• Published 3rd Mar 2012
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Sonic Generations: Friendship is Timeless - GreenS21



Sonic and Tails meet the main cast of "Friendship is Magic" in this re-imagining of "Sonic Generations"!

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Mission Street

A blue hedgehog walking down the street with a group of ponies, a baby dragon, a rabbit, and a Chao while pulling along a two-tailed fox who was hovering above the ground while he told one of the ponies about his life… On a normal day, pretty much anypony who looked at such a scene would classify it as unusual, but with everything else that had happened today, this scene would hardly seem unusual to an outside observer.

As Sonic and his group made their way through the streets of Ponyville, ponies who had been brought back earlier peered outside their windows when they heard the sound of someone talking. Most watched the group walk by with a mix of confusion and wonder. One aquamarine pony watched them pass by with a bright grin on her face. She was soon approached by her pale cream friend, who asked, “Hey Lyra, what’s gotten you so excited? I mean, you sure didn’t seem this happy when the Mayor came around and told us we needed to stay indoors until this so-called ‘group of professionals’ sorts out whatever problem is going on right now.”

Without tearing her eyes away from the window, the unicorn replied, “I know, Bon-Bon. I’m sure everypony else in Ponyville is as worried about putting our safety in the hands of some unknown group as we are. But if that’s them out there, I’m feeling a lot safer already!”

Bon-Bon asked, “They’re out there? Can you tell who they are?”

Lyra answered, “I can see Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and that pegasus filly that’s a part of that group of crusaders or whatever. And there are these, uh, animals with them.”

Bon-Bon raised an eyebrow, “Animals? What kind of animals?”

Lyra replied, “I don’t know my animals as well as Fluttershy does, but… They’re standing on two legs! And they’ve got hands!”

Bon-Bon asked, “Do they look strong?”

Lyra grinned, “Who cares how they look! They’ve got HANDS!”

Sonic looked up for a second, thinking he heard something before shrugging it off and looking back down at his left hand, which held Tails’ radar. Back at Fluttershy’s cottage, after Knuckles left saying he would take Tank back to Rainbow Dash’s house for her and that he would be around town, Fluttershy and Tails had started talking after the yellow pegasus had gotten some carrots for Angel, which eventually led to her asking him about, basically, his life.

During the exchange, Sonic snagged the radar from Tails and he was now pulling the fox by his right arm as he spun his tails beneath him, hovering above the ground as he talked to Fluttershy and Sonic pulled him. Since he was focusing on helping Twilight pinpoint their destination, the hedgehog was only half paying attention to what Tails was saying.

While Sonic and Twilight focused on getting the group to their next destination, everyone else was trying to keep themselves busy as they walked. Cream and Cheese were admiring the colored houses in Ponyville, occasionally listening to what Tails was saying to Fluttershy. Applejack was also alternating between listening and looking, though in her case, she was keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Spike was relaxing on Twilight’s back and Rainbow Dash was flying lazily above the group, both her and Scootaloo looking positively bored at how slowly they were moving.

As they continued through Ponyville, Applejack occasionally thought she heard something and would turn her head to the side she heard it from, scanning the area for a second before turning back to the road. Twilight eventually noticed this and turned her head away from the radar to look at the earth pony next to her, asking, “Applejack, are you okay? You’ve been looking off to the side for a while now.”

Applejack turned to her and said, “Yeah, Ah’m all right, Sugarcube. It’s just… ya ever get the feelin’ that you’re bein’ watched by somethin’ unfriendly?”

Rainbow glanced down as she flew on her back and spoke, “Come on, Applejack, there’s nothing to freak out about here. Except for Knuckles, Amy, and the ponies that we brought back, there’s nopony besides us in this weird, white world.”

Twilight looked up at the cyan pegasus and asked, “What about Gilda?”

Rainbow waved a hoof, “I wouldn’t worry about her, Twi’. Sneaking around isn’t exactly her style. If she wanted revenge bad enough, she’d come right out and say it. She’s not exactly the subtlest griffin you’ll ever meet.”

Applejack said, “Ah reckon ya have a point there, Rainbow. Still, Ah can’t shake this feelin’ that somepony’s watchin’ us.”

Rainbow replied, “Unless somepony was somehow able to blend in anywhere they wanted, I think it would be kind of hard to go unnoticed, what with all the white and bits of color. Just relax, AJ; we’re fine.” The orange earth pony nodded, but after Rainbow returned to her lazy flying, Applejack shot a quick glance down a nearby alley as they walked by. Seeing nothing, she turned back to the road, not noticing a pair of green eyes and several pairs of blue eyes peering out of the shadows at everyone as they continued on their way.

A few minutes later, Tails took a deep breath before saying, “And that’s my whole life up until about a month ago. …Did you want to hear about what I’ve done since then too?”

Fluttershy happily replied, “Oh yes, Tails! I mean, if you don’t mind, that is.”

Sonic spoke up before Tails could reply, “Excuse me for interrupting, but I think we’re here.”

Tails looked back over his shoulder and asked, “Huh? What…” He looked up and realized that the group was standing in front of a lone building. Noticing the radar in Sonic’s hand, he rubbed the back of his head and blushed, “Oh yeah, sorry about that.”

Sonic grinned, “Hey, no harm no foul, right?” He let go of Tails’ arm and the fox stopped spinning his tails, setting his feet down on the ground. Sonic then handed the radar back to Tails, the fox looking at it before closing and putting it away.

Cream looked up and said, “Oh my! This is such a nice looking building! Don’t you think so too, Cheese?” The Chao chirped happily in response.

Fluttershy nodded, “Oh yes, Cream. The Carousel Boutique is very pretty and flashy, just like Rarity.” She then looked up at the Boutique and said, “But… it’s not supposed to look like this. Why is it all white?” She then looked around and added, “Come to think of it, why is everything completely white?”

