sounded like he was going to pass out any second. Knuckles was surprised that he suddenly sounded seemed so drained after happily chatting just a few moments ago.
Knuckles opened his maw to begin a long description describing the magical floating island in immaculate detail, but he stopped himself. His face drooped slightly.
"It was my home." He looked over Tails. "You two will be able to find the Emeralds right?"
"If they're here, we'll find em'."
Knuckles nodded. "Good."
A soft sound suddenly intruded their elongated ears. After passively searching for the light phenomenon they realized it was Spike snoring. The little guy was out cold. Tails quietly asked Sonic a question.
"So, Sonic, you nervous the race against Rainbow Dash tomorrow?"
"Should I be nervous?"
"Well, she does have wings. Seems like a bit of an unfair advantage."
"And this is coming from the guy who was worshiping me an hour ago."
"Whatever, Sonic. Oh, and just so you know, Rainbow Dash was staring at you nonstop while we were over at Sugarcube Corner."
Sonic glared at his friend mockingly. "Just like that shy girl who had her eyes glued to you?"
Tails blushed a bit "Uhhh..."
Sonic looked over at Silver, who was hard at work trying to fall asleep.
"And did you, Silver, happen to notice that Rarity seemed to be fairly interested in you after you calmed her down?"
Silver's pony ears perked up at this. He pushed himself up to look at Sonic.
"How is it that you can effortlessly switch from the most mature being on the planet to an annoying five year-old in the blink of an eye?"
Sonic shrugged. "Pretty sure it's something you're born with." He looked over at Shadow to bring up his and Twilight's sudden "friendship", but he stopped Sonic before he could even fully get his mouth open, even though he was facing away, looking at the wall.
"Say anything and you won't wake up tomorrow."
Any sensible person (or pony) would've shut up, but Sonic, naturally, kept talking.
"Aw, come on, Shadow, you and Twilight are at least friends, right?"
Shadow remained silent for a long time before answering.
"I suppose so." He finally momentarily turned away from the wall, but his deep red eyes were aimed at Tails. "You'll start working immediately tomorrow morning, correct?"
"Uh, yeah. Twilight and I will be stopping to watch Sonic and Rainbow's race. Other than that, though, we should be working pretty much all day."
"Hmph," was Shadow's only response as he rolled back over, once again facing the wall. Tails looked at Sonic, who just shrugged before finally settling in himself. The rest of the night was quiet as the five friends finally fell asleep.
. . . . .
"Two minutes, forty-one seconds!" Spike shouted after Sonic thundered past him. Sonic traveled a good sixty meters before finally coming to a stop. He quickly trotted back to Spike to receive the time again.
"What was that?"
"Two minutes, forty-one seconds! I can't believe it! Nopony without wings should ever be able to go around all of Ponyville that fast! How do you even do it?" After being showered with Sonic's achievements by Tails, Spike had grown fond of Sonic and had immediately volunteered to help him train for the race.
Sonic grinned. "Don't know. I've been running like that ever since I was a kid." He looked down at his hooves. "But I've kind of had to get a new feel for these things."
"Didn't you have legs and feet in your home world?"
"Yeah. At least I could stop with those," Sonic said as he lightly stamped his hooves on the ground. Spike rubbed his scaly chin thoughtfully.
"Well, it looks like you're trying to use your front hooves to stop. Maybe try using your back hooves?"
Sonic thought about this for a moment.
"Alright, let's try it." Sonic ran away again, taking no time to disappear from Spike's vision. About two and a half minutes later, he materialized again in the very back depths of Spike's field of vision. Suddenly, he planted his back hooves into the ground, skidding to a stop right in front of Spike. Sonic gave off a huge grin. "Better."
"Wow, Sonic, you got that down pretty quickly."
"I kinda have a knack for that, or so I'm told. You got the time?"
"Uhhhh I didn't keep count on that one, but I'm pretty sure it was close to your last time"
"Well, then I guess I'll have to do it again."
