Sonic the Hedgehog has been though a lot in his life, but nothing quite like getting morphed into a pony and being sent to Equestria with his friends. Now the race against Eggman for the Chaos Emeralds begins again, but Sonic and the gang have help.
It's chaos in Sonic's world as he and his friends (Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver), race to stop the nefarious Dr. Eggman, who has acquired all seven Chaos Emeralds. The doctor believes he has their mysterious powers mastered, until they overload and open a portal not too different from the one that sent Sonic and his friends to earth years ago. Only this time, they don't end up on earth. They're in a brand new world, one with solar deities, mysterious forests, majestic cities, and, most notably, friendly, adventurous, colorful ponies, which they just happen to now be. They're in Equestria.
But Dr. Eggman was sent to Equestria as well, and the race for the Chaos Emeralds is on. But the doctor isn't alone. It's up to the combined forces of Sonic's team and the Mane 6 to protect their world from perhaps the gravest threat yet.
(Note #2: This story takes place in the canon world of MLP as of episode 13 of season 5 and a somewhat freak Sonic universe comprised of the Sonic Adventure games (and a slew of other Sonic games that will be mentioned) and the Sonic X TV series.)
"For crying out loud, Sonic, quit fooling around!"
"Sorry, Tails, I'm a little busy here," yelled Sonic as his foot connected perfectly with the metal face of Eggman's guardian robot, causing the thin layer of bulletproof glass covering its glowing red eye to shatter. Sonic then followed through by using his leg to push off of the guardian's face and complete a perfect backflip before landing gracefully back on the ground.
"Beating down a twenty-foot robot takes some time!"
The metal behemoth towered over Sonic, one hand clutching it's broken eye, the other descending ferociously as a fist towards the spiky blue ball of fur. But by the time it made contact with the ground, Sonic was a good thirty feet away from the impact zone.
"You don't have time for this, Sonic!" Tails continued yelling arrogantly at his friend through the specially designed earpiece that he had made for him. Eggman had the seven Chaos Emeralds in his possession, and according to Tail's monitor, their power levels were increasing at a terrifying rate. Tails was trying his best to control the mission from his secret bunker roughly fifty miles from the action scene (any further and his earpieces wouldn't work), but he felt a strong sense of helplessness from not being able to get involved personally. He wanted to, but Sonic refused to let him get involved with the recent injury he received from Eggman. Sonic and the others then rounded up everyone they knew and sent them as far off from the hot zone as possible. Tails had no idea where Amy, Cream and the others were at this point, but he did know that they weren't anywhere near him. Afterwards they all met back up, and Tails formulated a loose plan to infiltrate Eggman's base. Then the others took off, willingly risking their lives to retrieve the very things that Tails had failed to protect. And now all he could do was shout at them through earpieces. Sure, Tails was still helping from the sidelines by feeding the team vital information, but he could've been doing that just as well while fighting at their side.
"Sonic, the Emeralds' power levels are rising way past the red zone! We may be entering worst-case scenario, here!"
"Okay, Tails, gimme a second!" Sonic began sprinting back towards his ferocious opponent, reaching speeds far past what any living creature should be able to manage in a mere five steps. He took a leap, curling himself up in the process, rocketing himself at the robot like a living cannonball. Before the Guardian could react, Sonic crashed directly into it's face, crushing its enormous metal head like a soda can. Sonic then bounded off of its obliterated mug and landed squarely behind its back, then turned around to watch it slowly lean forward and fall onto the ground with a deafening crash.
"That all you got, Egghead?" Sonic jeered into the open space around him, hoping that Eggman had a secret camera or audio device that could pick up his insults. "'Cause I had a harder time getting out of bed this morning! If that's the best you can do, then-"
"SONIC!" Tails screamed through the earpiece. Sonic visibly cringed at the tremendous outburst in his right ear. "GET GOING! THE EMERALDS' POWER LEVELS ARE STILL RISING!"
Sonic bounded away from the open area where the giant Guardian robot had risen out of the ground. He was in a giant open field that spanned for miles. The sky was turning dark, and the sun was almost done setting behind violently sloping hills that surrounded the barren grassland. The area had been teeming with wildlife until roughly two years ago, when Egghead had decided that it was the perfect spot to hold his new secret base, and the wildlife was swiftly replaced by Eggman's hot new line of lethal robots, which punished any living thing that came near them.
Two years ago. That was when the conflict renewed itself. As soon as the then-presumably dead Dr. Eggman finished his new base of operations, he turned his attention to renewing his hunt for the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic and his friends caught on fast, and then the race was on. The heroes had actually managed to get all seven of the Emeralds and stored them away in Tails' workshop. They took every perceivable caution, including installing a new security system and masking the Emerald's energy strains so Eggman couldn't track them. But somehow, some way, he did, and proceeded to send a horde of robots to invade the workshop. While Sonic and his friends (Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver) fought off the invaders, Eggman snuck past their lines in his hoverpod and made his way straight to the Emeralds. Tails was the only one close enough to try and defend them, and even though the little guy fought with everything he had, using what Sonic had taught him, he failed miserably, earning a broken arm and losing all seven Chaos Emeralds to the Doctor. The poor guy still hadn't forgiven himself, even though he knew he'd done everything in his power to defend the Emeralds. Sonic swore to himself he'd get revenge on Eggman for hurting not just Tails, but everyone in his world. Eggman was driven solely by his desire to rule everything around him, and he planned to use the Emeralds for that task, but Sonic wouldn't let him. He would fight back until his dying breath. It wasn't over, not yet.
"You still there Tails?" Sonic asked his friend as he darted across the fields, blurring past robots as they fired bullets, lasers, and homing missiles at him from every direction. They unloaded everything they had at him, but none of the rounds connected. Sonic managed to dodge all of them completely. Still, he couldn't get over how many there were. You couldn't go five feet without running into a robot with an arm cannon aimed at your head. If this was just the surrounding field, Sonic couldn't imagine what the inside of the base looked like.
"Yeah, I'm here," Tails responded, stopping Sonic's current train of thought. "You're about eight miles out, you should get there in about three to four minutes at your current speed."
"How's everyone else doing?" Sonic asked, still not winded from his efforts.
"Silver's putting a pretty sizable dent in their forces right now from what I can see." Tails responded. No surprise there. Silver's telekinesis powers gave him a ridiculous edge in combat. As long as he was focused, nothing could touch him. But as powerful as Silver was, he wasn't a miracle worker. With the sheer amount of metal killing machines on the battlefield, Silver could only do so much.
"What about Shadow and Knuckles?" Sonic asked.
"They're making progress," Tails responded.
"How much progress?"
"Wait, they stopped moving. Let me check in and see what's going on." There was a small static click as Tails went temporarily offline.
Now that Tails was momentarily out of his head, Sonic focused his full attention on getting to the base as quick as possible, weaving through Eggman's massive throng of machines and dodging weapons and projectiles left and right. He had made considerable progress when his friend chimed in again.
"They're fine, they ran into one of those Guardian robots. Had to stop for a bit."
"How'd they do?" Sonic asked.
"Well," Tails responded. "It only took three minutes for them to take it down. Your fight took five."
"Hey, theirs' was two on one!" Sonic complained while simultaneously dodging a flurry of machine gun rounds from an automated turret. The sun had completely set, and the stars were now bright in the sky. Sonic could see the entrance to the base in the distance. The above-ground building was fairly small, only three stories, but from the scans Tails took of the building using his satellite, Sonic knew that the vast majority of the fortress was underground, and it probably spanned deeper and farther than he would like to imagine.
"I can see it, Tails!" Sonic yelled as he sprinted past what seemed like the last line of robots as he finally began to close in on the base. "I'm going in!"
"Okay, Sonic, just be care- wait wha- oh no. Sonic! Sonic, STOP!"
Sonic suddenly dug his heels in the ground in a desperate attempt to brake. Soon his entire body frame was sliding on the dirt, and continued to do so for thirty feet until he finally stopped.
"Wha- what? What's wrong Tails? What happened?" Sonic asked.
"There's a force-field! You would've been vaporized on contact!" Tails yelled erratically. Sonic looked towards the base, but saw nothing. He was still a good half-mile away.
"You just noticed this? Come on, Tails!"
"It just suddenly materialized when you got close! It created a new energy signature, and I just happened to recognize it!" Tails explained.
"Well it's a good thing you did, buddy! I would've been- uh oh..."
Sonic's sentence was cut short by the scene in front of him. The waves of robots he had weaved through before were now converging on him, all eyes, blades, and cannons locked on him.
"Sonic, they're everywhere! Get out of there!" Tails plead. Sonic shifted into his fighting stance.
"Where's everyone else?" Sonic's answer came sooner than expected.
He watched as the frontmost robot became surrounded by a strange cyan light and floated into the air. The anomaly was immediately followed by a high-pitched groaning sound that assaulted his ears before the robot was promptly torn in half. Sonic lowered his fists as the two pieces of scrap metal fell to the ground and the huge throng of robots looked around in what he thought was confusion.
"Always starting the party without me," rang out a familiar voice. Sonic looked up to see a majestic light gray hedgehog floating in the air. He was surrounded by the same turquoise aura that tore apart the killer drone. Sonic grinned.
"Sorry, Silver. Figured you were busy having about as much fun as you could han-"
"Look out!" Silver yelled.
Sonic looked back at the horde of drones to see three-dozen plus cannon rounds headed his way. Sonic ghosted out of the way less than a second before they made a sizable hole in the ground where he had been standing. Silver got to work tearing the robots apart while Sonic weaved inside of their ranks, tripping, kicking, and dismantling them as he went. Just as he was about to knee a blade-riddled robot in it's ugly mug, a spike-tipped fist slammed into it from the side, knocking it a good ten feet away. Sonic smiled. Good ol' Knucklehead. If Knuckles was here, that meant Shadow had to be as well. Sure enough, seconds later, Sonic weaved past three more slicer bots to see Shadow tearing the arm off a fourth with his bare hands. Shadow had his ups and downs, but one thing was for sure; the guy could fight, and that was certainly coming in handy here. The foursome battled on until they were standing in a giant graveyard consisting of loose wires and ruined metal appendages. They all stood back to back, scanning the area for any surviving enemies.
"Okay," Sonic muttered, finally somewhat short of breath. "That should do it"
"There are more coming," said Knuckles in his gruff voice. "We need to get inside that base. Now."
"Come in, Tails." Sonic tapped his earpiece. "Tails?"
"Wow," he responded in an awestruck voice. "You guys are awesome."
"Focus, Tails." Shadow spoke for the first time since the mission started. "How do we get in?"
"Oh, uh, right. Silver, I'm gonna need you to break that force-field."
"How?" Silver replied.
"Use your telekinesis. That thing is putting out a lot of energy, but I'm pretty sure you can overpower it."
Silver looked out towards the entrance to Eggman's base. "Alright, I'll try."
"You really need to hurry, Silver. The Chaos Emeralds' power levels are higher than I've ever seen them. I'm beginning to think Eggman is trying to open another portal."
Another portal. A portal had opened the last time Eggman had attempted to harness the Emeralds' power, it had sent Sonic and most of his friends into a completely different world. Sonic had met great people there, and they stopped Eggman's plans, but now they were all back where they truly belonged. The effect Eggman had on that world's inhabitants was unforgivable. That didn't need to happen again, not with earth or anywhere else. But a portal wasn't worst-case scenario. The Emeralds also had the potential to unleash an explosion that would make a nuclear warhead look like a pop rock. Once again, didn't need to happen.
Silver closed his eyes and his face scrunched in concentration. He pointed his palms at the invisible wall of energy as they began to glow blue. He froze like that for one minute. Two. Three. Then, finally, a low, technological sound resonated across the landscape. Silver opened his eyes and gasped.
"It's out," he said, clearly exhausted, sweat beading on his forehead. This worried Sonic and the others. Silver was indefinitely the most important asset to the mission, and if he wasn't at max efficiency, this was going to get a whole lot harder.
Tails' voice rang in their earpieces. "Yeah, it's down! Hurry up, the energy levels are insane! I have no idea how we're even still here!"
Sonic spoke up. "Don't know what we're standing here for. We have a world to save."
Knuckles beat his fists together. "Come on, guys! Let's go!"
The four of them took off towards Eggman's hideout at full speed, fully determined to save their world. But meanwhile, Dr. Eggman was experiencing some serious problems inside.
. . . . .
"No, no, no, No, NO, NO! Dr. Eggman slammed his fist down on his primary computer's massive keyboard, Which was strategically placed in front of the power-glass capsule that held the seven Chaos Emeralds, which were now producing a sickeningly bright light.
