Sonic EGX (Book 1)

by Will of Radiance

Episode 4

7:30 PM

The sun was on top of the hills, casting an orange hue on the surroundings. Despite it's warm color, it warned that cooler temperature's were approaching, a sentiment that did not make the three otherworlders feel any better. The three were sitting outside the entrance of Canterlot high on the bottom steps leading up to the doors. At this hour most students would have headed home. Not them, for their hideout was discovered, and they are now left homeless.

"Sigh.........So what's the plan?" Sonic asked the others. Shadow and Silver looked about as depressed as Sonic. The sun was setting, and the warm colors of the sunset were gradually fading into a cold dark blue.

"Find shelter. That's our plan." Shadow stated, not willing to waste time sitting around. "Any idea's you two?" He looked to Silver and Sonic. Unfortunately, their depressed expressions didn't inspire any confidence.

"Purchasing a house here is definitely out of the question. Were broke." Silver bemoaned. Then he suddenly began shivering as it was starting to get cold.

"Well.....if anything we can always just sleep outside." Sonic suggested, cradling his head and making himself comfortable.

"Shiver Um in case you've forgotten Sonic. I don't have my fur in this form!" Silver refuted his idea, shivering in his boots. Sonic looked at Silver shiver and then suddenly realized that he was extremely cold as well.

"Ah!! Shiver Good point!" Sonic exclaimed, as he shivered alongside Silver. Shadow rolled his eyes at their silly banter.

"Well that may be our only option at the moment, unless something comes up." Shadow admitted.
The three were at a loss. They all said nothing as they waited for the cold embrace of the night to arrive. However, nearby someone was watching them.

"Psst! Hey there!" A upbeat voice said to them. The three looked up the stairs to see a boy with grayish amber skin and green braided hair that went past his shoulders. He wore a dark grey cap, red T shirt, and brown vest with a green recycle button. "Look's like you two are lacking some lodgings. Am I right?" He observed.
Shadow sneered, not content with getting acquainted with another person from this world.

"Tch! And who gave you permission to eavesdrop?" Shadow coldly replied. The boy's sincere smile didn't fade despite Shadow's cold tone.

"Heh heh. No one, so I gave myself permission!" The boy replied cheerfully. The three were not sure if what he said was serious or just a joke.

"Sigh Go on." Shadow begrudgingly. The boy got up and walked down the stairs closer to them, and put his arm around Shadow being all friendly like

"Okay! Now, if you all looking for a place to crash, then head over my grandpa's place." He hands a flier to Shadow. Shadow took it and looked at what it said. It said 'apartments for sale' in over-the-top stylized letters. With a picture of an older man who had the same hairstyle as the boy's except it was grey.

"Thanks but.....we're kind of broke." Shadow told him.

"Hey! No worries man." The boy patted Shadow on the back. "Read what's on the back."
Shadow turned the flier over, and raised his eyebrows in surprise at what it said. Sonic and Silver saw his reaction, and got up to look at what the Shadow was looking at.

"It's a coupon" Silver commented. "It says the first month is free."
The boy smiled, proud of his grandpa's generosity.

"Yeah, he's been struggling to get new tenants. So he's been trying to attract new one's with these coupons." The boy explained. Shadow was rather confused if this was legitimate or not.

"You sure this is for real?" Silver asked him.

"Of course!" The boy began to walk away. "Just show him that flier and tell him that Sandalwood sent you!" He explained.
"Welp! See you around!" He gave the three a wink before walking heading off.
The three looked at Sandalwood as he took off, wondering why he was helping them of all people.

"Are you sure this is legit? He could be scamming us for all we know." Sonic was skeptical of the coupon.

"Well, if not were gonna have to sleep out in the cold. Shiver" Silver began shaking from the cold.
Shadow let out a frustrated sigh.

"What choice do we have?" He admitted that they didn't have many other options. He folded up the flier and put it in the pocket of his jacket. He then started walking straight ahead from the entrance.
"Come on. Let's check it out." Shadow called them to follow him. Sonic and Silver looked at each other, wondering if they would actually find a place to sleep.

"Well, it'll beat sleeping outside so...." Silver got up and began following Shadow. Sonic was about to get up, but he stopped when he remembered how he acted with Rainbow Dash and the other girls. While he regretted how he acted,part of him was still angry that he lost, and wouldn't let him let go. He let out a sigh as he got up and followed Shadow and Silver as they headed into the city.

"Hold on. Silver. Do you have the chaos emerald?" Shadow turned to Silver. Silver remembered the chaos emerald, and frantically started searching his pockets for them. To his relief he found him in his back jacket pocket.

"Right here! Whew! Good thing I stopped by my locker to grab it." Silver explained to them.

"The weekend's almost starting. If we left them in your locker, somebody definitely would have found them." Shadow further commented.

"Yeah. And we can't have that." Silver replied as he put the chaos emeralds away. The three decided to waste no time and get moving.
However, Sonic paused as he looked back at the school once again. Looking at it, all he felt was the urge to leave this place as soon as possible. He let out a sigh, as he proceeded to follow Shadow and Silver.

The three walked around the suburbs surrounding Canterlot high. But their unfamiliarity with the place caused them to get lost, causing them to loop around in a circle back to the school. They tried again, but they got lost once more and ended up in someplace completely unfamiliar to them.
The sun was now behind the hills, the last of the warm sunset receding behind the hills. The three mobians eventually found themselves in the business sector of the city, where the taller buildings and skyscrapers were.

"Ugh, Shadow do you even know where were going?" Silver complained as he let out a yawn. Sonic and Silver were getting tired from walking around all night and were starting to fall behind Shadow.
Shadow looked at the flier as they walked, and it did have an address. But he had no idea where it was due to not knowing the city's layout. He stopped, then turned to speak to them. Sonic and Silver looked at him, hoping he would say yes.

"Not a clue." Shadow stated bluntly, causing Sonic and Silver to fall on their butts in a cartoonish fashion.

"Were never gonna get out of this cold." Sonic despaired as he shivered on the ground along with Silver.

Shadow rolled his eyes at their melodramatic acting. He looked forward and he saw a map kiosk in the middle of a plaza. He walked over to figure out where they were exactly, leaving Sonic and Silver to wallow in their melodramatic misery.

"It can't end like this.......can it?" Sonic said as he laid on the cold concrete ground. Silver however was struggling to get back on his feet.

"No! I won't let it end here? Agh!" His arms and legs gave in and he fell back down the ground. "Ugh......it's cold.Shiver" The two resigned themselves to their fate as they comically laid on the ground.

Shadow eventually came back with a better understanding of the city's layout. He looked down at the two. His eye's rolled up into the back of his head from the pure annoyance he was feeling from their melodramatic performance.

"Grunt Get up." Shadow lightly kicked Sonic in the gut. He knew that they were just being melodramatic.

"Ouch! Watch it!" Sonic proceeded to get up, despite being slightly miffed at Shadow's prodding. Silver also got up, ending his melodramatic acting.