"Wait, I'm pretty sure this will be your eighth lap! Aren't you tired?"
Sonic just laughed before ghosting away from Spike to begin what was in actuality his tenth run around the town.
. . . . .
"Tails, can you give me that brass tube?"
"Sure thing, Twilight!" Tails trotted over to the object and picked it up carefully between his hoof and foreleg. He slowly made his way back to the purple alicorn and handed her the part. She looked at him with slight confusion.
"Uh, Tails, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you use your wings? Didn't you say you could fly back in your world?"
"Uh, heh heh, well... I didn't really use wings to fly," He looked up at Twilight, who was obviously expecting more. "It's a long story. Don't worry about it."
"Well, Rainbow Dash could teach you how to use your wings. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"What about Fluttershy?" Tails blurted out. Twilight looked up in surprise at the sudden outburst.
"Well she's not the greatest flier, but... I'm sure she could at least help."
"Oh, uh, okay, thanks."
They were both silent for a while after that as they continued attempting to build the crude Emerald-detecting machine in the middle of the castle. Eventually, to the relief of Tails, Twilight broke the awkward silence.
"So, Tails..."
"Uh, yeah?"
"Is Shadow typically a... nice guy?" Tails turned to unconsciously stare at Twilight. After a few seconds he realized what he was doing and turned back to the uneven knobs that he had originally been looking at. "Well, he's pretty serious, but... I guess he can be nice when he wants to."
"So, he's not... cruel... or anything like that?"
"Why are you asking me this? Aren't you guys friends?"
Twilight gave a light smile as she used her magic to tighten a screw. "I suppose so."
"So you're that interested about him, huh?"
Twilight gave a small gasp and turned around to see Tails with a mocking smile on his face. Her face turned smug.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
Tails' face softened a bit. "Nothing, sorry." Tails chuckled as he examined the crude electrical wiring. "Hey, Twilight, what's our power source supposed to be again?"
"My magic." She was now blushing slightly, though Tails didn't seem to notice.
"I'm still not sure that's compatible with the Chaos Emeralds' energy."
"I suppose we'll find out." Twilight looked over at Tails, who shook his head.
"I don't think that's good enough. I don't want to leave anything up to chance."
"What else could we do?"
"I think we may have to find a Chaos Emerald first after all. If we find one we can use its energy to find the others."
"But how are we supposed to find one without the machine?"
"Not sure." Tails rubbed the back of his head with his hoof while Twilight put her hoof to her chin, both racking their brains to try and find a solution.
"What about that map you guys were talking about? Maybe we can use that!"
Twilight shook her head. "I can't control it. It sends us to places and ponies that need our help. I doubt it would reveal the location of those Emeralds..."
"But would it really hurt for you to try?"
"How am I possibly supposed to control it?"
"Just let me look at it, and I'll see what we can do."
. . . . .
"Way to go Rainbow Dash! Woohoo!" Fluttershy said softly as she handed a bottle of water to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow finally landed on the ground and rested after a rigorous practice session.
"Thanks, Fluttershy. I got this in the bag." Rainbow wiped some sweat off her forehead and began chugging the contents of the bottle.
"Uh, Rainbow, I have a question." Rainbow Dash pulled the bottle away from her mouth. "Yeah, what's up?"
"You saw how fast Sonic was, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you really think you can beat him? Even after you promised you wouldn't fly very high off the ground?"
"Of course I can beat him!" Rainbow would never admit it, but she was somewhat nervous about the race. She had been utterly amazed when she saw Sonic run away from Sugarcube Corner last night. Now that was impressive. Rainbow Dash wouldn't give up without a fight, but it made her realize that winning a race against Sonic would be anything but a walk in the park. Or flight in the park, for that matter.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're practicing." Rainbow Dash quickly finished her water and stood back up.
"Yeah. Sonic's fast. Way fast." Rainbow suddenly began staring off into space. Fluttershy cleared her throat.
