If you read my latest blog post, you know where this is going...or do you?
NOW UPDATED!!
The sun slowly started to set over Equestria ending another sunny day in Ponyville. However, it was almost like the sun never shone over the Everfree Forest, or it certainly looked like it. It was dark, deep and certainly uninviting. Yet 12 different characters stood by the edge of it. It was the most unlikely group of people possible. 4 hedgehogs, 6 ponies, a fox and a cat, all with different personalities and thoughts on what they were about to do. At the head of the pack stood Sonic and Rainbow Dash, looking deep into the depths of the trees and other plant life. Sonic turned to the group who watched him as if he was a drill sergeant.
"Right, there is an emerald somewhere in this forest. Now we have no idea where exactly, so let's all spit up into 6 separate teams" announced Sonic. He pointed to everyone individually. "Blaze? Rarity? You two should work together, and take these with you" he said, tossing Blaze two of her emeralds, a purple and a white one. "You never know when you two will need to combine powers" he continued, waggling a finger. Blaze returned the waggle with a wink, causing Sonic to blush a little. As Amy watched the conversation unfold, she silently growled at their exchange. As far as she was concerned, Sonic was her own. No-one else’s.
"Oh I hope we can! I never got to control flames before!" replied Rarity. Sonic turned to Shadow and Fluttershy.
"You guys think you can work together?" Sonic asked.
"You bet. Though I am a little, uh scared..." replied Fluttershy quietly.
"Don't worry. You have Shadow with you. You'll be fine. Take these with you" he replied, tossing them a red and yellow Sol Emerald. "We never did find out what happens when you two work together. Maybe you can try it if you need to" Shadow stared at the emeralds curiously, thinking about the possibilities.
"We and Tails will team up as well. Hopefully we can find those gems for ya" Applejack shouted out. Sonic returned by giving them some emeralds. Like Fluttershy and Shadow, they never found out about their combination. They were just as curious as each other.
After organised the rest of the groups, including his own alongside Rainbow Dash. They all entered the forest in separate entrances, ensuring the most ground cover. Amy and Fluttershy were the only ones really reluctant to enter the forest, despite Fluttershy entering it a few times before. The 12 slowly disappeared among the trees and branches and into the darkness...though someone was watching...
"Ok, no. no no no no I am NOT following them into the forest" said Sweetie Belle.
"Oh come on, I've been there before, what are you, chicken?" replied Applebloom.
"No, that's Scootaloo" answered back Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo gave her a look. Sweetie Belle returned a sly smile.
Scootaloo sighed. "We must return these emeralds to their owners. No matter what. So let's go after them" and she got up to go into the forest. Applebloom followed, waiting for Sweetie Belle who reluctantly followed on. As they neared the edge of the forest, Scootaloo stopped momentarily. She stared into the depths of the forest and took a gulp. She walked further into the darkness, as the other 2 fillies followed on...
...
Amy walked through the darkness, scared for what might pop out and scare her. Beside her was Pinkie Pie, bouncing beside with a smile on her face. She turned to the distraught hedgehog.
"Hey, what's up? You scared?" asked Pinkie.
"Well, a little yeah. Oh, I wish Sonic was here!" she replied. Pinkie Pie raised a brow, thinking back to Sonic's interactions with another person.
"Oh c'mon, you have me here with you, and this place isn't scary!" Pinkie reassured her. Amy gave her a smile. "See? That's better! Now let's go and find these emeralds!" she yelled, speeding further into the forest. Amy ran after her.
"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" she yelled after her.
...
Anyone watching from above would see 3 large waving tails walking through the forest. Applejack and Tails walked almost in sync with each other.
"So Tails, why do you have...uh..." Applejack began, unsure if she should even continue.
"The two tails? I was born with them. They actually come in handy" he replied. Applejack smiled as she avoided offending him.
"Oh yea? Like what?" she asked. Tails' tails starting to spin like a propeller as he slowly lifted up off the ground. Before Applejack knew it. Tails was flying around her, circling her several times before stopping in front of her at face level. Applejack smiled happily.
"Well! That's the greatest thing I ever seen a fox do!" She started. "When did you learn t'do that?"
"Ages ago. Back when I was helping Sonic long, long ago" he replied with a kind smirk. Applejack looked at her own tail curiously as an idea sprung into her head. Her tail was as thick as Tails', she could do it too. She spun her single tail as hard and as fast as he could, but to no avail. Tails' watched as Applejack groaned in disappointment. "Sorry Applejack...I think you'd need a second tail to do that" he said quietly. Applejack turned to him with a smile.