Sonic looked back at her and asked, “You were so focused on listening to Tails that you didn’t even notice the whitewash job Ponyville’s been given?” When she nodded, he smiled, “Wow, I’m impressed.”

Fluttershy smiled back, “Really? Oh, thank you, Sonic.” She then asked, “What are we doing at Rarity’s home? Are we here to visit her?” She then remembered what happened prior to ending up in a dark, lonely place and gasped, “Oh no! Rarity is in trouble too, isn’t she?”

Rainbow Dash landed in front of her and said, “That’s right, Fluttershy. And that’s why we’re here; to help Rarity and bring the color back to her home.”

Fluttershy asked, “How are we going to do that? Um, that is, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Twilight turned to look at the cream-colored pegasus and asked, “Do you remember that creature that grabbed you and everypony else?” At Fluttershy’s nod, she explained, “Well, somehow, that thing has caused these portals to appear around Ponyville that are connected to locations in Sonic and Tails’ world. Tails built this radar that locates these portals, which is why we came here rather than wandering around this white world looking for them. When we go through the portals, we restore the location where we find the portal, and we usually find some of our missing friends as well.”

Fluttershy nodded uncertainly, “I see…”

Scootaloo spoke, “Hey, I almost forgot! I wanted to stop by my house and pick up my scooter for wherever we’re going!”

Applejack looked down at her and asked, “Why do ya want yer scooter, Sugarcube?”

Scootaloo explained, “Well, just in case we come across any places where we need to be, you know, fast. I know I’m not very heavy, but if it’s possible, I’d like to be able to go fast on my own.”

Tails held a hand to his chin, “Hm… that’s not a bad idea, Scootaloo. Your scooter isn’t too heavy, is it?”

The orange pegasus filly shook her head, “No, it’s not heavy at all. Well, it might be a bit hard for me to carry it around, but you guys should be able to carry it easily when I don’t need it.”

Tails nodded, “All right, if you’ll show me where your house is, I’ll take you there. I’d like to take a look at your scooter myself.” He then looked over at Sonic and asked, “You guys can find the portal on your own, right?”

Sonic replied, “Sure. We already know it’s in there somewhere; with all of us searching, it shouldn’t take too long to find.”

Tails nodded, “Okay.” He then turned to Scootaloo and held out his right arm, saying, “Come on, Scootaloo. I’ll give you a lift.” The young filly came over to him and he picked her up, holding her in his arm. He then spun his twin namesakes around, lifting off the ground and flying away.

“Wow… He really can fly… That’s so amazing…” Fluttershy breathed.

She was snapped out of her reverie when Applejack called, “Hey Fluttershy, come on!” The pink-maned pegasus turned to see Applejack, Spike, Twilight, Cream, and Cheese standing in front of the now-open door to the Carousel Boutique, Sonic and Rainbow Dash already inside.

As Fluttershy walked over to them, Cream turned to Twilight and asked, “Excuse me, Miss Twilight, but are you sure this is okay? Miss Rarity isn’t going to be angry at us for going into her house when she isn’t there, is she?”

Twilight replied, “You can just call me ‘Twilight’, Cream. And don’t worry; since we’re going in there to help her, I’m sure she won’t mind. Just so long as we don’t mess up her store or…” She paused and glanced down at her and Applejack’s hooves and at Spike’s feet. She then said, “Nope, doesn’t look like we picked up any dirt or mud.”

Applejack chuckled, “Oh yeah, she’d have a hissy fit if we tracked mud in her house.”

Fluttershy gasped softly, “Oh my, that’s right.” She looked down at her hooves and asked, “Do my hooves look clean enough?”

Spike said, “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. We didn’t pass through any dirty areas on the way over here. I’m sure you would have noticed if we did. And if we’re clean enough, you’re definitely clean enough.” Feeling more reassured at what everyone had said, Fluttershy, Cream, and Cheese followed Twilight, Spike, and Applejack through the Carousel Boutique’s front door.

On the inside of the Carousel Boutique, the six of them found Sonic peering behind one of the show curtains and Rainbow Dash looking in one of the dressing rooms. “Did you guys find anything?” Twilight asked when they were done searching.

Both Sonic and Rainbow Dash shook their heads. “I’m gonna guess it’s not in here,” Sonic shrugged.

“Good. That means less chance o’ us messin’ up any o’ Rarity’s fancy frou-frou work,” Applejack commented.

“So, um, what should we do then?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight said, “Well, since there’s no way of pinpointing where exactly the portal is located, we’re going to have to search until we find it. Let’s split up for now and search; we’ll meet back here in, say, five minutes to discuss our findings. How does that sound?” Everyone nodded in agreement and then broke away from each other, Sonic going with Applejack to check the side rooms on the first floor while Fluttershy went with Cream and Cheese to look in the kitchen and Rainbow Dash stuck with Twilight and Spike as they went to look upstairs.

A few minutes later, Tails and Scootaloo returned, Tails carrying Scootaloo and her scooter in his arms, and they went through the front door to find Sonic, Applejack, Cream, Cheese, and Fluttershy gathering in the main showroom. “Hey guys. Did you find that portal yet?” Tails asked as he set Scootaloo down.

Applejack shook her head, “Nothin’ but accessories and other fashion-y stuff in the side rooms.”

Cream said, “We didn’t find anything in the kitchen.”

Sonic turned his head to the side and spoke, “Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow Dash haven’t come down yet. They might still be looking.”

A second later, Rainbow Dash came down the stairs leading to the second floor and called, “Spike found it! Come on, guys!” She then turned and ran back up the stairs, everyone scrambling after her.