"Uh, Dashie, are you alright?" Rainbow Dash suddenly snapped back into reality, seeing her friend's slightly worried expression.
"Uhhh, yep, I'm good," Rainbow blurted out before beginning a sudden twenty-set of wing-ups. She hoped Fluttershy couldn't see her blush. Man, did she have to turn into a little school filly whenever she thought of that guy? She had barely even talked to him! They were competitors, she told herself. She needed to get that through her thick head. Speaking of school filly crushes, that reminded Rainbow of something.
"Hey, Fluttershy, you know you should really talk to Tails instead of just staring at him."
Fluttershy gave out a squeak and tried to hide behind her mane. "Oh no, I-I wasn't staring, well maybe I... No, I wasn't! Oh no, d-did he see me?"
"Nah, I don't think so. Look, Flutters, I get that being shy is kinda your thing, but you shouldn't be afraid to talk to the guy."
"Uh, Rainbow Dash, I don't want to be rude, but you were staring at Sonic for most of the time. Don't you think you should talk to him about it, too?"
They were both quiet for a while after that, awkward silence claiming a throne over both of them.
"Mind timing me for another lap?"
"Sure."
And with that, Rainbow Dash took off.
. . . . .
"I can't believe this many ponies showed up..." Spike marveled around him as Ponyville Town Square was nearly packed to the brim with ponies, all there to witness the race between Rainbow Dash and the mysterious Sonic. Words of the arrival of five new ponies in town was enough to stir up conversation by itself, but the small trickle of conversation turned into a flood when Spike and Pinkie began advertising that one of the new ponies, an earth pony at that, was going to race Rainbow Dash through town. And whenever the townsponies heard that the earth pony, named Sonic, actually had a sizable chance of winning, that pretty much guaranteed that there would be a crowd.
"I can!" Pinkie Pie had been baking cakes and pastries all day with the Cakes to sell for the race crowd, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake had assured Pinkie that they could man their baked goods stall by themselves, so she was now free to watch the race with her friends. "Nothing cool besides a monster attack ever happens here! Of course everypony in town would want to see this!"
Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity were all standing next to the starting line, which was right in the middle of town square. Sonic and Rainbow Dash were nowhere to be seen at the moment, as Tails and Fluttershy were prepping them for the race. But the rest of Sonic's friends were also seemingly nowhere to be found.
"Where all are they runnin' to again?" Applejack asked. Twilight cleared her throat.
"Through town, around Sweet Apple Acres, around a bend in the Everfree Forest, through Ghastly Gorge, and back into Ponyville to the finish line. Based on my math, it shouldn't take either of them more than eight minutes."
"The Everfree Forest?" said Rarity. "Ghastly Gorge? That sounds rather dangerous in my opinion."
Before Twilight could respond, a shady voice answered from behind her. "If your friend Rainbow Dash can handle it, surely Sonic can as well." They all turned around to see Shadow approaching, with Silver and Knuckles close behind him. Twilight smiled as Shadow walked up to stand next to her. They all started talking, seemingly perfectly comfortable around each other. Twilight couldn't help but notice how close Rarity was standing next to Silver.
"I'm glad you showed, Shadow."
"I'm not sure I truly had a choice. But, at least there's no chance that this won't be interesting."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Arguably the two fastest entities from two worlds in a race. I, personally, thought it was pretty self-explanatory."
"Oh, I see." Shadow looked over at Twilight, catching her in his gaze.
"It's up to you to decide whether or not this is dangerous for your friend." He looked to the starting line. "Sonic will be perfectly fine."
"So will Rainbow Dash," Twilight said surely. A hint of a smile crossed Shadow's lips.
"Hey, Shadow, mind if I stand next to you?" Tails was walking up behind him. Shadow nodded, so Tails stepped up beside him.