"I think I know where we are, and more importantly where this place is." Shadow explained holding up the flier.

"Oh yeah? So where is it?" Sonic asked.

"Ten miles that way." Shadow pointed to their left. Sonic and Silver's hearts dropped at the notion of walking some more. Shadow already had started walking. They both let out a defeated sigh, and they wasted no time and decided to follow him.

They were walking for an hour before they started to get tired. Sonic and Silver felt their steps getting heavier, their feet began to ache and they had trouble keeping their eyes open. Shadow on the other hand was still trucking ahead as if nothing fazed him. The bright lights of the city started to fade as they moved closer to the outskirts of the city.

“sigh What I would give for a chili dog and a warm bed.” Sonic bemoaned between bouts of trying to keep his eyes open.

“Your still on about that?” Silver retorted tiredly, also struggling to stay awake. “Why do you like chilidogs anyways?” Silver asked as he rubbed his eyes. Normally Sonic would take offense at anyone who talked about his favorite food that way, but he was too tired to be angry so he decided tell Silver the story of why he likes chili dogs.

“Well....my uncle chuck got me hooked on them.” Sonic gave his brief explanation. Silver raised an eyebrow for he never heard of Sonic having an uncle.

“Uncle chuck?” Silver inquired. Sonic realized that he never told Silver about uncle chuck.

“Yeah, we always ate them after a long day of training. And I’ll never forget the day he first gave me a chilidog.” Sonic smiled as he reminisced about being so tired and bruised after training with uncle chuck, and first tasting a chilidog. It was the most delicious thing he ever had. Then his mind went to uncle Chuck.
“Uncle Chuck was.......also the.....only family I had.” Sonic got slightly emotional. He shook his head as he didn’t want to bother Silver with his personal story. The the bright lights of the city were now replaced with the dim glow from street lights and the occasional car that passed by.
“I’m sure you know how that feels right Silver?” Sonic tried to empathized with Silver, however he didn’t respond.

"Silver?" Sonic looked to his side to see what was preventing him from responding, only to find that he wasn't beside him anymore.
"Silver!?" Sonic panicked slightly at Silver's sudden disappearance. But his panic was short lived as he saw that Silver had collapsed against a light post, and was fast asleep.
Sonic let out a relieved yet defeated sigh.
"What a kid" Sonic thought.

Later Sonic was still following Shadow as he carried Silver, who was fast asleep, piggyback style on his back. The lights from the houses were now out, the only thing that was lighting their way was the street lights. They continued walking block after block. Sonic was wondering if they were ever going to find this place that Shadow was leading them to. The neighborhood started to look less developed and more houses started to look run down and abandoned.

"Pant Pant Shadow. You sure you know where were going? " Sonic said between breaths. Not only was he tired from walking all night, carrying Silver is beginning to take it's toll on his arms and legs.
Suddenly Shadow stopped when he came to an intersection. Sonic stopped next to him, wondering what caused him to stop walking. He looked foward to see a five story tall apartment complex with a bright recycle logo above the entrance. The building looked rather very old and worn with vines growing up one side and signs of deterioration near the top, likely due to rain or sun damage. It was clear to the otherworlders that the person who owns this building didn't keep it very well.

"I think were finally here." Sonic commented. Like Shadow, he wasn't too impressed with the state of the building. "Looks.......cozy, I guess." He sarcastically commented again.

Shadow smirked a little at his sarcasm. "Yeah right". Suddenly they heard a banging coming from the entrance.

"Ow! Hey take it easy told timer!" A tall man with yellow skin and red hair with white stripes wearing a blue and white striped shirt with a black bow tie came stumbling out of the door dropping a cardboard box on the ground, spilling it's contents, which appeared to be cheap looking plastic bowls. Then an almost identical looking man, the only difference is that he had a red mustache, backed out of the door as he was being pushed by a smaller, older looking man.

"Now listen! If you would just give us a moment of your time....I guarantee you...." The man tried to reason with him but the older man kept shoving him away from the door.

"For the last time! Did you read the sign!!?" The older man pointed to the small sign next to the entrance with his walking stick which read: "No Solicitors!"
The mustached man had a dumbfounded look on his face as he saw the sign, feeling stupid for not seeing it. But he looked back and scowled at his near identical partner, who proceeded to get very defensive.

"Hey c'mon it was dark! I couldn't see!" The non mustached man protested as he picked up the cheap bowls that were scattered all over the ground.

"Besides, I don't want your cheap Tupperware anyways." The man coldly commented on their product.

"Wha-!?" They both took deep offense to his comment. The non mustached one of the due stood up and walked over angrily with one of the bowls in his hand.
"Now listen here! These bowls are made of state of the art Nylon Polym-"

"Don't care now get out!" The old man yelled. The he proceeded to hit them both in the shin with a sweep of his walking stick.

"Ouch!!" They both cried out as they hopped on one leg holding their shins.

"Go on get!" He pushed them with his walking stick.

"Ah forget this! Let's get out of here!" The two decided to call it quits and grabbed their box full of Tupperware and ran, with a few bowls dropping out of the box. But just before they disappeared into the night, the mustached one of the pair turned around and said: "You'll be back! I guarantee it!" He then disappeared down the sidewalk.

"Hmph! As if." The old man scoffed at them as they ran off. "Who do they think the are, scamming people with their cheap products." He pressed down on one of the plastic bowls they were trying to sell him with his walking stick. After a few seconds, the bowl cracked and then eventually shattered into several pieces. However he sensed that he was being watched. He looked to his left to see three boys looking at him.
Sonic, and Shadow had been watching the whole predicament.
"What are you looking at?" He spat at them, still somewhat bitter from those con artists.

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other, not sure if they should ask this person for accommodations.

"Uh......we have a coupon!" Shadow was the first to break the silence as he stepped forward, showing him the coupon. The man raised his eyebrow, then he squinted his eyes to get a better look at what he had.

"And just how did you find one of those? I thought I stopped putting them up a month ago." He stated skeptically.

"Uh.....Sandalwood sent us!" Sonic blurted out, remembering the reason why they came here in the first place. The old man looked at Sonic, giving him the stink eye, which didn't help sooth Sonic's nerve's at all.

"So you've met my grandson eh." His expression lighten up slightly, looking more pleasant but still slightly annoyed. "I thought I told him not to bother with that." He tapped his foot and stroked his beard as he thought about the situation. Shadow and Sonic stood silently. nervous about what he would say next.

The old man scratched his chin before he finally spoke again.

"Alright. Come on in." He waved them over as he headed inside. The two otherworlders let out a relieved sigh. They won't have to sleep out in the cold after all. With the night getting colder, they decided to head inside.
Entering the lobby, it was very quaint, consisting of a waiting area made of a cheap looking couch, a coffee table and a CRT Television set. The old man went into a door which was labeled 'staff only'. He then reappeared behind a window which looked into a small office behind the wall. Looking around they could see some of the wallpaper peeling off, there a few water stains on the ceiling, and Sonic managed to catch the sight of a rat scurrying into a hole in the corner. The place was lit by two table lamps, one at the reception desk and one on the coffee table. There was a third one next to the TV, but didn't have a lamp cover, and no bulb.