As they approached Rarity’s bedroom, everyone heard Spike complain, “Aw, come on, Twilight! Can’t I have just one for finding it?”

Rainbow pushed the door open as Twilight answered, “Spike, I don’t think Rarity would be very happy if she found out you took any of her gems. You said she told you she was mad when Sweetie Belle used some for the drawing she made, right? Believe me, I’d like to reward you for finding the portal, but the gem stash is back at the library.”

Sonic spoke, “Back at the library, huh? Want to me to run over there and get it for you, Twilight?”

Before Twilight could reply, Spike said, “Yeah, do that! That would be awesome! Or, wait! You could let me lick one of your emeralds for a bit.”

Twilight scolded, “Spike!”

Applejack walked past the pair over to the bedroom window, asking, “Hey, is this the portal over here?”

Spike looked over at her and said, “Yep, that’s it all right. And I’m the one who found it!”

Fluttershy, Cream, and Cheese followed the orange earth pony over to the wall next to the window and peered inside of the portal with her. It showed them a night sky, paved roads, parked cars, and brightly lit buildings. Fluttershy backed away a moment later, saying, “Ooh… That place looks kind of scary…”

Cream turned to her and asked, “Are you afraid of the city, Miss Fluttershy?”

The cream-colored pegasus murmured, “Um… sort of.”

Cream instantly looked worried at how nervous Fluttershy looked, seeing that she was on the verge of shivering. She turned to Twilight and asked, “Miss Twilight, I know Miss Fluttershy is one of your best friends, but if I were here to keep her company, could she stay here? She looks really scared.”

Twilight held a hoof to her chin as she said, “Hm… Well, I can’t blame Fluttershy for being scared. That wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, floating around outside of my body.”

Applejack commented, “Hoo-wee! You said it, Sugarcube. That was a mighty creepy feelin’ fer sure!” Spike looked like he agreed with both of them.

Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and asked, “What do you think, Rainbow? I know if anypony’s going to object to leaving Fluttershy behind, it’s going to be you.”

The cyan pegasus replied, “Well, of course I’m going to object! Leave Fluttershy alone with a bunny and… that little…”

Tails spoke up, “Chao. Cheese is a Chao.”

Rainbow grunted, “…Right. Anyway, I can see Fluttershy feels more hesitant than usual, but you really want her to be in this kind of company? I’d feel more comfortable with the idea if she was with Knuckles or Amy. They can at least defend themselves if something happens.”

Sonic spoke, “Don’t let Cream’s looks, age, and politeness fool you. Obviously, she’d rather not have to get nasty with anybody, but she will fight if necessary, especially if someone she cares about is in danger. I don’t think it’ll be an issue, but if something does happen, Fluttershy will be safe with Cream and Cheese!”

Cream bowed politely, “Thank you, Sonic. You can count on me.” She then turned to Fluttershy and asked, “Do you like tea, Miss Fluttershy? We can talk over a nice cup of tea while we wait.”

Fluttershy smiled, “I think I would like a warm cup of tea, Cream.” Her smile then eased off, “Oh, but all of my tea is back at my house, and I don’t want to use Rarity’s without her permission.”

Twilight looked over at Sonic and asked, “Sonic, can I talk to you for a second?” Curious, the blue hedgehog walked over to her and she began to whisper to him, leaving everyone else wondering what the unicorn was saying to the hedgehog. After a minute, Sonic leaned back and Twilight asked, “Did you get all that?”

Sonic replied, “Of course! Be back in a flash!” He turned and was about to go speeding out of the bedroom when he looked around. Noticing all the fancy things around the room, he stopped himself, cleared his throat, and walked out of the room. He only took off running when he stepped outside of the Carousel Boutique.

Scootaloo turned to Twilight and asked, “What was that all about?”

The lavender unicorn replied, “Sonic’s just running a quick errand for me. It won’t take long.” Wondering what the errand was but deciding not to press, everyone settled down to wait for Sonic to get back.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, Rainbow Dash finally complained, “What’s taking Sonic so long?!”

Twilight murmured, “I don’t understand. He said he understood what I told him. What could…” Suddenly, they all heard the bell above the front door ringing as the door opened and closed. “Ah, that must be him now,” Twilight said.

A minute later, Sonic stepped into the bedroom carrying a tray that had a teapot and several cups on it. “Tea, anyone?” he asked. The faint scent of freshly brewed tea filled the air.

“Wow! I didn’t know you knew how to make tea, Sonic,” Twilight commented.

“Yeah, well, I really got into making it when Tails, Chip, and I were in Chun-Nan. They’ve got some great tea and meat buns over there. Figured I might as well save Fluttershy and Cream some time by brewing it up myself,” Sonic explained.

Fluttershy smiled, “Oh, thank you, Sonic. That was so nice of you.”

Sonic returned the smile and then turned to Cream. He held out the tray to her, saying, “Here you go, Cream. Hope you like it.”

Cream took the tray from his hands and smiled, “Thank you, Mr. Sonic. I’m sure it will be delicious.” She then looked back at Cheese and Fluttershy and said, “Come on, Cheese, Miss Fluttershy. Let’s go downstairs and sit down.” Cheese chirped in response and Fluttershy nodded, both of them following the rabbit out of the bedroom.

Once they were gone, Applejack grinned, “Well, Ah’ll be! That was mighty sweet o’ you, Sugar-hog!”

Sonic turned to her and said, “Yeah. You know, that tea sure looked good. This Zecora must really know her stuff.”

Twilight nodded, “She certainly does. I suppose learning to brew tea is one thing that can be picked up from being an herbalist for a living.”

Spike suddenly asked, “Hey Sonic, did you get me any gems while you were at the library?”