"Is Sonic ready?" asked Twilight. Tails nodded. "He... really doesn't need much preparation. We just kinda hung around and chatted. Rainbow Dash should be done any second now, and then they'll walk up to the starting line together."
Then, as if on cue, Fluttershy walked up next to Tails and timidly stated "Dashie's ready. They should be at the starting line soon."
Tails looked over in surprise. "Uh, hey."
Fluttershy gulped. "Um... hi. I'm... Fluttershy." In reality, she said her name far too quietly for Tails to hear. But since Tails already knew her name, he was able to continue the discussion.
"I'm Miles Tails Prower, but you can just call me Tails."
"Um... alright."
They stood there awkwardly for a few moments. Shadow was standing next to both of them, and although his face didn't show it, he was fighting a laugh. Fluttershy eventually broke the silence with a question.
"Didn't you say you used to be a fox?"
"Uh, well, yeah, back where we came from I was. I might technically still be one now, but..."
"Oh, well, um, I love to take care of animals, and I just helped a family of foxes last week."
"Well that's very kind of you." The two continued their light conversation, Fluttershy seemingly coming out of her shell. But then silence swept over the crowd as two silhouettes began walking towards the starting line.
. . . . .
Sonic and Rainbow Dash had taken their positions. The two ponies looked towards their friends, who were standing directly to their right. Rainbow Dash smiled to see Fluttershy standing next to Tails. She had finally convinced that shy little filly to talk to Tails during her "preparation" by explaining to her that Tails used to be a fox, which seemed to build her confidence just a bit due to Fluttershy's boundless love of animals. Rainbow eventually got her to Pinkie-promise to talk to him, as long as Rainbow did the same with Sonic. Rainbow Dash turned to the wild-looking blue stallion.
"You ready for this, Sonic?"
"You bet!" He sounded truly confident. His shocking green eyes seemed to sparkle as he said the phrase.
Rainbow Dash turned away from him to look at the ponies crowding the Town Square. The entire town must have been there. There were all getting a good look at the mysterious blue earth pony that had the guts to accept a challenge from Rainbow Dash, surely wondering how he could possibly stack up, considering that Rainbow would be using her wings. A few of them had heard minor rumors of Sonic's speed, but they wanted to see it first hand.
Twilight stepped in front of the starting line and raised her wings in an authoritative manner.
"All right ponies. This will be a clean race. The first around the designated course and back to the finish line will be declared the winner. Rainbow Dash, to keep the odds even, you are forbidden to fly anywhere but the designated course. Is that clear?" Rainbow Dash nodded. "As a precaution, there will be pegasus scouts observing sections of the course. If cheating is taking place, we will be notified, and the offender will be disqualified." Twilight looked at the two in turn.
"Rainbow Dash, are you ready?" Rainbow unfurled her wings and rose a few feet off the ground, curling her body slightly, getting ready for takeoff.
"Ready!" Twilight looked over at Sonic.
"Sonic, are you ready?" He shifted his body lower to the ground, getting ready for a bursting start.
"Ready!"
Twilight's horn began to glow, gradually creating a glowing ball of light energy. After a few seconds it shot off her horn towards the sky and exploded as a glorious magenta firework. That was the signal, and the two racers wasted absolutely no time.
Sonic and Rainbow Dash took off at the exact same moment, storming past Twilight and across the road through the town square, starting the race. The crowd of ponies were left with slack jaws as the two furiously disappeared from their sight.
The two dashed out of Ponyville and were soon making their way through a meadow. Sonic looked up at Rainbow Dash, who was keeping pace. 'So, it is going to be a race after all,' he thought. They both simultaneously picked up their paces as they began to circle Sweet Apple Acres. Sonic watched as dozens of apple trees blurred past his left. Rainbow was still behind him, but he stuck with the inside curve as much as possible and very gradually increased his distance from her. Rainbow claimed the inside curve by the trees in response, but she had still lost a few feet of ground. She could've sped up, but she wasn't exactly sure how much stamina Sonic had, so she kept her current speed. Besides, she was going to have a big advantage through the Everfree Forest, since she would only have to avoid the treetops. Sonic would have to traverse the twisted forest floor. Although the bend they were to travel through was a bit more tame terrain-wise then the heart of the forest, it was still no laughing matter to trek, much less sprint through. Rainbow was also unsure how accustomed Sonic was to his four hooves, since he originally had two legs to run on. They wrapped all the way around the farm before finally entering the Everfree Forest.