"This is all wrong! Completely wrong! Curse these forsaken Emeralds!" Eggman furiously typed in codes and commands, but to no avail. The Chaos Emeralds were putting out so much energy that his control system, previously presumed flawless, could no longer even affect them. After studying his last failed attempt that had sent him and Sonic into a new world, the world where his grandfather Gerald Robotnik was born, Eggman designed a new power-harvesting and control system that he was originally willing to hang his life on. But after attempting to absorb the infinite energy held within the Emeralds, the system was overloaded in less than ten seconds, and the Emeralds began feeding off of each other and building up energy at a horrifying rate. Right before the energy climaxed and the control system became completely useless, Eggman managed to turn a small amount of the energy flow against itself so that it was holding itself in. In theory, a system like that should be able to hold infinite amounts of energy, but based on what his master computer was telling him, the wall was going to break in less than a minute, and all of that energy would be released at once. It could go one way or another. There was a possibility that it could open another freak portal, like last time. But this portal wouldn't be to earth. There was over ten million times more energy radiating through the Emeralds than last time. That amount of power would open a portal to a completely different world, one frighteningly farther away from their current position in the space/time continuum than earth. But a portal wasn't the only possibility. Equally likely was that the massive energy release would trigger an explosion that would turn that entire world into a lifeless ball of ash.
Eggman was fully aware that Sonic and company had broken into his base and were now scouring its underground halls. After his lethal force-field trap had failed, he had given up on stopping the annoying hedgehog. He just deployed the rest of his drones and focused on somehow trying to stop the energy outburst, obviously to no avail. He had always thought that if he would ever meet an unfortunate end, it would be at the hands of Sonic, unless the doctor killed him first. The blasted rodent had always been the one thing to stand in his way and thwart him at the last second. An evil genius that was constantly outdone by an idiotic blue hedgehog? Pathetic. An evil genius that was about to be blown sky-high by a failed experiment? Even more pathetic.
"Where did I go wrong? Everything was perfect! The plan, the procedure, I had done it!" Eggman slumped on his keyboard just as an electronic beep sounded throughout the room. He looked up at the holographic screen that had appeared in front of the Emerald Capsule. He eyed the data that was popping up in front of him.
"WHAT?" The doctor exclaimed. The redirection wall was breaking. The Emeralds were opening up a portal. A portal to a completely new world, or perhaps a completely new universe. With the amount of energy that was being showcased, almost anything was possible. The doctor had been concerned that the energy levels had fried his master computer, but this event was proof that it was still functioning. Dr. Eggman once again furiously drilled his keyboard, trying to bring up more information. He was about to be sent to a completely different world, and he wanted to know what he about to be thrown into. Yet despite his attempts, the computer refused to load any new information.
"No! Please! Let me know!" Eggman desperately tried to discover what awaited him, but his computer seemed to have finally given in to the Emeralds' power. But then, as said Emeralds grew even brighter, An image- no, a live video feed displayed on the screen. His jaw fell slack. The master computer was somehow showing him live recordings of this new dimension. This could only be the work of the Chaos Emeralds. He was staring at a colorful landscape, made disturbingly bright by the glowing pod behind the see-through screen. Despite the pain in his eyes, Eggman studied the scenario intensely until he was taken aback by something that moved into the area. He gasped. Was that a-
"GAAAAAH!"
The Emerald's light hit a final crescendo, completely blinding Eggman. The horrid light was followed by a deafening boom as everything went black.
"Is this the only thing you guys do anymore? Just sitting around all day doing nothing?" Spike was practically dying of boredom in his miniature throne in Twilight Sparkle's grand crystal castle in Ponyville. Twilight just smiled and rolled her eyes at Spike's comment. She was busy writing information on scrolls that would soon be added to her ever-expanding library. She and her friends were sitting in their respective thrones, situated around the giant, round crystal map table.
Spike grunted. "I'm serious, Twilight! It seems like you guys never do anything anymore. The last time anything interesting happened here was when Luna made that massive dream with everyone in Ponyville... which I didn't even get to see because I was awake the whole time!"
"Aw, quit your fussin', Spike," Applejack retorted from across the table. "Surely you can find somethin' to entertain you for a while." She re-positioned her hat back on her face and attempted to continue her nap. Rainbow Dash looked up from her Daring Do book.
"Yeah, come on, Spike. Settle down a bit. Would it really kill you to relax?"
Spike took a panning look around the room. Fluttershy was brushing Angel's fur, Rarity was admiring a pair of sapphires that she had Spike dig up yesterday, and Pinkie Pie was blowing up balloons and trying to tie them together to make something, making a lot of noise in the process. Applejack sat up again, her hat falling off her face as she did so.
"Aw, come on Pinkie, can't you give it a rest? I was working in the orchards all day yesterday."
"Sorry, AJ, I'm trying to do a trick that Party Favor showed me last time we were in the village."
"Party Favor? What did he show ya?" Applejack said while reaching down for her hat, now slightly interested.
"Let me see if I can... wait, that's not right... wait, maybe if I can... oh, so close... I did it! Wait, no I didn't... what was I doing? Oh yeah, silly Pinkie!" With a few final twists, she finished her creation; a balloon rocking chair. Pinkie set her masterpiece on the ground next to her crystal throne and proceeded to bound onto it. Surprisingly, the rocking chair not only held, but began rocking her back and forth as it were made of wood. The rest of the group stared in wonder.
"Wow... that's, uh... pretty impressive Pinkie." Applejack put her hat back on her head, officially giving up on sleep.
"Thanks, Applejack! I'll probably never be as good at making balloon animals and stuff as Party Favor, considering it's his special talent and all, but it's really cool that he showed me all of these cool balloon tricks before we left!" Pinkie began rocking faster and faster as she talked. "I've already made a trampoline, a scooter, an elephant, and now a rocking chair!" Pinkie stopped rocking instantly right as she became hard to see due to her speed, eyes alert for her friends' feedback.
"Well that was nice of him, dear." Rarity said, focusing back on the gems that she held with her magic. "Hmm. You know what, girls?" Rarity tore her eyes away from the gems. "I think maybe Spike was right."
Spike smiled, glad to have somepony agreeing with him, Rarity especially. She continued.
"It seems like all we've done in the past month is sit in this castle. Nothing exciting has happened at all, minus Twilight and Applejack's trip to Appaloosa. Now, don't get me wrong, it feels a bit nice to have some quiet time after all that's happened, and this castle is simply divine, but... maybe we should schedule something that will get us up and about and... maybe out of town?"
Fluttershy spoke up. "I would be fine with that. It would be nice to go and do something fun. But, where?" She stroked Angel's head, who happily tapped his foot in response.
"I don't know..." Twilight teleported the scrolls and quills away. "Usually whenever we go away from Ponyville, it's because we have to, either to save Equestria or for some big event." Twilight looked down at the massive crystal table that her and her friends were seated around. "And for the map."
Twilight's friends matched her gaze. The map had sent all of them to the ends of Equestria. If anypony needed them, it would alert them immediately, and they'd be there. Twilight couldn't figure out how it worked, but its purpose was crystal-clear (no pun intended). It had been more than active at first, but after Luna created a massive dream shared by everyone in Ponyville in order to track down the Tantabus, the map had been all but silent. It had sent Twilight and Applejack to help two ponies in Appaloosa, but since then, nothing. And that had been over three weeks ago. Twilight began to try and contemplate why the map would have gone inactive for so long when, suddenly, the table began to glow, and the six ponies' cutie marks began to shine and pulsate. They all watched in awe as a holographic map of Equestria appeared before their eyes.
"Finally, something exciting!" Spike was shaking his fists in anticipation.
All six of their cutie marks appeared, Twilight's in the middle with the others making a ring around it. They popped up on top of Ponyville... and stayed. They all stared in confusion at the odd behavior of the map, nopony completely sure of what was going on.
"Uh, why are they just sitting over Ponyville? Is the trouble here?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
Twilight examined the map more closely. "No, not here, there." She pointed at the map with a hoof. "The meadow right outside Ponyville where we have all our picnics."
"What are we waiting for? Let's check it out!" Spike was more than ready to get out of the castle and turn around what had been a boring morning so far, but Twilight was a little more hesitant.
"What could be going on there?" That's just an empty plot of grass." She stated.
"Well, we thought the village was just a barren patch of desert on the outskirts of Equestria," Fluttershy said.
"Yes, but, we've all been to that tiny meadow before. We know there's nothing there."
"Aw, come on Twilight!" Spike said eagerly. "What if... somepony got hurt there or something. The map thinks it's important, so it must be!"
Twilight sighed.
"Spike is right. We need to check it out. Come on, girls!'
They all nodded to each other. Spike hopped onto Twilight's back and they all galloped out of the throne room.
. . . . .
"I don't see anything," Rainbow Dash complained. They had arrived in the small expanse of land that the map had labeled. Twilight had triple checked their location with a paper map just to be sure. They were all scouring the area, but so far had found nothing. Spike sighed.
"I can't believe that map sent us here when there was nothing wrong!" Rainbow Dash kicked at the grass beneath her hoof.
"No." Twilight said firmly, deep in thought. "The map wouldn't have sent us here for no reason."
She unfurled her wings and rose into the air. Once fairly high, she scanned the area below. Still nothing. She was about to come back down when she just barely spotted something at the edge of the field. She flew closer towards the anomaly. Eventually she was able to make out the shapes of five ponies, all lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Twilight gasped. She turned around and flew back to her friends.
"Girls!" Twilight yelled. They all looked up at her. She was using her hoof to point in the direction of what she saw. "I think I found what the map sent us for!" She flew off, and the rest of her friends followed eagerly until the arrived to the sight Twilight had seen.
There were indeed five ponies laying on the ground. All unconscious, but still breathing. The first was a earth pony colt, with a blue coat and a wild, spiky dark blue mane, with a cutie mark that seemed to resemble a blue fireball.
The second pony was a unicorn stallion, his coat a glossy black with odd red highlights around his hooves and eyes. He had a peculiar tuft of spiky white hair on the front of his neck, and his mane was almost as wild as the blue pony's, but his was a deep black with red highlights that matched his body. His cutie mark was a deep red, ominous-looking symbol that nopony recognized.
The third was also a unicorn, who was silver in color. His hair was pure white, and it came up in stylish spikes around his horn and proceeded to even out and flow down the back of his head. He also had a thick tuft of hair covering most of his neck, and his cutie mark looked something like an electrical current.
While the first three ponies had been nearly even in size, the fourth was noticeably bigger. He was an earth pony, with a bright red coat. His hair was dark red and long, composed of simple, flowing locks. he had a white, crescent-moon shaped mark across his chest, and his light gray hooves gleamed like metal. In fact, they looked exactly like metal. A giant green gem cutie mark graced his flank, and there seemed to be strength radiating off of him even while he was laying unconscious on the grass.
The final pony was a pegasus, who looked a small bit younger than his counterparts. His fur was a cheery yellow-orange, and his messy mop of a mane was a shade darker than his coat. His tail, however, consisted of orange and white fur. His cutie mark was two crossed wrenches with a golden ring in the middle.
Twilight and her friends stared in silence until Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"H-have you guys ever seen any of these ponies before?" she said, her eyes sweeping the unconscious stallions.
"What could've happened to em'?" Applejack was staring in horror. The group continued to study the strange ponies in awe, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"I'm going to try and wake up them up." Twilight stepped back and flared up her horn, sending small energy waves around her. Rainbow Dash stepped closer to the ponies, and stooped to get a closer look at the blue stallions face. Suddenly, a magenta aura flared around him, and he opened his eyes. Rainbow was suddenly staring into a shocking green iris.
"GAH!" Rainbow flew back in surprise
"WHOA, WHOA!" The blue pony suddenly tried to stand up on his hind legs , which caused him to fall backwards and land on his back in the grass. But what surprised Twilight and her friends was how fast he did it. He had done it so quickly that he was nearly a blur.
The others also began to stir in their comas, all having similar reactions to the blue colt, seemingly aimed at themselves. Twilight and her friends slowly stepped back from the strange scene. The strange stallions looked around until their eyes landed at each other, and a flurry of rushed conversation ensued.
"Who are you?"
"Shadow? Is that you?
"What's happening?"
"Where are we?"
"I thought we were dead!"
"The Emeralds... They opened a portal, didn't they!?"
"Are we horses?"
"Sonic!"
"Tails! You look... uh... you okay?"
"Wait, who are they?"
The stallions turned to look at the six ponies that had been staring at them.
"Who are you?" The dark unicorn demanded. The intensity of his red-eyed stare almost made Twilight shrink back, but she held her ground. She stepped forward and spanned her wings, putting as much regality into her voice as she could.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship."
The dark pony looked at all of Twilight's friends in turn, creating a very unnerving setting. The blue stallion cleared his throat and walked up in front of his dark acquaintance. He stepped carefully as if he was afraid his hooves would give out from under him. The rest of the stallions were looking themselves over, varying degrees of confusion and shock apparent on their faces. Except for the dark stallion, who didn't seem bothered much at all. The blue stallion looked at Twilight and gave an unconvincing smile.