Sonic replied, “Nope. Sorry, bud.” Spike looked disappointed at that, but he instantly perked up when Sonic grinned, “Just kidding!” He reached into his quills and pulled out a pair of rubies. “Twilight told me where the stash was,” he explained as he walked over and handed the gems to Spike, who instantly started nibbling on one of them.

Rainbow spoke, “All right, if you guys are sure she’ll be fine, then I won’t worry about anything happening to Fluttershy. Now that that’s settled, how about we get going and find Rarity?” She gestured over at the portal and everyone nodded in agreement. Twilight used her magic to lift Spike up and placed him on her back, allowing him to finish his treat as she followed the others through the portal.

________________________________________

Scootaloo rode on her scooter, flapping her little wings slowly so she could stay beside Sonic and friends as they walked down an empty, slightly dark city street, the moon and the stars visible in the sky above them. Applejack soon asked, “Hey Sonic, Tails, is this one o’ yer world’s cities? ‘Cuz if it is, it sure reminds me of Manehattan, only not so fancy.”

Tails turned to her and said, “I’m pretty sure it’s one of our cities, Applejack. I mean, I don’t know what your Manehattan is like, but I’m definitely getting that more casual vibe from this place. Most of the cities we’ve been to, as a whole, are probably less fancy than cities in Equestria.”

Twilight glanced around as Spike finished up his second ruby and spoke, “Well, this part of the city doesn’t look too bad. That’s good, right?”

Sonic nodded, “Sure. It’s just that, during a regular day, you’d occasionally have to deal with loud noises and crowded streets and sidewalks.”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow as she looked from side to side, “Well, where is everypony, then? Are they all at home or something?”

Rainbow nodded in agreement, “She’s right. It does seem like we’re the only ones out right now. Is something going on?”

Tails held a hand to his chin as he said, “I don’t think so. I don’t think there could be a big celebration going on or anything like that. But this does feel familiar…”

Suddenly, a blue light shone out from the window of an electronics store up ahead, creating a box of light on the sidewalk. Curious, Sonic ran towards it, everyone else running after him. The blue hedgehog soon stopped in front of the store and, as everyone else got closer, they heard him groan, “Oh boy…” Everybody gathered around him and they quickly saw the reason for his groaning.

The window had a large, flat-panel TV on display, and on the corner of the TV’s screen was the symbol of the Eggman Empire. And in the middle of the screen was Dr. Eggman himself, various self-righteous quotations, some written in different languages, swirling around him. Applejack started, “What the hay? Who is…?” She was cut off when the doctor started laughing, the sound coming out of the TV’s speakers loud and clear.

After he finished laughing, Dr. Eggman spoke, “Citizens of Earth, lend me your ears and listen to me very carefully! My name is Dr. Eggman, the world’s greatest scientist, and soon to be the world’s greatest ruler! Now witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!” He finished his speech with another round of laughter.

Rainbow looked over at Sonic and Tails and asked, “Is this clown serious?”

Tails sighed, “Dead serious. And he’s about to show everyone on Earth what he means.”

Sonic turned away from the TV and added, “And we’ve got front row seats to see it.”

Spike raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, ‘front row seats’? What’s he gonna…?” Suddenly, a bright blue light lit up the sky and everyone turned to look.

“Where’s that light coming from?” Twilight asked.

“Space Colony ARK. The Eclipse Cannon,” Tails replied automatically. When he finished talking, the cannon fired, its blue beam shooting over the city. Everyone watched speechlessly as it went, soon reaching its intended target: the Moon. At first, only small bits of the Moon broke off due to the beam, but then they all looked on in horror as the beam blew half the moon away, exposing a molten interior. They all looked back at the TV screen, which now displayed a 24 hour time limit accompanied by Eggman’s seemingly victorious laughter.

“What the… How… Why did he do that?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Sonic growled, “Other than to try and make a point, no reason.”

Twilight managed to ask, “But… where did he get all that power?”

Tails answered, “From the Chaos Emeralds. He had six of them when he showed off the power of the ARK’s Eclipse Cannon.”

Applejack asked, “The ARK?”

Tails explained, “The world’s first Bernal spherical space colony, Space Colony ARK. It was the most advanced scientific research center of its kind before it was shut down.”

Twilight looked up at the night sky and murmured, “A real research center in outer space…?”

Spike spoke, bringing the lavender unicorn out of her thoughts, “Uh, are you sure it’s a place for research, Tails? That cannon thing looks out of place for a… you know, a place where research is being done. Why is it there, exactly?”

Rainbow said, “I’ll bet this Eggman jerk is the one who put it there!”

Tails stuttered, “N-no, that’s not it at all, Rainbow Dash. You see…” He was unable to finish his sentence due to a group of military planes flying overhead, the roar of their engines making it hard for anyone to hear.

Once they had flown on, Scootaloo exclaimed, “Whoa! What were those things?”

Tails said, “Blue Eagles, G. U. N.’s main fighter jet planes. At the time, we were in hot water with the military.”

Twilight asked, “Why? What happened?”

Tails explained, “Well, you see, Eggman’s plan this time around started simply with him breaking into the military base on Prison Island. That was where they had hidden away one of his grandfather’s greatest achievements, Project Shadow. Shadow, as it turned out, looked a lot like Sonic, so when he stole a Chaos Emerald from a bank, everyone thought that he was Sonic. It was a case of mistaken identity more than anything.”

Sonic nodded, “Yep. And since we’re so well-known because of what we do, of course they’d have to step things up when playing tag with us.”

Rainbow said, “Geez, they both sound like jerks! Though given that this Eggman guy is a jerk, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that this Shadow guy is one too, seeing as he works for him!”

Tails spoke, “No Rainbow, that’s not right either! Stop jumping to conclusions so fast!” Before the fox could attempt to explain the situation, the wail of sirens suddenly filled the air.