"Hm. Cozy." Sonic commented. Shadow smirked slightly at his comment. The old man then appeared in the office window.

"Now, before you all settle in. I just need you to fill out some quick paperwork." He said as he placed a few papers on the windowsill. "Just date of birth, where your from. Nothing too personal."

"I'll take care of it." Shadow told Sonic. He then walked forward to sign the paperwork. Sonic then decided to go take a seat on the couch, for his arms were getting tired from carrying Silver for so long. After carefully setting Silver on the couch without waking him, Sonic threw himself on the couch stretching his arms and legs. He let out a big yawn, then he looked at the TV. He wondered if there was anything on. He looked around for the remote and he quickly found it next to Silver who was still fast asleep. He reached over to grab it.

"NO WAIT!!" Silver suddenly shouted as he threw his arms towards the ceiling. Sonic jumped back in shock from his sudden outburst. Silver was quiet for a few seconds. "That's my.....pizz-" Silver trailed off as his arms dropped back to his sides, and went back to snoozing.
It took a few moments for Sonic to regain his nerve. He sighed as he was able to calm his nerves. He grabbed the remote and proceeded to look at it for a few seconds to see how close it was to his remote back home.

"Hmm.....Looks similar" Sonic then proceeded to press the power button. Which turned on the TV which was on a random station.

"Tzzt! Hi! Milly Bays here with Detergo! The fastest and easiest laundry detergent you'll ever use!" An upbeat and energetic female spokes person appeared on screen. Uninterested, Sonic changed the channel.

"Tzzt! Does your house smell like ass?" The Tv showed a picture of a donkey. Still uninterested Sonic changed the channel again.

"Tzzt! Hi it's Vince with Shamwow!

"Tzzt! -if you order right now, You'll also get the limited editi-"

"Tzzt! -In the latest news, Scientists and politicians are still baffled by the mysterious supernatural events that took place at Canterlot High School two months ago."

Sonic didn't change the channel this time, and he leaned forward in his seat as he listened to what the new reporter had to say. Shadow who was forging through the paperwork, overheard what was on the TV and glanced over to listen.

"The first event was the sudden appearance of what looked to be a red winged demon who proceeded to destroy the front entrance of the school. The television showed rather very unclear footage of a red winged demon in front of canterlot school, apparently controlling all of the students.

"The next event took place a month later during the schools music competition, where a giant spectral winged unicorn did battle with three spectral hydra's " Footage of a giant spectral Alicorn striking down three hydra's with a beam of magic energy from it's horn.

While there haven't been any incidents for a month, authorities are still worried over the threat of a future incident. Mayor Mare has announced that the city will be taking measures to increase the city's security in the event that another incident happens.

"Hmph. Crazy times we live in today." The old man said. Shadow's curiosity grew, so he turned to asked the old man about the events that were shown on the TV.

"What happened exactly? At the school I mean." Shadow asked the old man. He only gave Shadow a shrug, indicating that he didn't know much. He sighed and went back to finishing the paperwork.
"That's something we should investigate. It may end up helping us find the chaos emeralds" Shadow planned.

As Sonic watched the magical events on the news, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the faint outline of a familiar person standing below the giant alicorn.

"..........Twilight?....." Sonic finally remembered the name of the girl, his curiousity growing ever larger with more and more questions popping up in his head. Just what happened those months ago? What is this strange magic? Why are they even here in the first place? And just who was Twilight?

The time was 1:45 am in the morning. Shadow and Sonic , who was carrying Silver who was still sleeping, was following the old man up the stairs. They followed him up for three floors, before leading them down a hallway. He lead them down to the door at the corner of the building before he stopped, got out his keys, unlocked the door, went inside and turned on a light.

"Well here's your room." He show them in. Shadow and Sonic went in to observe the room. It was about 30ft by 25ft with a wall separating the kitchen and the living room. The kitchen was small but had an opening in the wall in front of the sink to the living room, not to mention was furnished with a fridge, one burner stove, and a cupboard.
The living room was also the bedroom with a bunkbed, a couch, a small tv, and a small table by the opening to the kitchen.

"Huh.....cozy." Sonic commented. He went over to the bunkbed and set Silver down on it. Shadow walked around the apartment, examining the apartment before looking out the window overlooking the parking lot outside, with the lights from the center of canterlot city faintly glowing in the distance.

"So?" The old man spoke. Sonic and Shadow looked at him wondering what he was asking. "How is it?" He smugly asked them about the apartment.

"It'll do." Shadow quickly answered.
The oldman smiled.

"Good. Now remember. The first month is free, but after that, you're gonna have to start paying." He explained to them.

"And....how much is the rent?" Sonic asked as he sat down next to Silver who was still sleeping.

"$1800 Dollars." He blurted out. Sonic and Shadow doubletaked at him.

"How the hell are we gonna get that kind of money?" Sonic complained. The old man shrugged.

"I don't know. Get a job. There's ton's of part time job offers on the bulletin board in the lobby." He motioned downstairs. Sonic and Shadow exchanged a glance, both considering the options that they have.
Shadow sighed as he admitted defeat.

"Well, It's not like we have any other options." Shadow admitted to himself. The old man raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" He asked them.

"Uh....no. It's nothing" Not wanting to draw any suspicion Shadow quickly changed the subject. While he was still somewhat suspicious of the three, the old man shrugged it off and turned to head back downstairs.

"Well in any case. You three get some rest." He told the three as he opened the door to leave. "Good thing it's the weekend."
Sonic let out a yawn, he didn't notice that he himself was tired. Shadow saw the old man was about to leave. He stepped forward to say something to him.

"Uh....wait!" Shadow said. The old man stopped before he left to hear what he had to say. ".....Thank you."

The old man smiled at Shadow.

"Heh, by the way. Call me Sandalbark." The old man replied before he closed the door behind him.

The two of them let out another sigh. They both couldn't believe that they managed to not only find shelter, but a full blown apartment. Eventually they decided to follow old man Sandalbark's advice and go to sleep.

"Well, I think Silver has dibs on the bottom bunk. So I take dibs on the top bunk." Sonic made his claim on the top bed apparent to Shadow, who only proceeded to roll his eyes at his pettiness.

"Just take it. I don't need to rest anyways." Shadow replied as he walked over to the sliding door which lead out to the small balcony outside. Shadow opened the sliding door and went outside, letting a small draft inside. The balcony was only about eight feet wide, but it was wide enough for a small table and a chair.

"Get some sleep. With our free time tomorrow, we can focus more on the chaos emeralds." Shadow explained, then he closed the sliding door behind him, leaving the dim glow of the night slighting illuminating the room.
Sonic let out a tired sigh and got ready for bed. He slipped off his shoes, and climbed up onto the top bunk, throwing himself onto the bed. While it wasn't the softest, it sure beat sleeping on the floor in the library.