"Uh, sorry, we're a little, um, out of it. Anyway, I'm Sonic, Sonic the... Uh, yeah, anyway, that's Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver. What about the guys behind you." He had a strong tenor voice, a big contrast to the grimness of Shadow's tone. All of his friends' eyes were on Twilights'. She spoke up again.
"Oh, well, this is Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash."
The two groups awkwardly stared each other down until Spike broke the silence.
"Okay, don't wanna be rude or anything, but where exactly are you guys from? You're all acting kind of... weird."
Sonic looked back at his peers and sighed.
"Well, it's... kind of a long story..."
. . . . .
"So you're saying this Dr. Eggman could be in Equestria?" Twilight asked. She, Sonic, and both of their respective parties were sitting at two conjoined tables at Sugarcube corner. Sonic and company had shared as much backstory as they felt necessary, including the race for Eggman before everything went dark. Twilight, in return, gave them a basic grasp of Equestria and its pony population.
"It's more than possible," said Tails in his high, youthful voice. "If that force paradox got me when I was over fifty miles away, and Eggman was standing right next to the Chaos Emeralds, he practically has to be here. Unless he was destroyed..."
Sonic put down his mug of hot chocolate with his new appendage.
"I hate to say it, but if the Emeralds blew him sky-high, maybe it was for the best. If he's here, we have a serious problem," he said.
"Indeed." Shadow said as he levitated a cupcake in front of him with his newfound magic. His magic was an odd shade of orange, like muted fire. He set the desert down and continued. "If the good doctor is dead, your world can sleep easy at night."
"Good doctor? I thought he was bad." Spike scratched his head. Shadow glared at him.
"Good as in intelligent."
"Oh, sorry..." Spike shrank back from the Shadow's gaze. Twilight courageously intercepted his glare.
"Shadow, please stop, you're scaring him." Shadow stared at Twilight for a few eternal seconds before shifting his eyes back to the pile of sweets on the table.
"My apologies," Shadow said in an unreadable tone.
Pinkie giggled. "You guys are all so super-fun!"
Everyone turned to look at Pinkie. She didn't even react.
Knuckles swallowed the remains of his fourth cupcake. "Uh, anyway, you told us about these 'Elements of Unity?' They sound powerful... very powerful."
"They're the Elements of Harmony," Applejack corrected. "And they are. Helped us beat countless villains and save Equestria more than once."
"What about those Chaos Emeralds you were talking about? How powerful are they? Do they create chaos based magic?" Twilight asked. She stared at Sonic for the answer.
"Not exactly. They're called the Chaos Emeralds because of their power. They contain infinite energy, and can be used for good and bad. There's really no such thing as magic where we're from."
"Not to mention what Sonic, Shadow, and Silver can do with them," Tails said. He socked sonic lightly on the shoulder with his hoof. "They can absorb the power of the Emeralds somehow. It's pretty cool."
"But only when we have all seven of them," said Silver. "We can use their individual powers in various ways, but their real power is only revealed when you have all of them together."
Rainbow Dash took center stage.
"Okay, so I have a question. You said something about how a portal took you to a different world way back when, but you were still... the same. So if that's true, why did you get turned into ponies when you got sent here?"
Shadow's head jerked up towards the end. He turned to stare at Tails, the rest of the group following his gaze. Tails shrank back from the sudden spotlight.
"Uh, I've been thinking about that. The Emeralds are really mysterious, nobody is really sure how they work, not even Dr. Eggman. The energy levels of the Emeralds were nearly too powerful to measure when they released it all and sent us here, and a lot of things are possible in a scenario like that. My guess is that it mixed our DNA with the DNA from the local beings of this world."
"Well, I want to ask the real question on everyone's mind." There was an ominous sense of dread in Shadow's voice. "How do we get back?"
"The only way I see us getting back is finding the Emeralds and opening another portal," said Tails uncertainly. They traveled to Earth last time, so it makes sense to think that they're here now. A portal was how we got back home from earth, even if we unintentionally opened it. But even if we find them, it would be... tricky to use them to get back. A redirection paradox might do the trick, but that could have serious consequences."
As Tails ended his answer, his eyes landed on Fluttershy, who quickly turned away. Tails raised an eyebrow. What was up with that?
"So until further notice, we're stuck here." Shadow nearly spat the words. Rarity made an attempt to better his mood.
"Darling, I know this is a lot to take in, and I can't imagine what you're feeling, but maybe you should-"
"Don't call me darling." Shadow said firmly. He glared at Rarity with visible agitation. Sonic placed a hoof on his shoulder.
"Ease up, Shadow. This isn't their fault." Shadow turned back to Rarity, who had been rendered speechless. He closed his eyes and released a heavy breath through his nose.
"You're right." He looked up at the her. "I'm sorry." Shadow stood up and walked away from the table towards the exit. Twilight watched with blazing curiosity as he left, her mind racing. Rarity, on the other hand, was still staring off into space, looking completely frazzled.
"Was... was it something I said?" Rarity looked at Sonic and his remaining friends for an answer. Silver gave one to her.
"No, it wasn't you. He's just... a little unprepared for this. He's never really been good at keeping his emotions in check." Silver gave Rarity an encouraging smile. She tried to smile back.
"That guy seems like a real jerk," Rainbow Dash grunted.
Fluttershy spoke up. "Now, Rainbow, we haven't known Shadow for very long, and this must be a lot for him to take in."
"Hmm, he does seem a little grumpy, though..." Pinkie put her hoof up to her chin in thought. She suddenly gasped. "Maybe a party will cheer him up!"
There was a symphony of groans from her side of the table.
"At least he apologized," said Knuckles indifferently as he eyed another cupcake. "That doesn't happen very often."
"Anyway, moving on." Sonic reclaimed everyone's attention. "If the Emeralds are here, we need to find them, especially if Eggman's here, too. We can't let him get his hands on them again. And no offense to any of you guys, but we need to get home." Sonic turned to his best friend. "Any ideas, Tails?
"I'd need some equipment." Tails turned to Twilight. "You mentioned a laboratory?"
"Yes, in my castle. We can start tomorrow. Oh, that reminds me, you'll all need a place to stay while you're here. You're all welcome to stay with Spike and me."
"Sounds great." Sonic took another sip of his hot chocolate as the discussions around the table turned from business to chummy chatting, the atmosphere around the two groups finally lightening up. Rainbow Dash proceeded to ask Sonic just how fast he was, which lead into a quick argument on speed that evolved into her challenging Sonic to a race that would take place the next day. Sonic had apparently kept his speed in his new equine state, so the race would be something to watch. Twilight eventually excused herself so she could get the castle ready for her new visitors. But as she walked out of the doors, she saw Shadow sitting on the front steps of the bakery, seemingly lost in thought. Twilight made the decision to speak before she could contemplate whether or not it was a good idea.
"Um, hi." She said. Shadow looked back in slight surprise at her, but then seemed to lose interest and stared back at the near-empty street in front of him. Twilight sat down on the steps next to him, much to the newly-turned unicorn's apparent discomfort.
"I'm sorry about all of this. I know it must be a lot for you to take in."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault," said Shadow without so much as blinking. If his tone was anymore indifferent, he would've sounded like a robot.
"Are you doing alright? I know it's strange, having a completely different body. I've... kind of been there myself. Uh, long story."
"It's certainly different," he replied calmly.
Twilight fiddled with her hooves, trying to think of a response. "Well... I just want you to know we're willing to do anything we can to help you get home."
Shadow finally turned and faced Twilight, his deep red eyes mesmerizing her. He just stared at her for a moment, then turned away and sighed.
"Why are you all so willing to help us?" Twilight shook off the effect of his gaze and tried to think of a good answer.
"You're just a group of ponies, or, whatever you want to be called, trying to get home. We can't just walk away from something like that. Besides, the map says you're all important, which means that you must be. We're here to help. In any way we can." Twilight unconsciously reached out and laid her hoof on Shadow's shoulder, which earned her a questioning look from him. She quickly dropped her hoof back to the ground and looked away, blushing slightly.
"Well, thanks," was all he said. The two sat in silence for a while before Twilight dared to ask another question.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"It seems like you make an effort to show as little emotion as possible. I know it's none of my business, but I'd like to know."
For a while, Shadow said nothing. Twilight was about to get up and walk away when he finally answered.
"I don't make an effort. I suppose I was just made that way."
"So you've kept to yourself ever since you were born?" Twilight asked. Shadow sighed.
"I wasn't born," said Shadow ruefully. "I was created in a laboratory by Dr. Eggman's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik." he turned to see Twilight's reaction. She was staring at him, dumbstruck.
"You... you're an experiment?" Twilight could barely get the words out.
Shadow nodded.
"I was designed to be the ultimate life form, a living weapon. I was created to enact Robotnik's revenge." A hint of a smile crossed Shadow's face. "But a friend of mine taught me that I had a choice. I decided to help my world rather than destroy it." Twilight listened to Shadow's story with obvious fascination.
"So Sonic's the reason you're here?" Twilight though she had made the connection, but Shadow shook his head.
"I owe a lot to Sonic, but Maria was the one that showed me the way."
"Maria?"
"She was Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter." Shadow closed his eyes, vicious memories flooding his mind. "She's gone now."
"Oh." Twilight's heart ached to see Shadow like this. The sun was now beginning to set, turning the sky orange. They could hear laughing and loud conversations between their friends coming from inside Sugarcube Corner. Twilight sat there, reflecting on what Shadow had told her.
"What happened to her?"
"She was killed." Twilight stared at Shadow in horror. "Murdered. It was a horrible mistake. She was wrongly accused. Hunted down. I tried to save her but... I just couldn't." A single tear began to descend down Shadow's cheek. Shadow realized this and wiped it away aggressively. He turned to Twilight, who seemed to be on the verge of tears herself.
"Shadow... I'm... Im so sorry..."
"It's fine... I suppose I-"
Twilight suddenly embraced the dark stallion in a unexpected hug. Shadow remained motionless, unsure how to react. After a while Twilight pulled back at scooted away from him.
"I'm sorry, I just... that's just horrible."
Shadow kept facing forward.
"I suppose I'll never stop missing her..." Silence reigned for many moments until Twilight spoke again.
"You said you owed a lot to Sonic... How did you two meet?"
"I was convinced that I needed to destroy the world to get revenge for Maria. Sonic stopped me. He helped me realize Maria would never want that. That she wanted the exact opposite. I owe him my life."
Shadow turned to Twilight and smiled, something that she previously thought impossible.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"All you have to do is sit next to me and ask a few petty questions, and I'm suddenly willing to share everything."
"Uhhh..."
Shadow chuckled lightly, which in turn made Twilight smile. He had a wonderful laugh. It was a shame to her that he must not have used it often.
"Maybe this world will be a little bit easier to bear than I imagined."
With that, Shadow stood up and walked back into Sugarcube Corner to rejoin his friends, leaving Twilight with a thousand thoughts in her head. So that was why Shadow acted the way he did. He was created to be a weapon, and lost the only thing he cared about. Although Shadow didn't say it out loud, Twilight knew that he must have loved Maria. If it wasn't for Sonic and company, he would've destroyed an entire world.
Twilight began to think about how comfortable Shadow had seemed towards the end of their conversation, blushing when she thought of his smile and laugh. She stood up and began her walk to the castle, Shadow dominating her thoughts for the entire way there.
"This place is insane!" said Sonic. He and his friends were now inside of Twilight Sparkle's magnificent crystal castle, with Spike and the Princess of Friendship herself giving them a tour of its long halls. Tails looked around in wonder.
"I can't figure out how this place was even built. The architecture it must have required... and all of this crystal..."
"Actually, it wasn't built. It came from a chest." A chest? Tails looked at Spike questionably, who gave a mildly nervous chuckle. "Long story."
Twilight looked back and smiled. A surprising friendship had quickly grown between Spike and Tails. Twilight thought it was because they were the youngest of the groups, even though Tails seemed much older.
"Hey, Sonic." Spike tore the wild-looking blue stallion's eyes away from the shining walls.
"I was wondering if I could actually stay with you guys. I don't really get to hang out with colts very much, aside from Applejack's brother Big Mac. I figured I'd ask you because... well... no offense to any of you guys," he looked back at the four ponies walking behind them and turned back to Sonic. "But you kind of seem like the leader."
Sonic turned to his peers, sporting a sarcastic grin.
"Well, Spike, I don't really know if I'm the "leader", but I don't have a problem with it." He turned back to his friends. "Guys?"
Tails nodded, Knuckles and Silver shrugged, and Shadow let out a light sigh. Sonic turned back around.
"Guess you're good, then."
"Sweet! Hey, we should bunk in my room! There's totally enough space!"