Spike groaned, “Now what?”

Sonic said, “That would be the police. And from the sound of that crescendo, they’re going to be on top of us sooner or later.”

Applejack asked, “So what are we gonna do, then? We’re not just gonna sit here and let them find us, are we?”

Tails scratched his head, “Well, all of you could technically do that. Unless they saw you with Sonic and me, they wouldn’t have much of a reason to arrest any of you.”

Rainbow said, “Yeah, uh, we’re not doing that. We’re not gonna let you guys take the heat alone, especially not me.”

Tails looked at Sonic and shrugged, “Maybe we can do what we did last time. What do you think, Sonic?”

Sonic, while looking further up the road, held his left hand to his chin murmured, “Hm.” He noticed an intersection a short ways ahead and ran towards it, everyone following after him after a moment. Upon reaching it, Sonic saw that it branched off in three directions. The sound of the police sirens was coming from the left, and to the right, the road sloped downwards. The road directly in front of the group was flat like the one on the left. After a moment, Sonic turned to Tails and said, “Yeah, we can do what we did before. I’ll get the police’s attention and lead them away from you. See if you can find our friends and we’ll meet up later.”

Tails nodded, “Got it!” He then moved towards the road in front of the group while Sonic moved over to the right road, both of them standing on the street corner.

Scootaloo asked, “Uh, what are we supposed to do?”

Sonic turned and said, “Make a decision. You can either come with me or stick with Tails. Either way, the police are going to do everything they can to capture us and anyone with us.” As the mares thought about who they wanted to go with, the wail of the sirens began to get closer. Soon enough, the red and blue flashers could be seen down the left street, moving towards the group. “Hurry up, girls. Who are you going with?” Sonic asked, somewhat impatiently. After another moment of thought, Applejack moved towards Tails and Twilight, surprisingly, walked over to Sonic.

Seconds later, several police cars came skidding to a stop near the intersection, blocking the left road off. An officer in one of the cars spoke through a megaphone, “All of you, FREEZE! Get down on the ground and surrender!”

Sonic called, “Do you really expect us to do that?”

Rainbow nodded, “Yeah, don’t count on it! If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll- whoa!” She was cut off in mid-sentence by someone pulling hard on her tail. Looking back, she saw her tail was in Applejack’s mouth.

Through clenched teeth, the earth pony spoke, “Not the time for yer usual showboatin’, Rainbow! We gotta get outta here!”

Sonic turned and ran down the street, Twilight running after him as he called, “Yeah! So consider us gone!” Tails also took off running, Applejack running after him while pulling the still-struggling Rainbow Dash behind her. Scootaloo hesitated for a moment, but then she turned and shot after Sonic, Twilight, and Spike, deciding to put her scooter to good use on the sloped road.

The police officer from before told his fellow law enforcers, “Leave the fox and the rest of them to the military’s robots! Our top priority is the hedgehog!” With that, he drove off after Sonic’s group, the other officers right behind him.

Scootaloo looked back to see the police cars literally following them down the street. She also noticed that Twilight was obviously having the most trouble moving fast, even with the whole downhill aid. She faced forward and called, “Twilight, can’t you use your magic or something to speed up?! At this rate, they’re going to catch us!”

Twilight called back, “The only thing I could really do is teleport, Scootaloo! And there’s no telling where that could put us here!”

Spike glanced back and said, “Those things… They look kind of like the carts that Big Macintosh pulls around town! How are they able to go so fast?!”

Sonic called, “Well, there’s a pretty big difference between a horse and a car, Spike! But in any case, I agree with Scootaloo; we need to pick up the pace!” He slowed down slightly, getting behind Twilight. He then looked at the lavender unicorn and baby dragon and said, “Spike, jump towards me! Twilight, after I’ve transferred him to Scootaloo’s scooter, you jump forward!”

Twilight, Spike, and Scootaloo all asked, “What?!”

Sonic replied, “Just trust me! It’ll be fine!” Confused, but not having a lot of other options at the moment, Spike did as Sonic said, leaping off of Twilight’s back towards him. The blue hedgehog caught him and quickly moved behind Scootaloo’s scooter, setting him down behind the orange pegasus; Spike quickly placed his claws on her shoulders for support. Once his grip was secured, Twilight jumped forward. Sonic immediately got behind her and caught her in his arms, holding her bridal style. He then called to Scootaloo, “Flap those wings, Scootaloo! We’re getting out of here!” He then pulled forward, running faster as Twilight wrapped her forelegs around his neck.

Scootaloo grinned, “All right!” She started flapping her wings faster, going from a moderately fast speed to full speed. She wasn’t fast enough to catch up to Sonic, but she was going fast enough that she could be in his tailwind. The gap between them and the police cars began to get wider rather than shorter.

After passing over a small flat strip of road, the street dropped into a slope again. As the group went further down, Twilight pointed with her right hoof, calling, “Sonic, Scootaloo, look! There’s a ninety degree turn coming up!” Scootaloo moved out from behind Sonic and saw a sharp right turn coming up at the bottom of the slope.

Sonic said, “I see it, Twilight! And I see the easiest way to make it, too!” Sonic called to Scootaloo, “Scootaloo, are you and Spike gonna be able to make it?!”

The orange pegasus replied, “Uh-huh! Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered!” She then called back to Spike, “Spike, when I start to lean, you lean with me! Got it?!” The baby dragon nodded in response.

As they got closer to the turn, Scootaloo moved farther away from Sonic. Once they were close enough, Sonic shifted all of Twilight’s weight to his left arm and said, “Hold on, Twilight!” He then held out his right hand and grabbed a post on the street corner. At the same time, Scootaloo stopped flapping her wings and started leaning to the right, Spike leaning with her. Sonic whipped around the post, releasing it and using both arms to hold Twilight once he was facing the right direction, while Scootaloo made a sharp enough turn to clear the corner without sacrificing too much speed. Both Sonic and Scootaloo grinned at each other while Twilight and Spike shot friendly looks at each other.