As he looked up at the ceiling, which had a few places where the paint was peeling off, he recounted all the events that lead up to this point. He remembered Silver suddenly appearing in the present, then mobius was attacked by strange black creatures lead by a mysterious hooded warrior who appeared to mimic Sonic's fighting style. Then he along with the rest of his friends got transported to this world, and got turned into humans.

"I wonder if Tails and Knuckles made it." Sonic thought to himself. He was starting to miss the company of the two, whether it was seeing Tails work with his gadgets, or sparring with knuckles.
"It'd be pretty sad if......they didn't make it" The thought made him shiver a little. He turned onto his side.
He then began thinking about his recent race with Dash.

"if you want to beat me, you gotta get on my level. And you're a long way from there Blue boy." He recalled. He clenched his fist as rage built up in his heart. He slammed the wall with his fist, causing some dust and paint chips to fall on his face.

"PFFT! Cough! Cough! Agh!" Sonic spat out dust and paint chips, foiling his attempt at falling asleep. "Sigh Dammit...." He brushed off the dust and paint chips from his bed and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep.

"Yawn! Hey.......Sonic....." Silver said drowsily. Sonic looked down to see that Silver had awakened from his nap, realizing that he must woke him up in his minor bout of rage.

".....yeah?" Sonic replied, feeling a little guilty that he woke him up.

"Oh man.....where are we?" Silver asked, looking around the small apartment, wondering what transpired ever since he fell asleep.

"Well, we managed to find a place to crash. Somehow." Sonic briefly explained. Silver sat up to look around more. He was pretty impressed and very relieved that they didn't have to sleep outside.

"Wow......I was beginning to think that flier Sandalwood gave us was a scam." Silver speculated.

"Heh! Yeah. Me too." Sonic chuckled. He was about to say something else but he let out a yawn instead. He forgotten how tired he was.

"How about we go to sleep now. I'm beat." Sonic closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

"Hey Sonic." Silver asked him, worried that he kept him from sleeping. Sonic while he was somewhat annoyed from not being able to go to sleep right away, he decided to talk to him anyways.

"Yeah?" He replied, not opening his eyes for he was too tired to even open them.

"I'm......sorry that you lost." Silver hesitantly said for fear of making him angry. Sonic wanted to be mad, but he was not just too tired, something else in him was preventing him from being mad altogether.

"Forget about it." Sonic said tiredly, a hint of sadness in his voice. Silver was confused at Sonic's response. He thought that it wasn't like Sonic to get beat and then act like he has no interest. It sounded like he was giving up.

"What do you mean?" Silver asked, concerned if Sonic was indeed giving up. "You're not seriously gonna let Dash act like she beat you. Are you?" Silver pointed out.

Silver's last point really hit Sonic's pride. But he was just too tired to argue with Silver.

"Sigh Silver just go to sleep." Sonic retorted back, making it clear to Silver that he didn't want to talk.
Silver wanted to talk back, but he let out a yawn instead. He decided to follow Sonic's advice and closed his eyes.
Sonic realized that his comment hit hit his pride harder than he expected. He clenched his fists again and gritted his teeth in rage.

"Dammit! Dammit!! Why couldn't I win!?" Sonic thought. But then he remembered what Dash said.

"if you want to beat me, you gotta get on my level. And you're a long way from there Blue boy." He heard Dash say once again. Sonic's anger then faded, as he realized why he couldn't win. He simply wasn't fast enough. A fact that shook him to his very core.

"I am so pathetic." Sonic said to himself quietly, as he fell fast asleep.

Outside on the small balcony, Shadow was leaning on the balcony railing looking over Canterlot city. The city almost mimicked the night sky, with the tiny lights dotting the dark canterlot city. A faint glow further in the distance came from the business sector of the city.
Shadow began assessing their current situation.
They have managed to find a place to stay, and even better they won't have to worry about pay for a month. But that being said, that meant that they are on a time limit.
They currently have two of the chaos emeralds. If they had two of the emeralds, then he came to the conclusion that the other five were scattered in this world. Unfortunately, with their movements so limited that task was going to be very difficult and tedious. Not to mention, they had no way of locating them other than his minute Chaos sense.

"Sigh Looks like were gonna be here for a long time." Shadow said to himself, not looking forward to the coming days.
He decided to sit down on the small chair next to the table. A cold breeze blew throughout the night. He decided that since he was out of his brothers view, he could go to sleep. And he did just that as he closed his eyes in the cool breeze of the night.

5:00 am

The sound of an alarm rang throughout a dimly lit room, with light pouring in through the small cracks in the blinds.

"Snort! Aw geez. Shut up. Shut up!" Dash said drowsily as she slapped her hand all over her side table, trying to turn off her alarm clock. However her hand kept missing for her face was still in her pillow and she only succeeded in knocking her alarm clock off the table, along with some other things that were on there, like her phone, a pair of sunglasses, deodorant, as well as some other clutter.

"Ugh! For the love of-" Dash cursed drowsily as she reached down behind the side table and unplugged the clock finally turning it off. She sat up in her bed rubbing her eyes open. She was dressed in only a red t shirt and pair of white shorts. She had not felt this tired in a while.

"Man. The race with blue boy actually made me tired." She thought to herself. She subconsciously also told herself to never say that in front of her friends.
She took a brief look around her room. It was really disorganized, with stray clothes draped over her dresser, desk, chair, and even the small tv. A small pile of magazines was in the left corner of her room. However in the right corner of the room, there was a bookcase with all the current novels of her favorite book series "Daring Do" nicely organized.

"Ugh....what a mess." Dash admitted, knowing that the reason for the state of her room is because she put off cleaning it over and over.
"Oh well." She threw off the covers to get started on her morning routine. She hopped out of bed, stretching her arms and legs, removing their stiffness. The she went over to the blinds and threw them open.
She looked up at the sky which was a gradient of deep indigo to vibrant pink.
The light help open her drowsy eyes. She let out a loud yawn, her body still trying to wake up.
She headed out of her room and into her kitchen. Her house only had one floor so she didn’t have to go down any stairs.
She strolled into the kitchen, opened the fridge, took out the orange juice and took a large gulp directly from the bottle. After that she put the orange juice away and grabbed a protein bar from the box of protein bars that was on the table and headed back to her room. About a minute after Dash headed back to her room, Sunset emerged from her room in her magenta pajamas letting out a yawn. She trudged into the kitchen and got out a cereal box from the cupboard and poured it into a bowl.
Dash exited her room wearing a white skin tight tank top, black biker shorts, and knee length white socks.
Sunset was about to pour in the milk when she saw Dash stroll through the kitchen and into the living room, which the kitchen opened up into.

“Morning” Sunset greeted Dash.