"But not enough beds." Twilight was trying hard not to laugh at Spike's blatant enthusiasm.
"Well, we can get beds from some of the guest rooms. There are plenty in this place."
Twilight looked at Sonic and company for any signs of approval. Sonic winked. "I don't see why not. We'll help you carry them."
. . . . .
Soon almost everyone was carrying a crystal bed into Spike's room. Twilight and Shadow were each carrying one with their magic, walking side by side. Twilight had been amazed that Shadow had apparently gone from struggling to lift a cupcake to lifting a heavy single-size bed with magic in less than a day, but when she asked him about it later he said that he never struggled to lift the desert, he was practicing control. Apparently he had performed offensive spells and similar feats using the energy from the Chaos Emeralds. Good practice, he had called it. According to him, unicorn magic was more difficult to use, but fairly similar. His control over the bed was a little sloppy, though, and after he set it down Twilight could see a a thin sheen of sweat on his coat.
Silver, impressively, was levitating two crystal beds at the same time, and showing no sign of fatigue while doing so. He also had perfect control over the two sizable objects. Twilight could've done the same just as well, and more, and offered to do so, but Silver just took two at once without even blinking. Still, it shocked Twilight how easily he had converted to his former version of telekinesis to unicorn magic effortlessly. His magic was a shocking turquoise, similar to Rarity's, Twilight thought, but brighter.
Knuckles carried the last two beds into the room on his shoulders, and Sonic had gathered the bedsheets from all five beds in roughly three seconds flat, and proceeded to nearly vaporize out of the room, leaving Twilight and Spike with hanging jaws. They couldn't believe that anything on four hooves had the ability to move that fast. The only pony that Twilight had ever seen pull off speed like that was Rainbow Dash, and that was with wings. Twilight suddenly looked forward to tomorrow's race.
After the beds were set down on the ground in a semicircle around Spike's, The six boys began winding down and chatting lightly. The conversation eventually turned to the race between Sonic and Rainbow Dash that would be happening the next day. Spike jumped at the opportunity and started spouting about how Rainbow had only ever lost to Spitfire, captain of the famous Wonderbolts, to which Tails jumped in and replied that Sonic was completely undefeated in the Speed department, much to Sonic's amusement. This lead into a lighthearted argument that became Twilight's confirmation that it time to leave the guys to their supposed sleepover (or a "dudes' night" as Spike had called it). But before she left the room she made sure to stop by Shadow, who was standing by his bed inside the semicircle, watching Tails and Spike argue with blatant amusement.
"Children. Both of them." Shadow fought to withhold a laugh.
"Who do you think will win tomorrow?'
"I don't think that there's anyone or anything out there that can beat Sonic when it comes to speed, even when he's like this, but your friend Rainbow Dash seems confident even after seeing Sonic's abilities firsthand." Shadow shrugged. "I'm not sure."
At this point Tails and Spike were measuring Sonic and Rainbow's feats and heroic deeds, Spike seemingly losing ground on Rainbow Dash's accomplishments. Eventually he just sat there in awe as Tails gushed about Sonic's adventures, ranging from exploring ruins and rain forests from defeating giant robots and a liquid deity. Twilight turned to Shadow.
"Is all of that true?"
"Every word."
Twilight pondered this for a second. Sonic's life had been even more active than she had thought. He was in essence a superhero, who had performed acts of bravery nearly unimaginable. And yet, after all of that, here he was, on four hooves and attending a sleepover to amuse a baby dragon. It made Twilight wonder what Shadow had done in his lifetime (aside from nearly destroying a planet).
"Hey, Shadow?"
"Hm?"
"I'd really appreciate it if you went easy on Spike. He would never admit it, but the little guy is really intimidated by you."
"If I must," Shadow said with a hint of a smile. It only lasted for a few seconds before his face turned serious again.
"You and Tails will begin working tomorrow, correct?"
"Oh, uh, yes, of course." said Twilight. She didn't know why she suddenly felt disappointed. Of course he just wanted to get home. She tried to continue the conversation.
"How are your friends doing? They seem fine."
"They've adjusted surprisingly well. But they still want to return home, naturally. We left behind many friends and acquaintances. "
"Well, I hope I'm able to help." Twilight began to turn around for the door.
"Thank you for letting us stay here." Twilight turned back to him, surprise on her face. Shadow cleared his throat. "By the way."
Twilight smiled back. "My pleasure." She looked over to Tails, who was still spouting off from Sonic's seemingly endless list of achievements, with the baby dragon looking on in blatant awe.
"We'll start tomorrow morning Tails."
"Kay, thanks!" He quickly turned back to Spike and resumed his awe-inspiring story about Sonic's fight with a robotic Egyptian golem. Twilight turned to Shadow and nodded, smiling when he smiled back, and proceeded to exit the room and shut the door behind her, leaving the guys to whatever they had planned.
. . . . .
An hour later all of them were laying in their beds, and they were all still awake. Knuckles seemingly moved around every five seconds.
"I don't get how they sleep like this!" Knuckles was laying on his back, his forelegs curled up in the air.
"Relax your shoulders and lay your hooves by your side. That's how Twilight usually sleeps," Spike suggested from his bed.
Knuckles tried it.
"Huh. This actually isn't bad." Knuckles closed his eyes.
"I'm actually surprised you're having trouble sleeping, Knucklehead." Knuckles' eyes flew open at Sonic's comment. "Considering you usually sleep on the ground at Emerald Island."
"So it isn't hard for you, Sonic?"
"Hey, come on, buddy, you know as well as me that I can sleep on anything."
"Even a with a completely different body?"
"No sweat." Sonic rolled over so that he was facing away from Knuckles.
"What's Emerald Island?" Spike sounded like he was going to pass out any second. Knuckles was surprised that he suddenly sounded seemed so drained after happily chatting just a few moments ago.
Knuckles opened his maw to begin a long description describing the magical floating island in immaculate detail, but he stopped himself. His face drooped slightly.
"It was my home." He looked over Tails. "You two will be able to find the Emeralds right?"
"If they're here, we'll find em'."
Knuckles nodded. "Good."
A soft sound suddenly intruded their elongated ears. After passively searching for the light phenomenon they realized it was Spike snoring. The little guy was out cold. Tails quietly asked Sonic a question.
"So, Sonic, you nervous the race against Rainbow Dash tomorrow?"
"Should I be nervous?"
"Well, she does have wings. Seems like a bit of an unfair advantage."
"And this is coming from the guy who was worshiping me an hour ago."
"Whatever, Sonic. Oh, and just so you know, Rainbow Dash was staring at you nonstop while we were over at Sugarcube Corner."
Sonic glared at his friend mockingly. "Just like that shy girl who had her eyes glued to you?"
Tails blushed a bit "Uhhh..."
Sonic looked over at Silver, who was hard at work trying to fall asleep.
"And did you, Silver, happen to notice that Rarity seemed to be fairly interested in you after you calmed her down?"
Silver's pony ears perked up at this. He pushed himself up to look at Sonic.
"How is it that you can effortlessly switch from the most mature being on the planet to an annoying five year-old in the blink of an eye?"
Sonic shrugged. "Pretty sure it's something you're born with." He looked over at Shadow to bring up his and Twilight's sudden "friendship", but he stopped Sonic before he could even fully get his mouth open, even though he was facing away, looking at the wall.
"Say anything and you won't wake up tomorrow."
Any sensible person (or pony) would've shut up, but Sonic, naturally, kept talking.
"Aw, come on, Shadow, you and Twilight are at least friends, right?"
Shadow remained silent for a long time before answering.
"I suppose so." He finally momentarily turned away from the wall, but his deep red eyes were aimed at Tails. "You'll start working immediately tomorrow morning, correct?"
"Uh, yeah. Twilight and I will be stopping to watch Sonic and Rainbow's race. Other than that, though, we should be working pretty much all day."
"Hmph," was Shadow's only response as he rolled back over, once again facing the wall. Tails looked at Sonic, who just shrugged before finally settling in himself. The rest of the night was quiet as the five friends finally fell asleep.
. . . . .
"Two minutes, forty-one seconds!" Spike shouted after Sonic thundered past him. Sonic traveled a good sixty meters before finally coming to a stop. He quickly trotted back to Spike to receive the time again.
"What was that?"
"Two minutes, forty-one seconds! I can't believe it! Nopony without wings should ever be able to go around all of Ponyville that fast! How do you even do it?" After being showered with Sonic's achievements by Tails, Spike had grown fond of Sonic and had immediately volunteered to help him train for the race.
Sonic grinned. "Don't know. I've been running like that ever since I was a kid." He looked down at his hooves. "But I've kind of had to get a new feel for these things."
"Didn't you have legs and feet in your home world?"
"Yeah. At least I could stop with those," Sonic said as he lightly stamped his hooves on the ground. Spike rubbed his scaly chin thoughtfully.
"Well, it looks like you're trying to use your front hooves to stop. Maybe try using your back hooves?"
Sonic thought about this for a moment.
"Alright, let's try it." Sonic ran away again, taking no time to disappear from Spike's vision. About two and a half minutes later, he materialized again in the very back depths of Spike's field of vision. Suddenly, he planted his back hooves into the ground, skidding to a stop right in front of Spike. Sonic gave off a huge grin. "Better."
"Wow, Sonic, you got that down pretty quickly."
"I kinda have a knack for that, or so I'm told. You got the time?"
"Uhhhh I didn't keep count on that one, but I'm pretty sure it was close to your last time"
"Well, then I guess I'll have to do it again."
"Wait, I'm pretty sure this will be your eighth lap! Aren't you tired?"
Sonic just laughed before ghosting away from Spike to begin what was in actuality his tenth run around the town.
. . . . .
"Tails, can you give me that brass tube?"
"Sure thing, Twilight!" Tails trotted over to the object and picked it up carefully between his hoof and foreleg. He slowly made his way back to the purple alicorn and handed her the part. She looked at him with slight confusion.
"Uh, Tails, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you use your wings? Didn't you say you could fly back in your world?"
"Uh, heh heh, well... I didn't really use wings to fly," He looked up at Twilight, who was obviously expecting more. "It's a long story. Don't worry about it."
"Well, Rainbow Dash could teach you how to use your wings. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"What about Fluttershy?" Tails blurted out. Twilight looked up in surprise at the sudden outburst.
"Well she's not the greatest flier, but... I'm sure she could at least help."
"Oh, uh, okay, thanks."
They were both silent for a while after that as they continued attempting to build the crude Emerald-detecting machine in the middle of the castle. Eventually, to the relief of Tails, Twilight broke the awkward silence.
"So, Tails..."
"Uh, yeah?"
"Is Shadow typically a... nice guy?" Tails turned to unconsciously stare at Twilight. After a few seconds he realized what he was doing and turned back to the uneven knobs that he had originally been looking at. "Well, he's pretty serious, but... I guess he can be nice when he wants to."
"So, he's not... cruel... or anything like that?"
"Why are you asking me this? Aren't you guys friends?"
Twilight gave a light smile as she used her magic to tighten a screw. "I suppose so."
"So you're that interested about him, huh?"
Twilight gave a small gasp and turned around to see Tails with a mocking smile on his face. Her face turned smug.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
Tails' face softened a bit. "Nothing, sorry." Tails chuckled as he examined the crude electrical wiring. "Hey, Twilight, what's our power source supposed to be again?"
"My magic." She was now blushing slightly, though Tails didn't seem to notice.
"I'm still not sure that's compatible with the Chaos Emeralds' energy."
"I suppose we'll find out." Twilight looked over at Tails, who shook his head.
"I don't think that's good enough. I don't want to leave anything up to chance."
"What else could we do?"
"I think we may have to find a Chaos Emerald first after all. If we find one we can use its energy to find the others."
"But how are we supposed to find one without the machine?"
"Not sure." Tails rubbed the back of his head with his hoof while Twilight put her hoof to her chin, both racking their brains to try and find a solution.
"What about that map you guys were talking about? Maybe we can use that!"
Twilight shook her head. "I can't control it. It sends us to places and ponies that need our help. I doubt it would reveal the location of those Emeralds..."
"But would it really hurt for you to try?"
"How am I possibly supposed to control it?"
"Just let me look at it, and I'll see what we can do."
. . . . .
"Way to go Rainbow Dash! Woohoo!" Fluttershy said softly as she handed a bottle of water to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow finally landed on the ground and rested after a rigorous practice session.
"Thanks, Fluttershy. I got this in the bag." Rainbow wiped some sweat off her forehead and began chugging the contents of the bottle.
"Uh, Rainbow, I have a question." Rainbow Dash pulled the bottle away from her mouth. "Yeah, what's up?"
"You saw how fast Sonic was, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you really think you can beat him? Even after you promised you wouldn't fly very high off the ground?"