The moment was cut short when they all heard the sound of tires skidding against the ground. Spike looked back and up to see the police cars were still hot on their trail. “Geez, they’re still coming?!” he exclaimed.

“Gotta give ‘em credit for being persistent, if nothing else,” Sonic grunted. He then called to Scootaloo, “Try to keep this up for as long as you can, Scootaloo! They won’t be able to keep up with us forever!” Scootaloo nodded and then focused on the road. She was not about to disappoint anybody!

Later, with Tails’ group…

Tails, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were hiding behind a dumpster in an alley, trying to stay hidden so a squad of Gun Hunters would pass them. As they waited, more Blue Eagles flew overhead, everyone looking up and briefly seeing three jets fly by. “Boy, they ain’t givin’ us a break, are they?” Applejack whispered.

Tails replied, “Nope. Wait here; I’m going to go check and see if the coast is clear.” While remaining crouched down, he snuck out from behind the dumpster and moved over to the entrance to the alley. He soon called back, “I think we lost them. Let’s go.” Applejack and Rainbow came out from their hiding place and followed Tails back onto the street. Sure enough, there was no sign of the robots that had been pursuing them.

Once they were sure nobody was waiting to jump out at them, Applejack turned to Tails and asked, “Where do we go from here, darlin’?”

Tails pointed to a wall at the end of the street and said, “Let’s see what’s on the other side of that wall. That might be where we’re supposed to go.”

As they started walking towards the wall, Rainbow spoke up, “You know, AJ, if you hadn’t stopped me earlier, we might not be in this situation!”

The orange earth pony retorted, “You’re right, Rainbow. We’d probably be in a worse situation! Ya heard what Sonic and Tails said; things are lookin’ bad as it is! We don’t need you makin’ it worse!”

Tails nodded, “The police are just doing their job, Rainbow Dash. And we would’ve been hard-pressed to fight off that many robots at once.”

The cyan pegasus growled, “Ah, I can’t believe this Shadow guy! What’s his problem, huh?!”

Tails spoke, “Don’t blame Shadow; as I was trying to say earlier, it’s not entirely his fault. It’s just a coincidence that he happens to look a lot like Sonic. Sure I think it wouldn’t be hard to tell the difference between blue and black, but it doesn’t help that Shadow wasn’t entirely himself when he was awakened.”

As they stopped in front of the wall, Applejack asked, “What do ya mean by that?”

Tails took the earth pony’s hooves and spun his tails around, helping her up over the wall while Rainbow Dash flew up below them. As they ascended, Tails started, “Well, you see, Professor Gerald Robotnik…” He stopped in mid-sentence; they had reached the top of the wall, and the street behind it was swarming with robots.

Rainbow hovered next to Tails and Applejack and asked, “Should we try to sneak around them?”

Tails hesitantly said, “We could, but that would take time. And there’s a good chance another robot might see us and tell all these guys where we are.”

Applejack asked, “So what do we do? Just get out there and force our way through ‘em?”

Tails nodded, “Seems like the best thing to do right now. Are you both ready?” Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded. Tails and Rainbow then flew over the wall, Tails releasing Applejack’s hooves after a moment. The earth pony landed on all fours and took off running towards the robots that had just noticed them while Tails and Rainbow flew at them. The Gun Hunters and Gun Beetles started shooting at them, but the trio was too fast for them and the robots didn’t last long against Applejack’s workhorse legs, Rainbow’s high-speed tackles, and Tails’ Spin Jump. By working together, they were able to take care of their attackers in a quick and timely manner.

After the last robot fell, Applejack started looking around for her friends. Rainbow wasn’t hard to find; the pegasus’ mane was quite easy to see on the lit street. She didn’t immediately see Tails, however, and called, “Tails? Where are ya, Sugarcube?” She and Rainbow soon heard a rustling sound from nearby and went to look. They found Tails digging through what was left of one of the Gun Hunters, searching its remains for something.

Rainbow landed on the ground and she and Applejack walked over, wondering what the fox was digging through the scraps for. As they reached the robot, Tails pulled out a small green object, holding it in his left hand where Rainbow and Applejack could clearly see it. “What’s that, Tails?” Rainbow asked.

Tails looked at the mares and replied, “This? It’s a Chaos Drive, a power source containing crystallized Chaos Energy. They were designed by Professor Gerald Robotnik. I’m sure I can find a use for it later.” He then tucked the small capsule in one of his two tails, next to the violet Chaos Emerald.

As Tails moved to investigate one of the Gun Beetles, Applejack spoke, “Y’all mentioned that name before this scuffle started. Sonic also mentioned the name ‘Robotnik’; said it was the last name of Dr. Eggman’s grandfather. Are ya referrin’ to the same person?”

Tails, as he started to examine the Beetle’s remains, replied, “That’s right. Professor Gerald Robotnik is Eggman’s grandfather. Professor Gerald was also the leader of Project Shadow. He’s the one who created Shadow.”

Rainbow said, “You know, you’ve been saying that I’ve been getting the wrong idea about Shadow and the ARK and this and that. Now that we’ve got a chance to talk, you mind telling me what I’m apparently not getting?”

Tails pulled out a yellow Chaos Drive from the Gun Beetle and stood up. He then turned to face Applejack and Rainbow Dash and said, “Sure. I’ve got to check the rest of these robots anyway.” The two mares followed him as he went to check another Gun Hunter; as he walked, he started, “Fifty years ago, Professor Gerald was asked by the President of the United Federation to lead a medical research program that became known as Project Shadow. He eventually accepted the assignment, as he could use the research to find a way to save the life of his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik.”