“Mornin’” Dash glanced at at her, continuing to the door. Sunset noticed that Dash wasn’t as lively as she used to be. In fact upon looking closely she still looked tired.
“You alright? You look tired.” Sunset asked her, as she put the milk away in the fridge.

“Heh, yeah right! What makes you think that?” Dash scoffed at Sunset’s comment as she slipped on her running shoes.

“Well, you did have a race with Sonic yesterday. Maybe your tired from it.” Sunset slyly commented. This made Dash scowl.

“I’m not even gonna tell you to shut up” Dash retorted in silent anger as she tied up her shoes.
Sunset giggled under her breath.
Dash stood up briskly, letting out an annoyed ‘hmph!’, still miffed about Sunset’s comment. She headed to the door to go start her run.

“You know, it’s not like you to be so interested in a new guy.” Sunset inquired playfully as Dash opened the door, letting the cool morning breeze in. “So what is it that you see in Sonic, for you to try and encourage him? Instead of rubbing your victory in his face?” Sunset continued to inquire.
Dash stood in the door way, half confused and half angry. But she didn’t know why she was angry. She thought back to her race with Sonic. In her mind, even though she didn’t cross the finish line, she still won. Yet despite that, it still didn’t feel like a win. Her mind flashed back to she she first talked with Sonic.

“What do ya say to that Skittlehair!?” The thought replayed in her head, which made her furious inside.

“Why!?” She thought. “Why does he make me so pissed?!” No matter how hard she tried to rationalize this feeling, she couldn't come up with a clear answer.

"He's.......interesting." Dash replied as she grabbed her water bottle from the side table. "That's all." She finally said as she closed the door behind her.
Dash stepped out onto the small lawn in front of her house as she began stretching.

"Where I'm from, they call me the Fastest Thing Alive!" Dash seethed internally as she stretched her legs.

"Hmph!" Dash pouted as she finished her stretches, her hair flipping back as she stood up. Her anger only served to motivate her even more as she walked down to the sidewalk to prepare to run.

"Nobody talks to me that way....." Dash assumed the running position. ".....and doesn't regret it!" She broke into a brisk jog down the sidewalk, determined to not let this feeling hamper her pride.

"6:30 am"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Snort! Huh?" Sonic abruptly woke up from his slumber. For a second he thought everything that happened was just a dream, only for a wave a disappointment to flow into his stomach as he realized that he still wasn't on mobius.

"Sigh!" He sighed as he sat up and looked around at their current lodgings. He was able to get a better look at their apartment now that there was some light coming through the sliding door.

"Could be worse I guess." He muttered to himself. Then he heard the snoring of someone underneath him. He looked down to see Silver still fast asleep. Then he heard the sliding door open.

"You're awake....." Shadow said to him. Sonic put on an annoyed face.

"What....no good morning or anything?" Sonic snidely commented. Shadow ignored his comment and came inside, shutting the door behind him.
"So....what have you been up to." Sonic asked, laying back down on the bed.

"Nothing, I just woke up." Shadow replied as he sat down on the couch. Sonic raised an eyebrow at his answer.

"I thought you didn't need sleep." Sonic questioned him. Shadow slightly tensed up, realizing he accidentally showed his weakness.

"Of course I need to sleep.................once every year." Shadow made up an excuse. While Sonic wasn't completely satisfied with his answer, he quickly lost interest and went back to looking up at the ceiling.

There was a long period of silence as the two mobians said nothing to each other. Only the sounds of the morning breeze and Silver's snoring could be heard.

"So...........have your powers come back at all?" Shadow decided to finally break the silence.

"Of course not stupid. I lost to Dash yesterday, remember?" Sonic complained, putting a pillow over his head.

"That's not why I asked." Shadow retorted. "If a enemy like eggman were to suddenly attack, we need to have our powers or were toast." He explained further.

"Ugh! You think I don't know that!?" Sonic protested. "Sigh So what do we do now?"

"Same thing. We lay low and search for the chaos emeralds. We blend in and act like normal civilians in this world and keep interactions with other people to a minimum, especially those six girls at school" Shadow explained.
Sonic tapped his fingers impatiently as he didn't like Shadow plan one bit. He grew more and more frustrated at their current situation until it eventually boiled over.

"GrrrrAAA!!!" Sonic yelled out frustratedly sitting up in his bed. "That's gonna take too long! The other emeralds could be on the other side of this world for all we know!"

"We'll do this as fast as we can, even if it takes a year." Shadow replied, maintaining his calm demeanor.

"Yeah! And Eggman's probably back home taking over the place! By the time we get home he probably would've already destroyed the planet out of boredom!" Sonic retorted, not backing down from this argument.

"And I suppose you have a better idea!?" Shadow countered.

"Tch!" Sonic hesitated as he didn't have an answer. But all this did was make him more angry. He hopped down from the bed to confront Shadow.

"Look, there has to be a faster way. Can't we just come clean to those girls and explain our situation? Maybe they can help us!" Sonic proposed. Shadow doubletaked at his idea, thinking it was utterly stupid.

"Absolutely not!!" Shadow snapped at him, standing up and walking over to him. "What makes you think they'll believe our story?"

"Just listen okay! There is something up with those girls. It can't be a coincidence that they came across a chaos emerald can it? Not to mention all that crazy stuff that was shown on the news yesterday." Sonic explained.

Shadow admitted, he had a point. His mind went back to that mysterious crown that he and Silver found in Twilight's backpack which they mistook for a chaos emerald. It also made him question why they were here in the first place. But he shook his head frustratedly, for his cautious outlook of this world prevented him from fully trusting the inhabitants of this world.

"No. We can't take any chances with them. We already interacted with them too much already." Shadow still refused Sonic's idea, which only served to infuriate Sonic even more.

"C'mon! Are you serious!?" Sonic threw his hands up in frustration. "If someone like Eggman were to come here, then the people here are screwed!" Sonic continued to appeal to Shadow.

"I'm not going to risk exposing our identities for something that hasn't happened!" Shadow stood to his full height.

"And what if it does happen!? We don't have our powers! Were going to be sitting ducks!" Sonic continued to argue, his voice getting louder as he got up in Shadow's face.
Shadow didn't relent

"Except were not!! I don't trust the people of this world to keep secrets! Were laying low until we find a way home! And there's nothing you can do to change that!" Shadow doubled down on Sonic. Sonic and Shadow stared at each other both feeling the anger they had towards each other.

"Fine then. I quit." Sonic seethed in anger at Shadow. Then he proceeded to stomp off towards the door, threw it open, and stormed off outside.

"Sonic!" Shadow angrily called him to come back. He ran to the door and looked out to see Sonic go down the stairs.
"Sonic get back here!" Shadow angrily stormed off to follow Sonic. Upon reaching the stairs, Sonic was already almost to the ground floor, Shadow briskly followed him downstairs.
"Sonic!" Shadow called as he entered the lobby on the ground floor just in time to see Sonic exit the apartment complex.

"What's up with him?" Sandalbark said, who was sitting on the couch watching a show on TV.