"Of course I can beat him!" Rainbow would never admit it, but she was somewhat nervous about the race. She had been utterly amazed when she saw Sonic run away from Sugarcube Corner last night. Now that was impressive. Rainbow Dash wouldn't give up without a fight, but it made her realize that winning a race against Sonic would be anything but a walk in the park. Or flight in the park, for that matter.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're practicing." Rainbow Dash quickly finished her water and stood back up.
"Yeah. Sonic's fast. Way fast." Rainbow suddenly began staring off into space. Fluttershy cleared her throat.
"Uh, Dashie, are you alright?" Rainbow Dash suddenly snapped back into reality, seeing her friend's slightly worried expression.
"Uhhh, yep, I'm good," Rainbow blurted out before beginning a sudden twenty-set of wing-ups. She hoped Fluttershy couldn't see her blush. Man, did she have to turn into a little school filly whenever she thought of that guy? She had barely even talked to him! They were competitors, she told herself. She needed to get that through her thick head. Speaking of school filly crushes, that reminded Rainbow of something.
"Hey, Fluttershy, you know you should really talk to Tails instead of just staring at him."
Fluttershy gave out a squeak and tried to hide behind her mane. "Oh no, I-I wasn't staring, well maybe I... No, I wasn't! Oh no, d-did he see me?"
"Nah, I don't think so. Look, Flutters, I get that being shy is kinda your thing, but you shouldn't be afraid to talk to the guy."
"Uh, Rainbow Dash, I don't want to be rude, but you were staring at Sonic for most of the time. Don't you think you should talk to him about it, too?"
They were both quiet for a while after that, awkward silence claiming a throne over both of them.
"Mind timing me for another lap?"
"Sure."
And with that, Rainbow Dash took off.
. . . . .
"I can't believe this many ponies showed up..." Spike marveled around him as Ponyville Town Square was nearly packed to the brim with ponies, all there to witness the race between Rainbow Dash and the mysterious Sonic. Words of the arrival of five new ponies in town was enough to stir up conversation by itself, but the small trickle of conversation turned into a flood when Spike and Pinkie began advertising that one of the new ponies, an earth pony at that, was going to race Rainbow Dash through town. And whenever the townsponies heard that the earth pony, named Sonic, actually had a sizable chance of winning, that pretty much guaranteed that there would be a crowd.
"I can!" Pinkie Pie had been baking cakes and pastries all day with the Cakes to sell for the race crowd, but Mr. and Mrs. Cake had assured Pinkie that they could man their baked goods stall by themselves, so she was now free to watch the race with her friends. "Nothing cool besides a monster attack ever happens here! Of course everypony in town would want to see this!"
Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity were all standing next to the starting line, which was right in the middle of town square. Sonic and Rainbow Dash were nowhere to be seen at the moment, as Tails and Fluttershy were prepping them for the race. But the rest of Sonic's friends were also seemingly nowhere to be found.
"Where all are they runnin' to again?" Applejack asked. Twilight cleared her throat.
"Through town, around Sweet Apple Acres, around a bend in the Everfree Forest, through Ghastly Gorge, and back into Ponyville to the finish line. Based on my math, it shouldn't take either of them more than eight minutes."
"The Everfree Forest?" said Rarity. "Ghastly Gorge? That sounds rather dangerous in my opinion."
Before Twilight could respond, a shady voice answered from behind her. "If your friend Rainbow Dash can handle it, surely Sonic can as well." They all turned around to see Shadow approaching, with Silver and Knuckles close behind him. Twilight smiled as Shadow walked up to stand next to her. They all started talking, seemingly perfectly comfortable around each other. Twilight couldn't help but notice how close Rarity was standing next to Silver.
"I'm glad you showed, Shadow."
"I'm not sure I truly had a choice. But, at least there's no chance that this won't be interesting."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Arguably the two fastest entities from two worlds in a race. I, personally, thought it was pretty self-explanatory."
"Oh, I see." Shadow looked over at Twilight, catching her in his gaze.
"It's up to you to decide whether or not this is dangerous for your friend." He looked to the starting line. "Sonic will be perfectly fine."
"So will Rainbow Dash," Twilight said surely. A hint of a smile crossed Shadow's lips.
"Hey, Shadow, mind if I stand next to you?" Tails was walking up behind him. Shadow nodded, so Tails stepped up beside him.
"Is Sonic ready?" asked Twilight. Tails nodded. "He... really doesn't need much preparation. We just kinda hung around and chatted. Rainbow Dash should be done any second now, and then they'll walk up to the starting line together."
Then, as if on cue, Fluttershy walked up next to Tails and timidly stated "Dashie's ready. They should be at the starting line soon."
Tails looked over in surprise. "Uh, hey."
Fluttershy gulped. "Um... hi. I'm... Fluttershy." In reality, she said her name far too quietly for Tails to hear. But since Tails already knew her name, he was able to continue the discussion.
"I'm Miles Tails Prower, but you can just call me Tails."
"Um... alright."
They stood there awkwardly for a few moments. Shadow was standing next to both of them, and although his face didn't show it, he was fighting a laugh. Fluttershy eventually broke the silence with a question.
"Didn't you say you used to be a fox?"
"Uh, well, yeah, back where we came from I was. I might technically still be one now, but..."
"Oh, well, um, I love to take care of animals, and I just helped a family of foxes last week."
"Well that's very kind of you." The two continued their light conversation, Fluttershy seemingly coming out of her shell. But then silence swept over the crowd as two silhouettes began walking towards the starting line.
. . . . .
Sonic and Rainbow Dash had taken their positions. The two ponies looked towards their friends, who were standing directly to their right. Rainbow Dash smiled to see Fluttershy standing next to Tails. She had finally convinced that shy little filly to talk to Tails during her "preparation" by explaining to her that Tails used to be a fox, which seemed to build her confidence just a bit due to Fluttershy's boundless love of animals. Rainbow eventually got her to Pinkie-promise to talk to him, as long as Rainbow did the same with Sonic. Rainbow Dash turned to the wild-looking blue stallion.
"You ready for this, Sonic?"
"You bet!" He sounded truly confident. His shocking green eyes seemed to sparkle as he said the phrase.
Rainbow Dash turned away from him to look at the ponies crowding the Town Square. The entire town must have been there. There were all getting a good look at the mysterious blue earth pony that had the guts to accept a challenge from Rainbow Dash, surely wondering how he could possibly stack up, considering that Rainbow would be using her wings. A few of them had heard minor rumors of Sonic's speed, but they wanted to see it first hand.
Twilight stepped in front of the starting line and raised her wings in an authoritative manner.
"All right ponies. This will be a clean race. The first around the designated course and back to the finish line will be declared the winner. Rainbow Dash, to keep the odds even, you are forbidden to fly anywhere but the designated course. Is that clear?" Rainbow Dash nodded. "As a precaution, there will be pegasus scouts observing sections of the course. If cheating is taking place, we will be notified, and the offender will be disqualified." Twilight looked at the two in turn.
"Rainbow Dash, are you ready?" Rainbow unfurled her wings and rose a few feet off the ground, curling her body slightly, getting ready for takeoff.
"Ready!" Twilight looked over at Sonic.
"Sonic, are you ready?" He shifted his body lower to the ground, getting ready for a bursting start.
"Ready!"
Twilight's horn began to glow, gradually creating a glowing ball of light energy. After a few seconds it shot off her horn towards the sky and exploded as a glorious magenta firework. That was the signal, and the two racers wasted absolutely no time.
Sonic and Rainbow Dash took off at the exact same moment, storming past Twilight and across the road through the town square, starting the race. The crowd of ponies were left with slack jaws as the two furiously disappeared from their sight.
The two dashed out of Ponyville and were soon making their way through a meadow. Sonic looked up at Rainbow Dash, who was keeping pace. 'So, it is going to be a race after all,' he thought. They both simultaneously picked up their paces as they began to circle Sweet Apple Acres. Sonic watched as dozens of apple trees blurred past his left. Rainbow was still behind him, but he stuck with the inside curve as much as possible and very gradually increased his distance from her. Rainbow claimed the inside curve by the trees in response, but she had still lost a few feet of ground. She could've sped up, but she wasn't exactly sure how much stamina Sonic had, so she kept her current speed. Besides, she was going to have a big advantage through the Everfree Forest, since she would only have to avoid the treetops. Sonic would have to traverse the twisted forest floor. Although the bend they were to travel through was a bit more tame terrain-wise then the heart of the forest, it was still no laughing matter to trek, much less sprint through. Rainbow was also unsure how accustomed Sonic was to his four hooves, since he originally had two legs to run on. They wrapped all the way around the farm before finally entering the Everfree Forest.
Rainbow Dash increased elevation slightly and began weaving through the gnarled branches and leaves in her path. Once she hit a somewhat clear stretch, she looked below her and was shocked so see Sonic directly below her, bounding inbetween trees and keeping perfect pace. So much for the anatomy advantage. Rainbow refocused on the race as the two continued to blur through the bending forest, staying almost dead even then entire way. Soon they darted into the clear and began down the decline that lead into Ghastly Gorge. Sonic was having an easy time traversing the rocky ground, and Rainbow was concentrated on cutting through the air, trying to build up more speed than her opponent. Soon they were approaching the Quarray Eel nests. Rainbow had warned him about them, but he didn't slow down as he closed in on their nest. She prayed that Sonic knew what he was doing.
As he sped towards past the first nest, a giant eel shot out of its rock hole. But before it could close its jaws on Sonic, he lowered his body and skidded underneath its maw, then immediately jumped over another attacker. Sonic was far too experienced with Eggman's killer robots to let these things get him, even when he was on four legs instead of two. As it would turn out, Rainbow was the one who was truly in danger.
Rainbow was so focused on watching Sonic fly past the eels that she didn't see the one coming for her until it was too late. She tried to flap away, but it shut her in its jaws. She immediately held her breath and began to beat on the inside of its mouth. She had been caught like this before, and she knew if she kept hammering away, it would spit her out and give up. But Sonic had seen the thing snap Rainbow up, and he leaped into action without a second's hesitation. He jumped and slammed his equine shoulder into the monster's mouth, undoubtedly breaking its jaw. The force knocked Rainbow Dash right out of the Quarray Eel's mouth, and Sonic caught her squarely on his back before she could hit the ground. Before she could react, Sonic was ghosting past the nest, avoiding the Eels soundly along the way. After they were a good 300 feet past it, Sonic finally skidded to a stop and let Rainbow Dash off.
"Are you alright!?" Rainbow was teetering just a bit. Her vision cleared to show Sonic's face inches away from hers. She just stared into his emerald-green eyes, mesmerized.
"F-f-fine?" Her mind didn't seem capable of functioning correctly in a situation like this.
"Are you sure about that?" Sonic was genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow turned away from him, blushing profusely.
"I thought you said they weren't a big deal! That thing nearly killed you!" Rainbow Dash turned back to Sonic, shocked. Was he scolding her?
"Hey, it was about to let me go! Then you knocked into its face and nearly gave me a concussion! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and don't you ever forget it!"
She turned away from him again. Tears were trying to form in her eyes, and she didn't even know why. She thought about how as soon as he saw her get snapped up by the Quarray he leaped into action, willingly risking his life to save hers. Sure, he probably would've done it for anypony, but that didn't change the premise of what he had done. Rainbow had toned down the danger of the Quarrays when she described them to Sonic, but he wasn't mad that he had been put in danger, he was mad that Rainbow Dash had put herself in danger. This guy was like an all-powerful overprotective coltfriend, and he barely even knew Rainbow! She sighed.
"Thanks. For trying to save my life and everything." She looked up at him.
"You're welcome." He turned around and began walking away.
"Hey, wait!" Sonic Stopped. "Where are you going?"
"Didn't you say you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself?"
"Aw, come on! Don't be like that!" She jogged up to him. "Seriously? Not cool!"
Sonic just looked at her. She sighed again.
"Alright, look, if you tell anypony else this I'm going to deny it, but... ever since you got here... I've been trying to impress you. You're this great hero fresh out of another dimension that's on some kind of great quest to get home. That doesn't leave much room for somepony like me." Sonic just stood there for a while. Then finally he gave a mocking smile and raised an eyebrow.
"So, are you trying to impress me because I'm some kind of "hero", or because you're into me." Rainbow's jaw fell slack. Sonic's words had completely blindsided her.
"IIIIIIIII..." Rainbow's cheeks grew red hot. She slumped and her hindquarters hit the ground.
"Ugh, how do you do that?"
"I have my ways." Sonic stretched out a hoof to Rainbow, who looked at him in disbelief.
"You gonna get up or what?"
"Oh, right. " She accepted the hoof and stood up. She took a good look at the colt that had helped her. He somehow seemed completely at ease. Then an idea entered her mind. A horribly wonderful idea. She sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time. Whatever. Might as well go all the way, seeing the situation.