"Aw, it's fine Tails. It was worth a try" she replied. Tails landed and walked next to Applejack happily. As they continued walking, they came across a massive gorge in the middle if the road. Connected to each end was a ladder, yet the ladder was broken, both ended blew in the wind against the rocky walls. Rather far below them was jagged rocks and rushing water. There was no chance both of them were going to get across.
"Hm...I could carry you across Applejack, but I doubt I'll make it all the way without getting tired...we might need to find another way across the gorge" mumbled Tails sadly. Applejack brought a hoof to her chin thing about what they should do. They could walk around it, but that would take a while...then it hit her.
"Tails! Let me see those emeralds of yours!" she asked. Tails handed her the two emeralds. As she held them, they started to glow, as she expected. "Maybe our combination will help us out..." she continued. Tails stared as the emeralds began the transformation, a small gem in the shape of an apple appearing in the middle, the element of honesty. And orange aura flowed over the two as they began to change. The tip of Tails' tails turned a shade of yellow, lighter than his fur and his eyes turned green. Applejack's eyes turned light blue in turn as the transformation came to an end. They looked at each other.
"Well, that was anti-climactic. I mean, I barely changed!" moaned Applejack. Tails did not say a word, he stared at Applejack's hind in shock. "What are you staring at?" she asked. Tails, wide-eyed, just pointed at her hind. Applejack turned to look and she instantly saw what he was looking at.
Applejack found herself with two tails.
She yelped into the air and ran after them like an excited dog. "WHAT? HOW? I NEVER FELT IT!" she yelled. Tails just watched with an amused grin as Applejack freaked out.
"Relax Applejack. I see what our combo is. You can probably fly now!" he said. Applejack stopped running around and stopped. He was probably right. She once more looked at her tails, still freaked out by the sight. Like before, she slowly started to spin them, like Tails did. Much to her surprise, he felt herself start to levitate off the ground. She was now a meter of the ground as Tails joined her.
"You know, I feel somewhat stronger now. Maybe that was your influence" said Tails. Applejack smirked as they took off across the gorge. Applejack stared curiously at the ground far below. This is what it must be like to be a pegasus pony. They continued to fly off into the distance.
...
"Wh-where do you reckon they are?" asked Sweetie Belle in ear. Applebloom and Scootaloo were not fairing much better in comparison.
"We're bound to run into one of them at some point" assured Applebloom. "I hope" The three fillies continued through the forest. Scootaloo suddenly turned her head to the right, hearing a noise. As she gazed into the darkness of the forest, a bat flew out, scaring Scootaloo. She screamed and ran behind Sweetie Belle. As she watched the bat fly off, she got up from beside her. Sweetie Belle gave her a sly smile.
"Wow, your really are a chicken" she remarked. Scootaloo growled at her.
"I'm not a chicken!" she yelled back. "...just caught off guard" as she walked with her head held high through the forest. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with uncertainty as they followed her.
...
As they walked further through the forest they finally came across someone. They all screeched to a halt as they gazed in fear at the black hedgehog walking alongside Fluttershy. They didn't know him all that well, and the last time they met him he demanded the emeralds from him. Scootaloo signalled to the other 2 fillies to follow her as they nodded in agreement. They slowly approached the two.
"So let me get this straight, you are in fact ageless?" Fluttershy asked her partner. Shadow simply nodded in return. Fluttershy said nothing, thinking about all the things she was learning about him. Before she could ask any more questions, she noticed three miniature ponies approaching them, each of them with a glowing emerald on their back. "Shadow, look!" she said, pointing to them. Shadow turned to them, looking down upon them. The three looked nervously at him.
"We found these 3 emeralds for you..." Scootaloo whimpered. Shadow said nothing and just stared at them. He raised his hands into the air as the emeralds levitated around him slowly. The three fillies smiled lightly.
"Hm. Thanks. I think we have all the Chaos Emeralds now..." he said quietly. Fluttershy approached the three.
"While we appreciate the effort, you really shouldn't have followed us" she explained.
"Sorry, but we thought ya'll were looking for the emeralds" replied Applebloom softly.