Applejack asked, “Why? What was wrong with her?”

Tails, as he slowly sifted through the remains of the Gun Hunter, explained, “Maria had developed Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome, or NIDS for short. It’s an incurable disease; Professor Gerald hoped to co-opt the immortality research to discover a cure. Of course, there were plenty of barriers to get past. Gerald’s research on lizards managed to produce a somewhat successful result; they managed to get many of the traits they wanted, but the creature itself needed a life support machine in order to live. In order to speed the research along, Gerald made a desperate move: he made contact with aliens.”

Rainbow asked, “Aliens? Like the ones that supposedly travel around in those… spinning things, whatever they’re called?”

Tails replied, “Yes and no. The aliens he had made contact with were known as the Black Arms. The Black Comet, which was their home or transport or something, would pass by Earth once every fifty years, and it was around this time that it made its usual pass past Earth. Professor Gerald managed to contact the alien leader, Black Doom, who provided the necessary genetic material for the project. His DNA allowed Gerald to create Shadow, but there was still the matter of repaying Black Doom for his help.”

As Tails pulled out a red Chaos Drive, Rainbow Dash said, “Let me guess. It wasn’t exactly a fair tradeoff, right?”

Tails turned to face the two ponies and said, “Nope. In exchange for his help, Black Doom asked Professor Gerald to use Shadow to deliver the Chaos Emeralds the next time the Black Comet passed by Earth. Gerald realized that this presented a clear threat to Earth and secretly plotted to stop him. He made some slight modifications to Shadow so that he would be a savior rather than a destroyer and developed the Eclipse Cannon in order to destroy the Black Comet.”

Applejack asked, “So why’d he steal a Chaos Emerald and let Dr. Eggman destroy half the Moon? Did what Gerald do not work out as he expected?”

Tails looked down at the ground and replied, “…Sort of. See, the military got wind of Gerald’s experiments and, suspecting they were a danger to humanity, went up to the ARK to shut them down. Despite Shadow’s efforts, Maria was killed and Shadow himself was captured by the military and put into suspended animation. When Gerald learned what happened to Maria, he… well, he kind of went mad with grief. Before he was executed, he set up a final act of revenge aboard the ARK and altered Shadow’s memories so that he would carry out Gerald’s revenge without question. He believed that Maria wanted revenge, but it was really Gerald’s own revenge he was carrying out.”

Rainbow muttered, “Wow, that’s… I think I understand now…” She then asked, “What happened after Eggman released Shadow?”

Tails replied, “Well, as you can tell, Shadow began doing exactly what Gerald wanted him to do. He convinced Eggman that he could dominate the world if he collected all the Chaos Emeralds and used them to power the Eclipse Cannon. Once all the Emeralds were collected, Gerald’s program was put into action. The energy from the Chaos Emeralds turned the ARK into a huge bomb and sent it on a crash course for Earth. However, Shadow managed to get his real memories back and he helped us prevent the ARK from crashing. We thought he died in the process, but one of Eggman’s robots found him afterwards. He was later found in one of Eggman’s bases, although he had suffered amnesia as a result of his fall. When the Black Arms returned, he went on a quest for answers and eventually did what Gerald originally wanted him to do: stop the Black Arms.”

Applejack spoke, “Whoa… That’s some story, Sugarcube. All the same, though, Ah think that’s enough talkin’ fer now. We should probably get goin’.”

Tails nodded, “You’re right, Applejack. I already checked the rest of the robots anyway, so we can go. I’m sure we’ve got a lot of ground to make up by now.” Rainbow and Applejack nodded and all three of them made their way up the street, heading for a tunnel at the end.

Soon, further up ahead

“Wow… That’s just… I… I’m speechless, Sonic,” Twilight admitted. She, Sonic, Spike, and Scootaloo were sitting atop one of the towers of one of the suspension bridges that went over the city (Sonic having gotten them up there with the aid of his Boost ability, which they were all amazed at), where the blue hedgehog had just finished telling them roughly the same story that Tails had told Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

Sonic nodded, “Yeah.” He looked up at the Moon, remembering the brief time he had been up there, and said, “You know, I’m glad Shadow found out the truth about who he is and managed to stay true to who he is. And that Gerald Robotnik turned out to be a good man in the end.”

Spike said, “Man, it’s almost hard to believe that he’s related to someone like this Eggman guy!”

Sonic replied, “I know, right? I even heard Eggman telling Tails, after we stopped the ARK from crashing into Earth, that he wanted to be a great scientist because his grandfather was his hero. You gotta wonder where he got the whole ‘world domination’ idea from in the first place.” Everyone nodded in silent agreement.

After a moment of silence, Twilight spoke, “Maybe we should get going. It’s nice to have some quiet after escaping from the police, but we’ve certainly been up here for a while.”

Sonic shrugged, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Twilight.” He stood up and said, “I wonder how Tails, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are doing.”

Scootaloo looked down at the street they had come down and noticed three figures down below. She immediately recognized the rainbow hair on one of them and pointed, “Look, they’re down there!” She then yelled down, “RAINBOW DASH, TAILS, APPLEJACK! UP HERE!”

The trio looked around in confusion until Tails looked up and saw Sonic, Twilight, Spike, and Scootaloo standing on top of the bridge’s tower. He called up, “HEY GUYS! WHAT’S GOING ON?”

Sonic called back, “WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO START LOOKING FOR YOU GUYS! JUST STAY THERE; WE’LL BE RIGHT DOWN!” He then lifted his hand off of Scootaloo’s scooter, letting it drop down onto its wheels and roll over to the young pegasus. Twilight walked over to him and he picked her up while Spike hopped up onto his back. Sonic then walked over to the nearby suspension cable and leapt down onto it, grinding down. Scootaloo followed him down, riding on and balancing with her scooter. When they were close enough, they leapt off the cable, coming to a stop in front of their friends.