"So, hey, uhh... do you happen to be free to-"
"Hey!" They turned to see Cloudkicker flying towards them. Right, the pegasus scouts. "What are you two doing just standing here? Are you guys hurt?"
"Nope!" Sonic replied cheerily.
"Well, is the race still on?" Sonic turned to Rainbow.
"Is it?"
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. "Uh... yeah. It is." Sonic grinned and turned to Cloudkicker.
"Yep!"
They both faced forwards and crouched; ready to restart.
"Oh, and by the way." Sonic turned to Rainbow. "I am free tomorrow, as far as I know." He grinned wildly. Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat.
"Wait, you mean we're going on a-" Her heart attack was interrupted by Cloudkicker behind them.
"3-2-1 GO!"
And then they both took off to finish the race.
. . . . .
The ponies gathered in the town square cheered wildly to see Sonic and Rainbow Dash tie as they crossed the finish line. The race that was originally supposed to take no longer than eight minutes took nearly fifteen. Twilight kept questioning why the two were taking so long, but Shadow assured her that nothing was wrong. After the initial celebration at the end of the race, Twilight attempted to ask Rainbow what held them up for a solid seven minutes, but right when she did Sonic appeared seemingly out of nowhere and asked "So, Rainbow, where are we going tomorrow?" Rainbow just told Twilight that she'd explain later and then turned around to face Sonic, apparently then completely unaware of the Princess of Friendship's existence.
After the crowd had thinned out, our friends headed to Sugarcube Corner to reflect on the day that had passed. Rarity nearly lost it when Sonic and Rainbow Dash revealed that they had a date tomorrow, demanding that she help get Rainbow Dash ready for the occasion. Eventually the sun fell below the horizon, and the friends left Sugarcube together. Twilight and Tails were optimistic about the map, but time could only tell if their loose plan if would work. Twilight just so happened to end up beside Shadow as the group walked home.
"I'm surprised they tied," Twilight said nonchalantly, unconsciously ruffling her wings.
"I can't really say that I am."
"Why not?"
"Isn't it obvious? They wanted to."
Twilight though it over. It made sense that they would want to tie considering the talk that Rainbow described in the middle of the race. But it just seemed so coordinated.
"It didn't seem staged..." Shadow laughed at this, bringing a smile to Twilight's face.
"You have to remember, neither one of them are new to that kind of competition." Twilight thought about that for a moment, then let the matter drop.
"I'm sorry we didn't finish the machine. Even though in hindsight it probably wouldn't have worked anyway." Her ears drooped. "I know how bad you want to get home."
"It's fine. I'm sorry for being so rude as to demand you do nothing but work today." Shadow huffed. "This world isn't nearly as bad as I had made it out to be."
Shadow's last sentence had filled Twilight with hope, and it had put a thought in her head. No, an idea. And idea she couldn't help but put into action.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"I'd like you to keep an open mind..." Shadow looked her, his face perplexed. She turned away and released a big huff of air before turning back to him.
"So..." She chuckled nervously. "Are you free tomorrow?"
It had been a hard 24 hours for Dr. Eggman. He used his hoof to wipe away the sweat that was collecting on his forehead. He couldn't make sense of it. Why had his anatomy changed? Why was he a blasted horse? Of course, that was only one of the many questions dominating his thoughts.
Eggman once again scanned his surroundings. He was in a cave. An apparently giant cave. 24 hours he had spent trying to find a way out. After, of course, he recovered from the shock of being a new species. Despite the unfortunate circumstance, however, he refused to give up. He had survived far worse, and he would survive this, as well. As he continued to move forward, his thoughts shifted to the video feed that his master computer showed right before Eggman was whisked away to this forsaken new universe. Eggman knew what he saw. A horse. A light violet horse with a long, flowing mane walking across a grassy landscape. But why? why would he morph into what was apparently this world's native species? True, as a human he had already been part of earth's species during his last Emerald-portal fiasco, but Sonic and his gang of goons hadn't changed either.
"Those blasted Emeralds!" The doctor spat. It had been a hard and rather awkward experience, getting used to his new body, especially when it was in the dark, thanks to the fact he was transported into the heart of a giant cave network. When his eyes did adjust and he found a large, flat-surface crystalline rock to show his reflection, the change was even more startling.
He was dark red in color, similar to the color of the red jacket he wore back in his world. He was bald, but sported a large mustache. At least that hadn't changed. He still had his glasses, somehow, but they were tucked on his forehead so they wouldn't darken his vision any further in the dim cave. His mustache was the same color of brown that it had always been, as was his tail, and his eyes were brown as well. And on both sides of his flank was a mark he knew all too well; a depiction of dark glasses, an ominous smile, a large nose, and his mustache; Eggman's signature symbol for the Eggman/Robotnik Empire.
The doctor's thoughts were interrupted by something in the distance. His heart soared at the sight. Light. After a solid day of trekking through this network of tunnels, he had found the end. He attempted to run, but ended up falling on his face after a few strides. Four legs instead of two now, right.
With a grumble, Eggman got back up on all four hooves and paced as quickly as he could without running towards the exit. Once he reached it, he was temporarily blinded by the sudden surplus of light. Once his eyes adjusted, he shivered. He was on a mountain, and there was snow everywhere. On the bright side, there was a clear and distinct snow-covered road that lead away from the cave entrance. It wrapped around the mountain and then disappeared from Eggman's line of sight. He sighed and used his hoof to place his glasses back in front of his eyes. His body desperately wanted to rest, but there was no way Eggman was staying on this freezing mountaintop any longer than he had to.
. . . . .
Eggman felt relief flood over him once he finally reached the bottom of the mountain, even though what stretched before him seemed to be nothing more than a barren desert with a canyon in the distance. The walk down the mountain had given him more time to think. The Chaos Emeralds must be here if he was, but if he was here, Sonic and company must have been transported as well. All Eggman needed was another race for the Emeralds in another unfamiliar world. He honestly didn't care at the moment whether or not this world was worth ruling. He just wanted to get home.
Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. Surely, Sonic and his idiot friends were trying to collect the Emeralds to return home, as well? Maybe a partnership was in order? Eggman thought for a moment longer. No, Sonic would never willingly bring Eggman back to their world. He knew the doctor too well. Eggman counted himself lucky Sonic wasn't transported anywhere near him in the caves. If he was going to get home, Eggman would have to do it on his own. Once again, against Sonic the Hedgehog... or, hedgehorse, more likely.
Eggman began traversing the sands. He had to find water soon. Or, he thought to himself; just because aligning himself with Sonic wasn't an option, that didn't mean he had to operate alone. Surely he could find someone to work with him, assuming this world's population of ponies was intelligent.
He was stopped by something he saw in the distance. He removed his glasses and squinted to try and make it out. After walking closer, he realized with pure joy that they were buildings. Eggman sprinted, forgetting all about his exhaustion and thirst.
. . . . .
"So what brought you all the way out here?" said Double Diamond, watching Eggman drain his third glass of water, which he oddly held between two hooves.
After he finished, Eggman set the glass down and looked at the white pony. "I was just out on a... hiking trip. I got a little lost, is all." Eggman added a smile that was a little bit too wide, made slightly more creepy by his giant mustache.
Sugar Belle cleared her throat. "Well, you certainly seem tired Mr..." The four ponies across from Eggman; Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and Party Favor all started at him. He gulped.
He hadn't told them his name yet. With the risk of Sonic and friends being in this world with him, telling them his real name was a serious risk, a risk he wouldn't take. But what name should he give. These ponies seemed just as intelligent as the human populous on earth. That was good. Very good. The possibility of him finding help for his plans was now very plausible. But he had to focus on the matter at hand. His brain suddenly lit up like a light bulb.
"Gerald," Eggman said as politely as he could. "Mr. Gerald."
Sugar Belle nodded. "Wow, that sure is an interesting name..." Eggman gulped. Giving them his grandfather's name seemed like common sense. Eggman quickly corrected himself.
"Although friends call me Red Groom." he would kick himself for that name later, but it seemed closer to the namesakes of the ponies in front of them. they looked at each other and shrugged. Sugar Belle started again.
'Well Mister... Groom, you can stay in one of our village's empty cottages if you like. There's a train about half a mile south that can take you back to the less remote parts of Equestria.
'Equestria?' Eggman thought. 'How quaint.'
"Well I'd hate to be a burden..." Eggman started.
"No problem!" Double Diamond's enthusiasm was blatantly obvious. "In fact, we won't take no for an answer! Stay as long as you like!"
The others nodded, and the doctor gave a smile that seemed a whole lot more genuine than the other so far.
"Well if you insist... and, if you don't mind, of course, I would love to hear the story of this quaint little village. If... or, since this place is so far from the population, how did you all get here?"
The ponies around him seemingly wilted. Eggman backreeled. "Of course, if you'd rather not..."
"No, it's fine." The black winged pony known as Night Glider was the first to look up at him. "We were originally tricked into coming here... by an awful pony."
Though he didn't show it, this excited Eggman.
"And who is this, per say, awful pony?"
This lead into the story of Starlight Glimmer. The story of how she tricked them into giving up their cutie marks, which was apparently what they called the images on their hindquarters. How she stripped them of their individuality to force her perverted version of Equality, and how six ponies came and helped stop and drive her off. Eggman listened intently. If this Starlight Glimmer was still out there, he knew exactly who he wanted for a partner. Eggman would use his time in this village wisely. If he couldn't find a way back home, then this world would fall to him, in all of his now-ponified glory. In all honesty, he thought, it was probably going to fall to him no matter what happened.
. . . . .
Shadow eyed the menu he held in his magic critically, one eyebrow raised high. Twilight was practically sweating due to the expression, but Sonic and Rainbow Dash looked completely at ease. Rarity was the one who suggested the two individual dates planned for today became one, grand double-date at Ponyville's only fancy restaurant. So now Sonic and Shadow were sitting next to each other, facing away from Rainbow and Twilight. A little odd, as far as double dates went, but nobody complained. Honestly, Twilight didn't even know if Shadow even considered this a date.
"You ponies are obviously very fond of oats..." Shadow continued eyeing the menu. Twilight gulped. She thought about the family of hedgehogs in Fluttershy's cottage. They liked oats, didn't they? Although it seemed obvious to her that Sonic and Shadow were a very different kind of hedgehog.
"Well, yes," Twilight answered. "But there are a lot of options other than oats..."
"I can see that." Shadow finally set down his menu. Sonic chimed in.
"Well, you can't go wrong with fried potatoes and a salad!" Sonic nudged his friend. "But I'm sure since we're ponies now, we'll like whatever they do."
Shadow looked over at Twilight. "What are you ordering."
"A daffodil sandwich."
Shadow's face became puzzled. "A flower sandwich?"
Twilight's heart skipped a beat. "Is that... strange to you?"
"Somewhat, I'll admit." Shadow averted his gaze to the menu cover. "I suppose I'll just have whatever you're having, Sonic."
Rainbow looked at Twilight and facehoofed quietly. "Will you excuse us for the moment? We need to use the little fillies' room." She grabbed Twilight by the hoof and began to pull her out of her seat. Twilight looked back in confusion. "We do?"
"We do," Rainbow said sternly. Sonic and Shadow watched as the two disappeared into the restroom. Shadow sighed and covered his face with his forehoof.
"This was a terrible idea."
"What do you mean by that?"
"This is obviously supposed to be a romantic outing, although it hasn't been so far. We're planning on leaving soon and never coming back. Why are we here? Shouldn't we be looking for the doctor or the Emeralds?"
"Aw, come on, Shadow. They asked us nicely." Sonic winked, but Shadow's gaze remained firm. Sonic's tone became more serious.
"Even if we get the Emeralds, we don't even know how we're going to get back yet. Besides, when Twilight asked you, you could've said no. Why didn't you?"
Shadow stared at the table, brow furrowed. "I don't know."
Sonic snickered. "Looks like someone has a crush." The glare he received from Shadow didn't even faze him.
"Aw, come on, tell me I'm wrong."
"Tell me then, why did you say yes to Rainbow Dash?"
"She asked nicely." Sonic gave a smug grin. "Besides, she likes racing and she's cute for a pony. Kinda sounds like my type."
Shadow smirked. "And what will Amy think of this?"
Sonic's smile disappeared and was replaced by a glare. "Don't go there. Amy and I are not a thing."
Shadow chuckled and relaxed into his chair. "Obviously not."
. . . . .
"Why the hay did you do that?" Twilight exclaimed after making sure they were alone in the restroom.
"Because you were freaking out!" Rainbow stared down her friend. "You've got to be a bit more calm, Twi. You're sweating buckets in front of the stallion you're supposed to be on a date with!"
Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but instead her face fell and her hindquarters hit the ground. "It doesn't feel like a date."