Shadow ran outside of the complex to see Sonic walking down the sidewalk going further outside town. Shadow refrained from tailing Sonic any further, for at least Sonic wasn't going into the city.

"Sigh What am I going to do with him." Shadow held his head, tired of having to deal with Sonic's attitude.

Sonic briskly walked down the sidewalk, anger coursing through his mind.
"Like hell I'm gonna stay here for a year! Sonic thought as his pace continuously got faster and faster. "I need to get home! I need to get home!! Sonic's brisk walk then suddenly turned into an all out sprint. "I WANT TO GO HOME!!!!" Sonic screamed as he tore down the side walk at a breakneck speed.
He just ran and ran and ran, hoping that his speed would just magically come back. But they didn't, for he could still feel the fatigue and pain seeping into his lungs, and spreading to his arms and legs. But he kept on running, his anger keeping him from stopping.

7:30 am

Sonic lay on the grassy hills looking up at the sky. He was completely exhausted. It was a feeling that he could never get used to. He remembered back home he could run for hundreds of miles without breaking a sweat. His arms and legs were numb, his heart was beating like an engine being pushed to the redline, and was repeatedly gasping for air.
Inside he was the angriest he's ever been, but he couldn't muster the energy to show it.
He finally managed to catch his breath, at least so that his lungs felt normal.
He sat up and he took in the surroundings. He was sitting on the hills surrounding the city. The morning sun gave the grass a golden color with a slightly pink hue, and the sound of leaves bristling on the trees that dotted the hills. He could see the city down at the bottom of the hills. The scenery surrounding Sonic gave off a peaceful serene ambience.
Unfortunately, Sonic was not at peace. On top of the debilitating exhaustion he felt, his pride was shattered beyond belief.
He struggled to sit up, his abs aching from the strain he placed on his body. He looked up at the sky, wondering where he would go from here. The thought of living here without his powers scared him. In his gut he knew that something or someone with evil intent will show up and begin terrorizing this world, and he couldn't do anything to stop them. Not to mention, his speed is something he was immensely proud of. Without it, it felt like a part of him was missing.

"Sigh This sucks." Sonic sulked as he looked down on Canterlot city at the bottom of the hill. "This sucks." He said quietly as he hung his head in despair. He daydreamed about green hill zone, with it's palm trees, rich clean air, and naturally formed loops. He missed it so much that he wanted to cry, but he didn't for he was too tired.

Nearby, Rainbow Dash was jogging along the path. She was hoping to get a in few extra miles and train her leg muscles more, so she was jogging up the hiking trail. She maintained a slower yet steady pace, reserving her stamina for jogging uphill and down hill required more energy.
She inhaled and exhaled heavily as she jogged up the hill. Her heart was beating harder than usual which concerned her deeply.
"Did I seriously get tired from yesterday's race?" Dash worryingly questioned herself. She finally made it up the incline which leveled out as the path circled around the hill.

"Wait- What the-" She doubletaked when she saw someone sitting on the hill. She slowed to a stop, taking a few seconds to catch her breath. She tried to make out who it was, but she couldn't make out the person's silhouette. So she focused harder, making use of her superior eyesight to look closer.
Ever since she awakened her magic back when she first met Twilight, she noticed that her eyesight had drastically improved. She was now was able to see ants from on the ground from atop a ten story building.

"The hell? It's blue boy." Her eyesight revealed who it was. "What's he doing out here? And more importantly, HOW'D HE GET HERE BEFORE ME!?" She commented to herself. While she was miffed that his appearance interrupted her morning jog, her curiosity caused her to want to investigate.
Upon coming closer she could confirm that it was indeed Sonic. Now she knew that she really need to talk to him.
She tried approaching silently for he was still looking out into the distance.
"Carefully....now." She whispered to herself as she slowly crept towards him, careful not to make any noise. Or step on anything.

"So.....you here to gloat or something?" Sonic suddenly said.
Dash felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest.

"Wha-!? How'd you know I was here?" Dash replied, still shaken from her state of surprise.

"I smelled you." He replied sarcastically. Dash was rather bothered by his response.

"Hmph! Rude." She scoffed at him.
"So, what're you doing all the way out here?" She inquired to him in an irksome tone.
Sonic didn't answer for a while, causing Dash to get even more annoyed.

"It's none of your business." Sonic replied coldly. Rainbow Dash let out a dissapointed sigh at his attitude. She knew that if he was acting this way, he was still angry about his loss yesterday. With that in mind, she decided to go closer to him.

"Look....I don't what sort of place you came from...." Dash went over next to Sonic.".....but if you really are as fast as you say you are. Your not gonna get anywhere by sulking all the time." She then proceeded to sit down next to him, making sure not to sit too close to him. She didn't want anyone thinking that they were a couple.
Sonic glanced over at her nervously. He was baffled and infuriated that his new rival who he wanted to beat so badly was just sitting next to him for all casual like.
Sonic repeatedly glanced between Dash and the view of the city, struggling to not appear awkward.
He let out a frustrated sigh, not wanting to be in this situation.

"Ok.....what's this all about?" Sonic asked her. Dash raised an eyebrow at his question. "Why are you being all nice and everything?" Sonic continued to question her.
Dash looked out into the distance along side him, thinking about what she would say next.

"Well.....I wouldn't call it being nice." Dash replied snarkily. Sonic didn't respond, not satisfied with her answer.
"Look Blue boy.....I'm going to be honest with you, it can get kind of boring around here." Dash explained. Sonic glanced over at her, willing to listen for a little bit.
"It's always the same people everyday. I mean Twilight and the others are cool and all but, honestly, they be a handfull sometimes. _{Especially Pinkie}" Dash continued to talk.

"Sigh What's your point?" Sonic said tapping his foot impatiently, cuing an annoyed grunt from Dash.

"Okay, the point is. You and your bros are the most interesting people I've seen in a long time." Dash said enthusiastically.

"Huh?" A perplexed Sonic looked over at her.

"Oh and our races together. I had a ton of fun too." She continued, a sincere smile on her face. Sonic continued to be perplexed. His new rival was encouraging him, which was a new experience for him.
"All I'm saying is....It would it would really bum me out if you were to just give up on yourself." Dash put a hand on his shoulder, cuing a confused double take from Sonic.
"So.....try and beat me why don't ya!"

Sonic's was baffled at what she was saying. She was trying to stoke the fire within him and Sonic couldn't help but feel not just encouraged but also heartwarmed.

"Beat you huh?" Sonic was no longer gloomy. He looked back down at Canterlot city in the distance. A faint smile forms on his face as the challenge he was faced with caused his heart to burn with tenacity.
Dash smiled, knowing that her pep talk got to him.

"Yep....so show me a good time!" Dash patted him on the shoulder, then proceeded get up and continue with her jog. As she continued to run, part of was confused with herself. Why did she encourage him anyways? She was practically giving her rival an advantage. Something that she would never do.
"Eh! Probably won't mean anything. He'll never catch up to me." Dash pushed the though out of her head, arrogantly confident that her current physical condition will keep her at the top.
She then focused on continuing her run.