As Sonic set Twilight down and Spike leapt down off of his back, Rainbow said, “That was pretty cool! Are you guys okay?”

Sonic stood up and replied, “Uh-huh. And it looks like you guys are okay too.”

Applejack said, “We sure are, Sugar-hog.”

Twilight asked, “Have you guys found anybody? We only lost the police a little while ago, so we haven’t had a chance to search.”

Tails said, “No, we’ve just seen a lot of military robots. I’ve managed to salvage Chaos Drives from some of them so it hasn’t been a total bust, but I’d feel better if we had some idea of where our friends are.”

Spike asked, “Are we going to have to split up again?”

Sonic said, “No, I don’t think we’ll need to, Spike.” He pointed his right thumb down the street and continued, “We might as well see where this takes us before we split up or anything like that.”

Tails nodded, “Right. And we should be able to move much faster as long as we stick together and work as a team.”

Rainbow Dash said, “Then let’s go, you guys! The sooner we find our friends, the sooner we’ll stop getting shot at!” Everyone nodded in agreement and, after Spike climbed up onto Twilight’s back, they set off down the road, crossing the suspension bridge.

After several more encounters with military robots and crossing over a bridge that shook like it was going to fall any second, the group entered a tunnel that led them to a street that ran in front of a collection of buildings. The group fought their way past the robots that attempted to ambush them as they went down the street, which led to a dead end. Fortunately, however, they found three figures waiting for them there.

“Rouge!” Tails said.

“Rarity!” Spike exclaimed.

“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo shouted. Everybody quickly rushed over to them, stopping in front of them.

Twilight’s horn lit up and she examined each of them before saying, “Well, it looks they’re all okay. They’ll definitely return to normal once we get them back to Ponyville.” She said to this to assuage Spike’s fears more than anything, since she could tell that the baby dragon was really worried about his crush. It seemed to do the trick as Spike let out a sigh of relief at her words.

Tails reached into his namesakes for the Warp Ring, but paused after pulling it out due to Scootaloo saying, “Look! Here comes one of those plane things!” Everyone looked where she was pointing to see of the Blue Eagle jets flying in their direction. As it flew over one of the buildings, it suddenly dropped a bomb, which started falling straight towards the group!

The ponies began to panic at this, but Sonic remained calm. “Tails, it’s time to leave! Get that Warp Ring going!” he said. Tails quickly nodded and tossed the Warp Ring up in front of him. It grew to its full size a second later, a shimmering surface appearing in its hole. Sonic grabbed Rouge and Twilight picked up both Rarity and Sweetie Belle with her magic and then everybody dove into the portal, Sonic and Rainbow Dash leaping in from one side while everyone else went through the other side. The ring then vanished with a *FWASH* and the bomb from the Blue Eagle exploded harmlessly on the street.

________________________________________

Fluttershy, Cream, and Cheese were sitting in Rarity’s kitchen talking about Chao while they drank their tea when they heard a *PHVWOW* coming from the Boutique’s showroom, followed by multiple thumps. Worried, both Fluttershy and Cream stood up and ran into the showroom, Cheese flying after them. There they found all their friends sprawled awkwardly on the floor, the Warp Ring lying on the ground next to Tails. Twilight had managed to set Rarity and Sweetie Belle down on their hooves while Sonic was lying on his back and holding up Rouge’s body with his hands.

“Oh dear! Are you all okay?” Cream asked worriedly.

Sonic soon sat up with a grunt and set Rouge down on her feet before saying, “I think we’re okay, Cream. We just weren’t expecting to hit the ground so abruptly.” Everyone else sat up soon afterwards, Tails grabbing the Warp Ring and tucking it away.

As everyone stood up, Fluttershy said, “Oh, you managed to find Rarity! And Sweetie Belle!”

Cream added, “And Miss Rouge too! But why are they all so still and white?”

Tails said, “Don’t worry, Cream. They should be back to normal in a minute, along with Rarity’s home.” As he finished his sentence, everybody noticed a now familiar sparkling white wave moving over the floor and up the walls, restoring everything to its proper color as it went. In under a minute, the Carousel Boutique had completely regained its color.

Sonic looked over at Rouge and saw the same wave creeping up her body. Once she was fully restored, she looked herself over and leapt up into the air, briefly flapping her wings before landing back on the ground. She then blew Sonic a kiss and said, “Thanks, Big Blue! That’s the first time I’ve ever been stolen.” Sonic couldn’t help but grin softly at that statement.

Their attention was redirected when they heard Scootaloo exclaimed, “Sweetie Belle! You’re okay!” Everyone looked to see the orange pegasus filly hugging the young unicorn, giving an admittedly rare display of emotion.

Sweetie Belle stuttered, “S-Scootaloo? Wh-what’s going on?”

Scootaloo leaned back and said, “That doesn’t matter right now! You’re okay!”

Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy all noticed that Rarity was back to normal as well. And, unfortunately, she seemed to feel the need to be the one to spoil the moment. “Okay? OKAY? What are you talking about? That was utterly terrifying! My beautiful body was completely white! And I was floating around like a ghost! Of all the worst things that could happen, that was the. Worst. POSSIBLE. THING!” The drama queen’s horn lit up and her throne slid over to catch her as she fell onto her back, sobbing. After a minute, she looked up to see everybody staring at her. “What? It was, you know!” she defended.

Everybody had a different reaction to this comment. For Sonic, he performed a simple three-step procedure other people might follow in this situation.

Raise hand. Expose palm. Apply to face.

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