"That's because you're just sitting there like a scared little filly!" Twilight glared up at Rainbow Dash angrily.
"Well how are you so calm with Sonic?"
Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno. I just am, I guess." The sadness returned to Twilight's face. "Look, Twi, you gotta talk to the guy. He agreed to the date, right?"
Twilight looked up. "Right..."
"Then stop being scared! I'll help you if you need it, but don't just sit there and do nothing!"
Twilight thought about it for a minute, then smiled and got back on her hooves. Rainbow returned the smile eagerly and gave her friend a quick hug.
"Alright!" She said as she pulled away. "Now let's not keep them waiting!"
Rainbow winked, and Twilight giggled as she followed her friend out the door.
Eggman took another sip out of his bottle of Apple Cider as he nonchalantly stared out of the window on the train. He was amazed at how used to his pony body he already was after only two days in the village. A testament to this was how he was able to hold his bottle with only one hoof. Although he probably wouldn't outright admit it, he was strangely captivated by Equestria's scenery, even in the night.
On one side of the train was a flowing river, which was dotted with steep rocks that poked up and created thin trails of foamy rapids. On the other side was a lush forest, although a road separated it from the tracks. And every so often, Eggman could see a small house nestled into the edge of trees.
Eggman stared up through the window at the bright full moon. According to his research and his numerous discussions with the village ponies (thank goodness the village had a sizable library), Equestria was ruled by two Princesses that had the magical abilities to raise the very sun and moon. Eggman's brow furrowed. Unicorn magic was something he was truly puzzled by. Was it truly magic? Surely not, there was no such thing... In his world at least. And how did these Princesses handle managing the very cycle of day and night? Eggman shook the thoughts away and focused back on the matter at hand... or hoof. He had to become as fluent in Equestrian slang as possible. If deities powerful enough to move solar bodies were in control of this world, he would have to be careful, at least for now. No matter how powerful these Princesses Celestia and Luna were, there was no way they would ever be a match for the seven Chaos Emeralds. After all, he had used their power to destroy a moon once, and he didn't even have all of them at the time.
The doctor also knew that there were two more princesses in Equestria. The Crystal Princess Cadence, who ruled the Crystal Empire in the far north and therefore shouldn't be a problem for a good while, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. Eggman shook his head. What world needed a royal figure on friendship? At first he supposed the title referred to someone who kept the peace between cities or nations, or perhaps someone who welcomed dignitaries. But, no. Princess Twilight was in charge of spreading literal friendship. It seemed the more Eggman researched this world, the less he understood about it.
But Twilight's job wasn't what worried Eggman. What worried him was Twilight's location. Her castle was in the same place that his train was heading. Ponyville. Of course, in a way, that's why he was heading there in the first place. His thoughts shifted back to the Starlight Glimmer character he was chasing. He knew what kind of person (or pony) she was. The village's previous state was her idea of perfection, and it was ruined. She would want revenge. And since she couldn't go back to her ruined village, where would she go? It was so easy to see. She would keep her enemies close. She would hide in Ponyville in plain sight, waiting for the right opportunity; an opportunity that he would give her.
It was almost certain that Starlight would be in Ponyville, but how exactly to find her was another matter. She would obviously have to be connected to somebody (somepony, blast it!), but who? Eggman wasn't exactly sure how he could uncover her system, but he had a few ideas. But he needed her. Someone who could build something out of nothing, who could trick an entire populous, then disappear like smoke while never really having left at all? That was exactly who the doctor needed to make his plans a reality. As an added bonus, she would know every detail of Equestria and would have unicorn magic, something Eggman needed but lacked himself. From what he studied of magic, Eggman could safely assume that stealing a cutie mark was no easy magical feat. But he would have to act fast. No doubt Sonic was already hunting the Emeralds, and he had a few days' head start. As the train rolled on into the night, Eggman took another sip of cider, sank into his chair, and closed his eyes in an attempt to get what sleep he could before his pony-hunt began.
. . . . .
Knuckles wiped the sweat off his forehead as he continued towards the barn, the large apple bushels in the baskets at his sides seemingly glowing in the harsh sunlight. Applejack laughed beside him, carrying almost as many apples as he was.
"Hard work, ain't it?" Applejack playfully bumped into him and smiled. Knuckles nodded.
"Not that I'm not used to work, but I didn't think it would take this many trips for just that one patch of trees."
"Well, ah promise that this here's the last one." Applejack winked. "Thanks again fer helpin' me today."
Knuckles nodded. "No problem."
Once inside the barn, the two dumped their apples into a large trough and unlatched their apple-collecting baskets. Knuckles bowed down and stretched out, his back popping in the process. "Didn't you say you had a brother?" Knuckles asked after he was firmly back on four hooves. "He usually helps you with this stuff, right?"
"Yep, and he would've been helpin' me today, but he's over in Baltimare. We're seein' if we can pitch some of our Apple Family apples to their Farmers' Market." She picked up an apple and threw it to Knuckles, who caught it perfectly in the crook of his foreleg.
"Thanks," he said promptly before taking a massive bite out of it.
"Too bad, too. From the way you were workin' out there today, I'd say you're one the few ponies I've seen who can maybe take him in a hoof wrassle." Applejack chuckled. "That'd be fun to watch."
"Well unless he can split boulders or climb walls, I don't think he stands much of a chance." Knuckles took the last bite of his apple and threw the core into the pig feeding trough across the barn. Applejack looked down at his legs.
"So is that what them metal hoof plates are for?"
Knuckles followed her gaze and picked up his foreleg to stare at his shiny metal hoof. He sighed.
"Pretty sure they're not hoof plates, AJ." He looked up and gave a lopsided smile. "All natural as far as I can tell. Let's just say I've always had pretty hard fists... and hooves too apparently."
Applejack stared for a few moments longer, then shrugged. "Well, alright then."
The short silence was suddenly interrupted by an odd sound. A sound that Applejack recognized. She turned to look at her flank, and saw exactly what she expected. Her cutie mark was glowing and pulsating. The map was summoning her.
"What the heck?" Applejack turned to see Knuckles staring at his own flank. She followed his eyes to his cutie mark and gasped. His giant green gemstone cutie mark was pulsating, too. He was being summoned as well. Knuckles turned to her with mild concern in his eyes.
"Should I be... worried about this?"
Applejack snapped her jaw shut. "Uhh... maybe?" When Knuckles just stared at her in response, Applejack cleared her throat. "Look, I'll explain later. Right now, you just need to come with me." With that, she turned and dashed out of the barn.
"Hey, wait a second!" Knuckles watched as she took off and, with an annoyed sigh, galloped after her.
. . . . .
Knuckles and Applejack were seemingly the last ones that arrived to the throne room, where the map was lit up, showing a large group of cutie marks hovering over the city of Manehattan. The cutie marks belonging to Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie made a large circulating ring over the city's shopping district. But inside that ring was a ring of five more cutie marks: Sonic's blue fireball, Shadow's ominous red symbol, Tails' crossed wrenches and golden ring, Knuckles' giant green Master Emerald, and Silver's turquoise current. They were rotating counter clockwise while the Mane 6's marks rotated clockwise around them. The room was filled with the sound of a monotone noise emitting from eleven different flanks. Everypony stared at the map until Applejack finally broke the silence.
"Twilight, what's goin' on?"
"It's the Chaos Emeralds." Sonic was staring at the marks more intently than anyone else. "It has to be."
"We can't be sure." Twilight stared at the map with a thoroughly puzzled expression. "I just don't understand. Why is it summoning all of us? The map is supposed to only be connected to me and and the girls, so why is it summoning you all?"
"If I understand correctly, haven't Tails and Silver been experimenting on your table?" Eleven faces turned to Shadow. "Could that have anything to do with it?"
"Uhhh, maybe?" Tails opened his mouth further to probably give some sort of bogus scientific analysis, but Spike cut him off.
"Why are you guys even talking about this? If one of those Chaos Emeralds are there, then this is exactly what we need. Can't you ask questions about the map later?" Meshed conversations rose up in reply, until Twilight cleared her throat.
"Whatever's happening, if the Map says it's important, we have to go." She looked at the ten ponies looking at her. "All of us."
Sonic gave his trademark confident grin. "So how do we get to this... Manehattan? Do I need to carry you guys?"
"The train, of course." Rarity clapped her hooves excitedly. "This will be so fun! A nice road trip with all our new friends!"
Silver cleared his throat. "I think there's something we're all forgetting. We all agreed that it's a very real possibility, if not guaranteed that Eggman is here, too, right?"
The mood in the throne room shifted dramatically. Sonic turned his gaze towards Twilight.
"If there's any chance Eggman's going to be a part of this, then no offense, but I don't know if I want you and your friends involved. We owe you for what you've done so far, and for volunteering to help us to locate to Emeralds, but we need to be the ones to retrieve them. This is our fight." Sonic gave an apologetic look to Rainbow Dash, who was standing beside him. "That means you, too, Dash."
Rainbow Dash stared at him for a moment in shock, then in anger. "What? Hay, no! The map says we should all go! I don't care how bad this egg guy is, we can handle it! We've handled worse!"
"He won't hesitate to kill you." Shadow's tone was dead serious. All eyes turned to him. "You being our allies will be plenty reason enough. We don't know what medium he'll use in this world to get what he wants, but if he's here, we can assume he's already well on his way."
"For now we're assuming he's here." Sonic turned to Twilight once more. "Listen, helping us find where the Emeralds are was one thing but... we can't ask this of y-"
"You don't have to. This may be your fight, but it's our home." Twilight stamped her hoof down and held her head high. "It's our responsibility to help protect Equestria. Which reminds me. Spike, take a letter."
Spike somehow already had a blank piece of parchment and a quill in his hand. "Sure thing! Who to?"
"Princess Celestia. Inform her that the map has possibly revealed the location of one of Sonic's world's Chaos Emeralds or the location of Dr. Eggman." Spike furiously scribbled the letter down. Sonic sighed lightly in defeat.
"I hope you guys know what you're doing..."
"We do." Twilight glanced down at Spike, who smiled expectantly.
"Anything else?"
"Nope."
At this, Spike rolled up the scroll and breathed a light gout of green fire onto it. The scroll disappeared into smoke and traveled out through the throne room doors. Sonic and his friends stared awe. Spike's chest visibly puffed out in pride.
"Let me guess," Tails asked in a quizzing voice. "Magic?"
"Yep!" Tails raised an eyebrow at Spike, then smiled wryly.
"Ya know, I know you've told me about everything you know on how magic works Twilight, but I still don't totally understand it. Spike, is there any way you would be interest-"
Sonic cut him off. "No experimenting on anyone, Tails." Tails lowered his head and stuck out his lip in a demeanor similar to a pouting filly.
"Fine."
"Well, I believe that settles it!" Rarity began trotting off towards the exit. "If you'll all excuse me, I have a lot of packing to do!"
Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Rarity's retreating form. "Lots of packing? How long are we planning on being there?"
Applejack chuckled "That's just Rarity."
Knuckles looked over at Twilight, his big, muscular form towering over the crystal table. "Who's paying for the train tickets? You've paid for pretty much everything we've needed so far, and I don't want to drain your pockets anymore if I can help it."
Applejack nudged him. "Is that why you've been goin' out of yer way to help everypony? You're guilty that we're spendin' bits on ya?"
Knuckles looked away. "No... I'm just... a helpful guy..."
Twilight laughed. "Don't worry about the train tickets, Knuckles. As the Princess of Friendship, my friends and I can ride the train anywhere free of charge. And we can bring as many guests as we want."
"Oh. Well that helps."
Applejack laughed and nudged Knuckles again. "Tell ya what, Knux, if you don't want us buying stuff for ya, you can work at Sweet Apple Acres. We could always use another farmhoof."
Knuckles stared at her. "Uhhh... sure... I guess."
Applejack nodded and started for the exit. The rest of the group began to follow suit. Rainbow socked Sonic in the shoulder.
"Hey! Dash, what was that f-"
"Stop being overprotective!" She quickly turned away from, her tail flicking his nose in the process. "We've only been on two dates!" She huffed and started walking away from him, but it took Sonic less than a second to run around her and block her path, putting a hoof against her chest.
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry." His gaze softened and he lowered his hoof. "I just don't want anybody hurt... especially you. You guys didn't ask for this." Rainbow's expression softened. She wanted to be angry at Sonic, but she just couldn't be.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure we all actually want to go. And we've handled stuff like this before." She tossed her mane as she sidestepped past him. "Now I'll see you on the train."
Sonic slapped his hoof against his forehead. "What have I gotten myself into," he mumbled quietly. But when his eyes opened again, he gave a small, playful smile and stormed his way out of the castle, the turbulence of his sudden sprint nearly taking Rainbow Dash off her hooves when he passed her. She stared after him in shock.