Sonic, filled with a new sense of purpose. Rose to his feet. He looked up to the sky, as if he was looking up at the challenge that was before him. He felt a sense of vigor and excitment rush through him. He reached up to the sky, as if he was reaching out to the challenge before him. This was a feeling that he had not felt in a while. He then clenched his fist as he swore to himself to train this new body of his, and beat Dash once and for all.

9:30 am

Meanwhile, Twilight, Sunset, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were at the site of where the first emerald crashed. Twilight had brought along some of her science equipment to analyze if there was any energy, such as a magic energy oscilator, along with some other assortment of equipment. She was currently using the scanner connected to the oscilator to scan the crater. She had taken a reading of the emerald's energy back home and wrote down the reading it gave. She was looking for any areas of the crater that had a similar reading. So far she wasn't getting any similar readings anywhere.

"Sigh Hey Sunset! You find anything?" She called over to Sunset on the other side of the crater. She was also going around with a scanner connceted to the oscilator.

"Nope! Sorry." She called over, having similar luck.
Applejack was clearing out the heavy boulders using her unnatural strength, to see if there was anything underneath that they missed.

"Nothin' ere'" Applejack said as she lifted large boulder on it side to look underneath it, after which she let it drop on the ground with a loud thud.

"You think Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie found anything?" Sunset added.

"Yeah, lets call them." Twilight got out her phone, which Rarity had generously purchased for her. However as she brought it out of her shirt pocket, her mind drew a blank when she tried to remember how to use it.
"Uhh...How do you use these things again? Twilight thought to herself as she poked the touch screen of the phone.

Applejack stretched her arms as she walked over to Sunset who was still looking around for any traces of energy.
"Ahhh...Man just when I thought I could sleep in for once." Applejack rubbed her eyes, still a little drowsy. Apparantly the other's gave her a rude awakening.

"Oh don't worry. You can sleep as much as you want when were finished." Sunset replied as she put down the scanner near the oscilator.

"Yawn! Yeah.....I hope..." Applejack sat on a nearby boulder and tried to take a short nap, putting her hat over her eyes. Sunset looked over to see Twilight fiddling with her phone. After seeing her poke at it for a few seconds, Sunset giggled when she realized what she was doing.
After five minutes of trying to figure out how to operate the phone and failing, Twilight let out a sigh of defeat as she turned to Sunset.

"Uh....could you........call Rarity for me please?" An embarrased Twilight handed Sunset her phone.

"HeeHee! Sure." Sunset grabbed her phone from her and proceeded to call Rarity, handing the phone back to Twilight once the phone started ringing. Twilight put the phone to her ear, waiting for Rarity to respond.

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were scouting the perimeter looking for anything suspicious. Rarity was examining some shiny stones she saw on the ground, Fluttershy was quietly observing the animals, and Pinkie was pondering the secrets of the universe. (It's Pinkie don't question it.)
Rarity eventually decided that there was nothing here and that they should move on. They already checked most of the perimeter, so they didn't have much more to look for.
"Hey there. We should move on. There's nothing her" Rarity said to Fluttershy in a gentle, motherly tone. Fluttershy looked over to Rarity, sad that she had to stop playing with the animals.

"Aw....can I have can five more minutes?" Fluttershy complained innocently. Rarity smiled, endeared be Fluttershy's innocenence and absolute adorableness.

"Oh Alright then. Don't get too dirty though." Rarity told her gently, noticing that her skirt was slightly dirty. Fluttershy noticed this and quickly brushed the dirt off her skirt, slightly embarrased. Rarity stood and went over to Pinkie, to check on her.
Rarity saw Pinkie was sitting on a fallen tree. However she noticed something off with her. It was her hair.
It wasn't puffy like it was before. Instead it was long and straight.
Also she heard Pinkie mumbling to herself. She couldn't make out what she was saying, but it made her concerned regardless.

"Pinkie?" Rarity spoke to her. As she got closer, she could slightly make out what she was saying.

"Worthless.....Worthless. Can't do anything right. Worthless....Worthless.....Can't do anything right." She heard Pinkie mutter under her breath. This made Rarity even more worried for her.
"Pinkie! Are you alright darling!?" Rarity went over and shook her on the shoulder gently. This cued no response from her. Rarity began to panic slightly at Pinkie's state.

"Pinkie!.....Pinkie Pie! Speak to me!!" Rarity shouted, desparately trying to get through to her.

"Yeah?" Suddenly, Pinkie's hair instantly reverted back to it's puffy state, as she greeted Rarity in her typical cheery voice.

"Huh?" Rarity's panic instantly dissipated and was replaced genunine confusion.

"P-P-Pinkie? Are......you alright darling?" Rarity said, bewildered at Pinkie's behavior.

"Alright? People always say alright. If there's an alright, does that mean there is an alwrong? Or alleft?" Pinkie pondered to herself. Rarity wanted to question her further, but then she heard her cell phone buzzing in her pocket prompting her to take it out to see who it was. After seeing that it was Twilight she quickly answered it.

"Hello? Twilight Darling?" Rarity answered.

"Hi Rarity. Did you find anything?" Twilight asked. Rarity looked around to see if there was anything they missed, but she didn't see anything that stood out.

"Well....I'm afraid not." Rarity replied

"What about Pinkie and Fluttershy? Did they find anything?" Twilight asked further.
Rarity looked over to see Fluttershy still interacting with the animals and Pinkie still being Pinkie.

"No. Sorry darling." Rarity reported.

Twilight sighed, disappointed from not being able to find anything. The most that she found today were some odd energy readings, which she assumed to be leftover energy residue from the emerald, which didn't really explain anything else about it.

"Hey Sunset, you find anything?" Twilight checked with Sunset, who was still scanning around for odd readings.
Unfortunately like Twilight, she didn't find anything of interest.

"Nope. Sorry." Sunset replied.

"Applejack?" She asked Applejack next. However when she looked over at her, Applejack was fast asleep with her hat over her face. Twilight and Sunset had an annoyed look on their faces in response to Applejack's drowsyness.
Twilight sighed again in defeat and admitted to herself that she won't find anything here.

"Why don't you start packing Sunset. Were not finding anything here." Twilight said.

"Yeah. Your right." Sunset agreed with her, then began to pack up the equipment to carry back to Applejack's truck.
Twilight put the phone to her ear to speak to Rarity again.

"Why don't you and the others come back Rarity. Were done here." Twilight told her over the phone.

"Alright then." Rarity said and proceeded to hang up.

Twilight hung up and went to return the phone to Sunset, who proceeded to take it and turn it off. Twilight then proceeded to help Sunset carry the rest of the equipment back to Applejack's truck.
Twilight however was having trouble carrying some of the equipment up the steep incline of the crater.