Rainbow Dash increased elevation slightly and began weaving through the gnarled branches and leaves in her path. Once she hit a somewhat clear stretch, she looked below her and was shocked so see Sonic directly below her, bounding inbetween trees and keeping perfect pace. So much for the anatomy advantage. Rainbow refocused on the race as the two continued to blur through the bending forest, staying almost dead even then entire way. Soon they darted into the clear and began down the decline that lead into Ghastly Gorge. Sonic was having an easy time traversing the rocky ground, and Rainbow was concentrated on cutting through the air, trying to build up more speed than her opponent. Soon they were approaching the Quarray Eel nests. Rainbow had warned him about them, but he didn't slow down as he closed in on their nest. She prayed that Sonic knew what he was doing.
As he sped towards past the first nest, a giant eel shot out of its rock hole. But before it could close its jaws on Sonic, he lowered his body and skidded underneath its maw, then immediately jumped over another attacker. Sonic was far too experienced with Eggman's killer robots to let these things get him, even when he was on four legs instead of two. As it would turn out, Rainbow was the one who was truly in danger.
Rainbow was so focused on watching Sonic fly past the eels that she didn't see the one coming for her until it was too late. She tried to flap away, but it shut her in its jaws. She immediately held her breath and began to beat on the inside of its mouth. She had been caught like this before, and she knew if she kept hammering away, it would spit her out and give up. But Sonic had seen the thing snap Rainbow up, and he leaped into action without a second's hesitation. He jumped and slammed his equine shoulder into the monster's mouth, undoubtedly breaking its jaw. The force knocked Rainbow Dash right out of the Quarray Eel's mouth, and Sonic caught her squarely on his back before she could hit the ground. Before she could react, Sonic was ghosting past the nest, avoiding the Eels soundly along the way. After they were a good 300 feet past it, Sonic finally skidded to a stop and let Rainbow Dash off.
"Are you alright!?" Rainbow was teetering just a bit. Her vision cleared to show Sonic's face inches away from hers. She just stared into his emerald-green eyes, mesmerized.
"F-f-fine?" Her mind didn't seem capable of functioning correctly in a situation like this.
"Are you sure about that?" Sonic was genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow turned away from him, blushing profusely.
"I thought you said they weren't a big deal! That thing nearly killed you!" Rainbow Dash turned back to Sonic, shocked. Was he scolding her?
"Hey, it was about to let me go! Then you knocked into its face and nearly gave me a concussion! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and don't you ever forget it!"
She turned away from him again. Tears were trying to form in her eyes, and she didn't even know why. She thought about how as soon as he saw her get snapped up by the Quarray he leaped into action, willingly risking his life to save hers. Sure, he probably would've done it for anypony, but that didn't change the premise of what he had done. Rainbow had toned down the danger of the Quarrays when she described them to Sonic, but he wasn't mad that he had been put in danger, he was mad that Rainbow Dash had put herself in danger. This guy was like an all-powerful overprotective coltfriend, and he barely even knew Rainbow! She sighed.
"Thanks. For trying to save my life and everything." She looked up at him.
"You're welcome." He turned around and began walking away.
"Hey, wait!" Sonic Stopped. "Where are you going?"
"Didn't you say you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself?"
"Aw, come on! Don't be like that!" She jogged up to him. "Seriously? Not cool!"
Sonic just looked at her. She sighed again.