"Well stick with us for the time being-" but before Fluttershy replied, a blue blur caught the side of her eye. She turned to find nothing there. She looked around the area carefully, when suddenly;
"Look out!" yelled Shadow as a blast of energy hit the ground, kicking up debris and dirt and knocking the emeralds to the ground. Shadow shielded the three shaking fillies from the blast as Metal Sonic descended toward them once more. Fluttershy shook a little at the sight as he signalled to them to hand over the emeralds. Shadow held them close to him. Metal Sonic lunged at them as Fluttershy braced herself for the attack...but it never came. Metal Sonic was flying against an invisible barrier created by the emeralds. The red and yellow emeralds glowed furiously as they circled Shadow and Fluttershy. A rather dark aura surrounded them as butterfly shaped gem appeared before them, though it seemed corrupted. The three fillies watched in wonder as Fluttershy began to radically change before them. Her normally pink mane and tail turned jet black as red streaks formed in it. Her eyes narrowed angrily as her blue eyes became red, even her coat became a shade darker. She felt colder, more aggressive than before. This was not the normal Fluttershy anymore, as her her soul felt slightly corrupted. She felt like nothing could stop her in her tracks no matter what. Shadow himself changed slightly. His eyes became light blue and the red streaks in his spines turned yellow. Shadow's heart felt slightly lighter, like a huge weight was pulled from him. Was this Fluttershy's influence? He had no idea. Once the transformation stopped, everyone's eyes were on Fluttershy, who remained motionless, staring at Metal Sonic with a serious expression. It was like Shadow's personality fused with her own.
"You shouldn't have done that..." she muttered under her breath. Metal Sonic didn't move an inch as she stared at him. Shadow just watched Fluttershy as she slowly walked toward Metal Sonic. The fillies shook in fear. Someone they knew for a long time just changed completely in front of them, both in appearance and as far as they knew, nature. Without warning, Fluttershy took to the skies and looked down upon Metal Sonic with rage. Her body swelled with warth as chaos energy built up inside of her. Her heart felt dark, yet somehow retained some heroism. Her arms slowly started to glow with power.
"CHAOS SPEAR!!" she yelled as multiple glowing projectiles darted toward Metal Sonic. He skilfully dodged them as they embedded themselves in the ground. Shadow couldn't believe his eyes as he stood wide eyed and open mouthed. Fluttershy gained all of Shadow's powers, not just his mannerisms or appearance. Metal took to the skies to try and attack her, but it was no use. Fluttershy again charged up. "CHAOS CONTROL!" and with that, she disappeared. Metal Sonic frantically looked around the area in search for her, but as he turned round, Fluttershy was inches away from his face with a punch heading in his general direction. He couldn't avoid it as the hit landed. Shadow decided to aid in her fight and with a motion of his hand, birds from all the nearby trees flew up into the sky, covering up the moon. He gained Fluttershy's ability to communicate with animals, though he used telepathy, rather than voice. The birds of all shapes and sizes surrounded Metal Sonic, picking at him constantly. Despite his efforts to get them off, there were far too many. Shadow called the birds off as Metal Sonic attempted to adjust himself. Numerous dents existed all across his body, alongside scratches. Fluttershy's rage built up once more as she took on a reddish hue. Everything negitive that ever happened to Fluttershy ran through her head. Her torment at flight school, her being pushed around occasionally and being ignored by animals in the past. They all added up.
"Chaos..." she began, letting her rage hit a boiling point. "...BLAST!!" Fluttershy threw her limbs back as a sphere of chaos energy erupted from her body. The force of the blast was strong enough to catapult Metal Sonic down into the forest below and out of sight. The ground shook violently as the attack came to a close. Everyone remained silent as Fluttershy landed in front of Shadow and the 3 fillies with an evil smirk on her face. She stared at the 4, panting heavily in an exhausted fury, they stared back terrified for their lives...At that moment, Fluttershy began to brighten up again as her hair and eyes turned back to normal. A similar effect happened to Shadow who never really got to use his new powers. Fluttershy's evil smile turned to surprise as she examined herself.
"What just happened?" she asked silently. Shadow barely heard her. He was still comprehending what happened.
"We used our combination...and let's just say to changed more than I did" he replied quietly. The three fillies got up and approached her.
"You were rather scary" mumbled Applebloom. The other two nodded in agreement. Fluttershy suddenly felt self-conscious. Did she allow her power get into her head? Did Shadow lend his attitude to her? The thoughts ran through her head like a song. She shook her head, bringing her back into reality. She gave everyone a kind smile, showing everyone that the real Fluttershy was back.
"I think we'd better find the last of the Sol Emeralds-wait what happened to the Chaos Emeralds?!" Shadow yelled. One of the emeralds was gone, leaving two on the ground. Shadow stamped down hard on the ground. "Where's that damn 7th Chaos Emerald?! he yelled.
"Language Shadow!" Fluttershy replied, reminding him that there were effectively children around them. He shook his head and walked off, with the two emeralds in tow. The 4 followed him, not saying a word...
In a nearby bush, Metal Sonic was re-calibrating his systems. The several savage attacks caused him to effectively shut down, the final blast acting like an EMP blast. He looked down at his scratched feet to a small glowing gem. He had completed one 3rd of his mission at least...even if it was by accident.