"Hrrg! Gasp Pant Pant Hey Sunset. Can you wake Applejack up and help us. This stuff is heavier then I thought." Twilight wiped some sweat off her forehead after straining herself too hard trying to lift the ocsilator. Sunset looked back at the bottom of the crater to see Applejack still napping. She let out a frustrated sigh, and marched back down the crater where Applejack was still snooring.

"Hey! Lone snoozer. Stop slacking off and give us a hand." She proceed to clap her hands right in front of Applejack's face.
"Huh! What!? Where? Who? Wh-! What?!" Applejack spazzed out from the sudden rude awakening. But she stood up right in Sunset's face, not happy at Sunset for disturbing her sleep.
"Ey! What's the big idea!? I was sleepin'!" Applejack angrily yelled at Sunset.

"Can it! Will you help us out already?Were heading out" Sunset argued back, ghesturing to the equipment that was still at the bottom of the crater.

"Oh....were leavin'?" Applejack asked, looking over at where Sunset was pointing to. "Geez. You didn't have to do me like that." She protested at Sunset's callousness. Sunset didn't say anything and turned and started walking back up the crater.
Applejack rolled her eyes as she got up to go get the rest of the equipment.
Twilight looked at Sunset as she walked up the crater with a confused stare, concerned and put off by her callous treatment of Applejack just now.

"Why did you talk like that? You didn't have to be so mean." Twilight confronted Susnet as she passed by.
Sunset paused. She genuinely didn't know why she acted that way, as if the words just fell out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I.....don't know why I said that." She apologized to Twilight. However she glanced away in shame as she realized why she did it.

"You okay?" Twilight asked, her worry increasing evermore.

"Let's go" Sunset changed the subject as she continued up the side of the crater up towards Applejack's truck. Twilight looked at Sunset with increased concern, wondering what was the reason for her behavior.

"She gunna be alrigh'?" Applejack asked carrying some equipment, also wondering why Sunset acted the way she did. Twilight sighed, hoping that Sunset was okay.
Sunset was unbearably angry with herself. For she knew what it was that made her do that.

"Dammit!!" Sunset held her head in anguish. "Get out of my head! Ð̷̯̥͍̻̗̳̺̻͍̤̝͐̈͗̓̀͋̀͐̂̊̚È̵͓̮̗̘͎̝͔̣̲̬̓͛̉̎͋̆̿͑̅̚͠ͅM̸̖̜͙̯̜͔̙̞̘̜͒̊̈́͒͆͋̐́͋͌͘͜Ǫ̶̧̛͈̩̖̤̫͔̹̈̄̅̐̅́̄̽͆͜͝ͅñ̵̡̛̠͈͈̹̫͓̟̠̯̪͑̑̊̈́͒͆̉̈́͆!"

10:00 am

Sonic was slowly walking back to the apartment complex. He was still tired, his heart still pumping hard though not as rigorously as it was an hour ago and his lungs still felt deflated. But his spirit, for some reason, was renewed. He hated to admit it, but Rainbow Dash's talk with him broke him out of his depressive stupor.
His mind right now was set on one thing. Rebuilding this human form of his to be fast enough to beat Dash.

"It's going to be hard. But I've been in worse positions. Soon, I'll be leaving Dash in the Dust!" Sonic motivated himself to train hard. But first, he had to talk to Shadow first.

At the apartment complex Shadow was sitting on the couch, waiting for Sonic to come back. He was also thinking of what to say to Sonic when he comes back. Part of him wanted to lecture Sonic for being reckless and juvinelle again. But he knew that lecturing him would be redundant and would probably make things worse. Granted thinking of something to say to him that wasn't a lecture was hard.
"Sigh Why do I feel like a single mother?" Shadow sighed at his current situation. Then he hears the door open. He looks over and gasps slightly when he see's Sonic standing in the doorway.

"Hey." Sonic greeted him. Shadow was both relieved and confused. Relieved that Sonic was back and not causing trouble outside, but confused for he didn't seem angry.

"Uh......hey." Shadow greeted back. He stood up and walked over to him.
"So. Um......how you feeling?" Shadow honestly didn't know why he asked him that for the words just fell out of his mouth.

"Heh, that's new. Don't tell me you've gone soft." Sonic snarked at him. Shadow double taked as he realized what he said.

"Pfft. Yeah right." Shadow went back to his usual callous self breifly.
Sonic let out a sigh, for what he was about to tell Shadow wasn't going to be easy for him.

"Look......I know that were stuck here, and we don't have many options. Doesn't mean I have to like any of it." Sonic explained to Shadow. Shadow kept quiet, listening to what he had to say.
"But, I've realized that whining about it isn't gonna do anything. So, guess I have no choice but to go along with your plan." Sonic admitted.
Shadow thought to himself for a few seconds. While he was genuinely surprised at Sonic's supposed change of heart, he wondered what caused it in the first place, not to mention will if he keep this attitude.

"What caused you to come to that conclusion?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms inqusitively.

"Pfft! I'm not going sentimental you know!" Sonic spat back.
Shadow just rolled his eyes at his comment. "I guess he hasn't changed much."

"But.......Sigh" Sonic paused, knowing that what he was going to say next was going to be hard. ".....without my powers......I'm just an ordinary guy."

Shadow almost double taked at Sonic's statement. Was Sonic seriously showing humility? He expressed some slight difficulty believing it.

"So.......I'll go along with what you say from now on." Sonic finished. A slight smirk form on Shadow's face. He had no idea what got into Sonic's head to make him say those thing, but for what it's worth, he'll take it.

"Good. And you know. Maybe I can loosen up as well." Shadow replied to him. Sonic raised an eyebrow at his reply.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"Sigh Nevermind. But you're right about one thing. We need to get this done as soon as possible. So I say, let's focus on getting our powers back. However that works."
This cued a smile from Sonic.

"I like to sound of that." Sonic agreed. "Let's shake on it?" Sonic offered his hand.

"Hmph. I don't know what or who made you change your mind. But hey, I'll take it. " Shadow thought to himself, rather pleased with Sonic's change in character.
"Yeah." Shadow shook Sonic's hand. Judging by his grip, he noticed Sonic felt weaker than usual. It caused a hint of concern in the back of his mind, but he figured that he was just tired.

As the two mobian's shook hands, they both felt their camraderie slowly reforming. They still had dissagreement and disputes with each other, but they are learning to see past those problems and become better compainions.
Meanwhile over in the corner, Silver, who had just woken up, was observing their conversation.
He had been secretly listening to their conversations while he was sleeping, and he was seriously worried that it would end up with the team splitting up.
However, he let out a sigh of relief, when he listened to them reconcile.

"Let's stick together from now on, my big bros."

To be Continued

Author's Note:

Finally done. I once again apologize for these long gaps in between chapters. I just have a lot on my mind and a lot of things to do IRL. Anywho, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Do Sonic the Hedgehog characters who didn't appear in Sonic X appear in this story?

[Will of Radiance]

11124818
Yes.