"Alright, look, if you tell anypony else this I'm going to deny it, but... ever since you got here... I've been trying to impress you. You're this great hero fresh out of another dimension that's on some kind of great quest to get home. That doesn't leave much room for somepony like me." Sonic just stood there for a while. Then finally he gave a mocking smile and raised an eyebrow.
"So, are you trying to impress me because I'm some kind of "hero", or because you're into me." Rainbow's jaw fell slack. Sonic's words had completely blindsided her.
"IIIIIIIII..." Rainbow's cheeks grew red hot. She slumped and her hindquarters hit the ground.
"Ugh, how do you do that?"
"I have my ways." Sonic stretched out a hoof to Rainbow, who looked at him in disbelief.
"You gonna get up or what?"
"Oh, right. " She accepted the hoof and stood up. She took a good look at the colt that had helped her. He somehow seemed completely at ease. Then an idea entered her mind. A horribly wonderful idea. She sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time. Whatever. Might as well go all the way, seeing the situation.
"So, hey, uhh... do you happen to be free to-"
"Hey!" They turned to see Cloudkicker flying towards them. Right, the pegasus scouts. "What are you two doing just standing here? Are you guys hurt?"
"Nope!" Sonic replied cheerily.
"Well, is the race still on?" Sonic turned to Rainbow.
"Is it?"
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. "Uh... yeah. It is." Sonic grinned and turned to Cloudkicker.
"Yep!"
They both faced forwards and crouched; ready to restart.
"Oh, and by the way." Sonic turned to Rainbow. "I am free tomorrow, as far as I know." He grinned wildly. Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat.
"Wait, you mean we're going on a-" Her heart attack was interrupted by Cloudkicker behind them.
"3-2-1 GO!"
And then they both took off to finish the race.
. . . . .
The ponies gathered in the town square cheered wildly to see Sonic and Rainbow Dash tie as they crossed the finish line. The race that was originally supposed to take no longer than eight minutes took nearly fifteen. Twilight kept questioning why the two were taking so long, but Shadow assured her that nothing was wrong. After the initial celebration at the end of the race, Twilight attempted to ask Rainbow what held them up for a solid seven minutes, but right when she did Sonic appeared seemingly out of nowhere and asked "So, Rainbow, where are we going tomorrow?" Rainbow just told Twilight that she'd explain later and then turned around to face Sonic, apparently then completely unaware of the Princess of Friendship's existence.
After the crowd had thinned out, our friends headed to Sugarcube Corner to reflect on the day that had passed. Rarity nearly lost it when Sonic and Rainbow Dash revealed that they had a date tomorrow, demanding that she help get Rainbow Dash ready for the occasion. Eventually the sun fell below the horizon, and the friends left Sugarcube together. Twilight and Tails were optimistic about the map, but time could only tell if their loose plan if would work. Twilight just so happened to end up beside Shadow as the group walked home.
"I'm surprised they tied," Twilight said nonchalantly, unconsciously ruffling her wings.
"I can't really say that I am."
"Why not?"
"Isn't it obvious? They wanted to."
Twilight though it over. It made sense that they would want to tie considering the talk that Rainbow described in the middle of the race. But it just seemed so coordinated.
"It didn't seem staged..." Shadow laughed at this, bringing a smile to Twilight's face.
"You have to remember, neither one of them are new to that kind of competition." Twilight thought about that for a moment, then let the matter drop.
"I'm sorry we didn't finish the machine. Even though in hindsight it probably wouldn't have worked anyway." Her ears drooped. "I know how bad you want to get home."
"It's fine. I'm sorry for being so rude as to demand you do nothing but work today." Shadow huffed. "This world isn't nearly as bad as I had made it out to be."
Shadow's last sentence had filled Twilight with hope, and it had put a thought in her head. No, an idea. And idea she couldn't help but put into action.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"I'd like you to keep an open mind..." Shadow looked her, his face perplexed. She turned away and released a big huff of air before turning back to him.
"So..." She chuckled nervously. "Are you free tomorrow?"