"Hey!" Her wings picked her up off the ground and she dashed after him, a prominent smile on her face.
Twilight laughed. Those two were something to watch.
"This could be dangerous." Shadow approached Twilight cautiously. They were now the only ones in the room. "We don't know what the good doctor has in store."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "We don't even know if he's there. We don't even know if your Emerald is there. I'm sure it'll be fine."
Shadow closed his eyes and turned to leave. "I hope you're right."
Twilight watched him retreat towards the castle exit. Her head sank a little. Sonic and Rainbow Dash had gotten together for a second date after the double date at the restaurant, but her and Shadow hadn't. Their first date had gone exceedingly better after Rainbow Dash drug her away and told her to stop being a scared little filly, but apparently it hadn't gone well enough to commend an encore. She was too nervous to ask.
Her ears drooped. She was the Princess of Friendship. Did she even have time for a relationship? And why was she so interested in one with Shadow? She wasn't entirely convinced he was interested in a relationship with her! At least, he hadn't made his interest very apparent. Although she didn't want to admit it, she had been doing her best to avoid him as of late. She just didn't know what to say. She shook her head. He was leaving eventually, anyway. To another world, another universe, even. It wasn't meant to be, he was probably just too nice to tell her that. She looked up and trotted after him, stopping him right before he got past the throne room's doorway.
"Shadow?" He paused and turned his head.
"Hm?"
"I... I'm sorry." Her head dropped towards the floor.
Shadow turned around to face her. His expression seemed mildly concerned. "About what?"
"About asking you on a date. It was wrong... ridiculous even. You're about to leave... to go home. I know you've been trying to spare my feelings, and I appreciate it, but... I know this is a bad idea." Shadow just looked at her, his face as emotionless as ever. she sighed. "So... I'm sorry."
She waited, continually staring at Shadow, waiting to see a sign of emotion. Any emotion at all. She dropped her head again. Just as she was about to turn around to head to her room to pack for the train ride, Shadow laughed. Twilight ears perked and she looked up, but before she could react, Shadow planted a quick peck on her cheek.
She froze, her brain needing time to process what just happened. Once it did, she could feel her face heating up. "Iiiiiuuhhhhh..."
"You're right," Shadow said with a smug smile on his face. "This is an absolutely horrible idea. Doesn't mean I care, though. As long as you don't."
"Uh, I... huh?" Twilight felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Shadow laughed again.
"I'll take that as a no." Hazy orange magic enveloped Shadow's horn as well as his hooves, and Twilight watched as he levitated about an inch off the ground. He turned and began sweeping his hooves in a skating motion, blurring away from her vision in seconds. She probably should've been impressed, but her mind was still focused on the fact that Shadow had kissed her. Her cheek, anyway.
Eventually, utter confusion gave way to grinning like an idiot. She flapped her wings happily and began trotting off to her room, smiling and humming all the way. Spike intercepted her in the hallway, carrying a small rolling bag. He raised an eyebrow.
"Somepony sure is happy." he said as he dragged his suitcase towards the exit.
"Oh, you have no idea," she said quietly.
. . . . .
Eggman scanned the scenery around him. Ponyville was a nice little town, filled with small houses, friendly ponies, and a towering crystal castle that held its Princess. Eggman's ear twisted in the direction of the sound of a train whistle. The last train of the day was departing. He looked up at the sky. The sun was getting close to the horizon. He figured he had about an hour and a half of daylight left. And he was intent on using it wisely. He was sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe, sipping a cup of black coffee and eating a pastry. The train ride had left him famished. The village ponies had given him some bits (which was apparently this world's currency) for the train ride and enough for some food and a few nights at an inn. He would have to make it last. He looked down at his plate and furrowed his brow. There was no time for this. He stuffed the rest of the pastry into his mouth and began to stand up.
"That's quite an impressive mustache you've got there, mister." a friendly male voice stopped the doctor in his tracks. He turned to look at its source.
"My name's Caramel. You must be new here." He was an earth pony. His coat was a light brown and his thick mane was a dark chestnut. Three blue horseshoes made up his cutie mark, and he was wearing what must have been the most sincere smile the doctor had ever seen, pony or otherwise. Eggman quickly swallowed and politely smiled back. This was exactly what he needed.
"Why, thank you good sir!" Eggman sat back down and motioned to the chair across from him. "Please, sit down, if you don't mind."
Caramel gave him a puzzled look. "Are you sure? You looked like you were just leaving."
Eggman shook his head. "Just stretching the old legs."
"Well, alright." Caramel took the seat and flagged a waiter down. "I'll have a hot tea and an oatcake, if you please." The waiter nodded, scribbled down his order, and walked off. Caramel turned his attention back to Eggman. "And who are you, if I may ask."
"Red Groom." He hated the name, but it had worked so far. Caramel nodded.
"I know I definitely haven't seen you around before. What brings you to Ponyville?"
"Oh, just a little traveling. Actually, I'm looking for a place to maybe settle down. How long have you lived here?"
"All my life. Thank you." The waiter set down Caramel's tea and cake. Eggman laughed inside his head. His pony-hunt had officially begun.
"So, Caramel, does this town get many visitors?"
Caramel took a sip of his tea. "Other than visiting family members, not really."
"Who, dare I ask, was the last visitor to this town?"
Caramel froze right before he took a bit out of his cake. "Why do you want to know that?"
"Well... if I'm going to potentially live in this town I want to know what kind of ponies visit here."
Caramel mulled this over for a moment, then shrugged. "There are whole bunch of new ponies that have come to town, actually. They've only been here for few days. I know one of em's named Sonic or something of the like."
Eggman nearly choked on air. Sonic was here? In Ponyville? He quickly glanced around him, then back to Caramel. "What does this Sonic look like?" The doctor's suddenly harsh tone made Caramel's ears fold back. Eggman straightened himself. "Sorry, I just... believe I may know who you're referring to."
"Well, uh... he's a wild-looking guy. Earth pony. Blue coat, big, dark blue mane..."
"Is he..." Eggman hesitated. "Fast?"
Caramel threw his forelegs into the air. "Fast? He moves like a ghost! I've never seen anything like it! How can an earth pony do that? Do you know he does it?"
Eggman clenched his teeth. "I'm afraid not."
"Oh." Caramel's face fell. The doctor cleared his throat.
"You said there were more here in town with him?"
Caramel nodded. "Yeah, all stallions. A big red earth pony, a dark and a silver unicorn, and a yellow pegasus. I heard they were staying at Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle. They sure must be important if that's the case. I even saw them get on a train with Princess Twilight and her friends just a few min-"
"They're what?"
Caramel flinched away. "Whoa, what did I say?"
"N-nothing!" Oh, no. Sonic and his idiot friends were in league with a Princess? If that was the case, There was now a huge possibility that Equestria's government was aware of his potential existence. He was in danger. Finding a partner was no longer preferable. It was mandatory. At least if Sonic was on a train, that meant he wasn't here.
"W-what other tourists have come here recently?"
"U-uh... nopony I've noticed... except maybe a mare that moved to town about a month ago..."
"What mare? Do you know where she lives?"
Caramel eyed him with a nervous expression. "Uhh, I don't know if I should tell you that..."
"Can you just... describe her to me."
"Well... she's a unicorn. Light brown coat, purple hair, works at the flower shop..."
"Her name?"
"I think... she said her name was Honey Shine?"
"That's my sister!" Eggman couldn't hide the giant smile that stretched across his face. "Please, you have to tell me where she is!"
. . . . .
It was amazing to Twilight how much everypony had seemed to bond in between their two separate groups. They were in the very back of the train, Luna's moon and small, glowing lights in the ceiling teaming up to light the small seating car. Sonic, Tails, Spike, Knuckles, and Applejack sat in a rounded booth in one corner, engaged in a game of cards. Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Sonic, leaning against the stallion with her face in a Daring Do book. In the other corner booth, Rarity was striking up a conversation with Silver, explaining to him what made Manehattan a "wonderful paradise of fashion and opportunity." Fluttershy and Pinkie sat next to them, engaged in their own conversation. Twilight was sitting between the two corners, right next to Shadow. And right then, there was no place she would rather have been. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed.
"You know you're going to have to go home eventually, right?"
Shadow wrapped his foreleg around her. "Yes." She could feel him smile. "I'll just enjoy this in the meantime."
"What changed your mind?" Twilight leaned away to look up at him. He pulled his foreleg back and shrugged.
"I had time to think. I agreed to go on that date because I knew you were interested in me, but I was so caught up thinking about my home that I didn't consider if I was interested in you."
Twilight weighed his answer. "What about... Maria?" Twilight could see that she struck a nerve. Shadow's face hardened. "I know you loved her Shadow. I'm... sorry."
"I did. But I've kept her final wish. I protected the people of earth, then the people of Sonic's home world, and now I'll help protect your home until we can get back to ours." His gaze went somewhere far away. "I have... to assume she would want me to be happy."
Twilight's gaze fell. "But... why me?"
"Because you care." Twilight stared at him. "You knew I was different. One of the first things you learned about my existence was that I was created in a laboratory by the grandfather of the man who we're trying to protect you from. That I tried to destroy an entire planet. A planet with millions of lives... but you just... brushed it off. At first I thought it because you pitied me." He smiled. "I'm guessing now that it was something a bit more."
Twilight smiled back. "Well... experiment or not, I think you're amazing."
Shadow smiled again, raising an eyebrow as well. "How about not just an experiment, but a weapon?"
"Doesn't change anything." Shadow wrapped his foreleg around her again and she happily nestled up to him. She could get used to this. She wished it could last forever. Applejack threw down her hoof of cards while everyone in the booth around her, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, groaned in unison.
"Woohoo! Ah win!" Everypony dropped their cards and laughed.
"I call bogus." Tails turned to Sonic. "So what if an Emerald is in this city? What do we do?"
Sonic wrapped his foreleg around Rainbow, who shifted to get more comfortable. "We get it and bring it home before Egghead can touch it. Then you and Twilight get cracking on that machine again so we can find the rest of em'."
Rainbow looked up from her book and stole a glance at Twilight nestled against Shadow. She gave a her a wink and then promptly brought the book back up to her face. Twilight tried not to blush. Sonic nudged Tails with his foreleg and then pointed his head in Fluttershy's direction. Tails' eyes went wide. He turned to Sonic and shook his lightly. Sonic raised an eyebrow, then took a deep breath and opened his mouth as if he was about to yell something. Tails elbowed Sonic in the ribs right before he could get it out though, and then sighed.
"Hey, Fluttershy?" The cream-yellow pegasus in question turned towards him. "Want to sit over here? There's room for one more."
"Uhh..." Fluttershy's ears fell back and she rubbed her foreleg. She turned to Pinkie, who smiled ecstatically and all but shoved the poor mare out of her seat. Fluttershy squeaked, but stood up and began walking over to the other booth.
"That was totally evil," said Rainbow Dash to Sonic without looking from her book.
"Yeah, I know." He nestled his head on top of hers.
Twilight smiled contently. Fluttershy sat beside Tails and attempted to make small talk. Although it might have seemed awkward to some, the light smile that crossed Fluttershy's face when she looked away from Tails told Twilight otherwise. She glanced around the train car. Knuckles and Applejack were conversing, as were Pinkie, Rarity, and Silver. Spike was out cold, and while Sonic and Rainbow Dash were silent, they looked perhaps the most content out of everypony. She finally closed her eyes and wrapped her hoof around Shadow's midsection. They would arrive in Manehattan by morning, and Twilight was content to stay how she was until that time.
. . . . .
The door to the tiny house made a hideous squeaking noise as the mare stepped inside. She groaned and crossed the cramped living space into the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror. Light brown coat, dark purple hair up in a bun, and a ticked off expression. Her horn lit up with light green magic and she watched as her coat changed color from felt brown to light purple. Her magic then tugged at her mane, releasing it to show the pastel green stripes that were previously concealed. Finally, she wet a towel in the sink and used it to rub the fake image of a glimmering jar of honey from both sides of her flank, revealing the dark purple sparkle and green wisp cutie mark underneath. Starlight Glimmer stared at her reflection and gave a frustrated sigh. She hated Honey Shine. She hated her temporary job as an arranger at the flower shop. She hated this tiny house. She hated Twilight Sparkle, and all of her friends.
She walked out of the bathroom to flop on her bed. She had been spying on the Princess for almost a month, looking for some kind of weakness to prey on, some kind of angle. She wanted Twilight to feel what she had felt. Her village was perfection, and The Princess of Friendship had ruined it. She hadn't destroyed it, no, she had perverted it and put it out of Starlight's reach. Starlight Glimmer wanted to do that to Twilight Sparkle's bonds with her friends. She didn't want to spill any blood, that's not who she was. She wanted to alienate Twilight from her friends, from the world she knew. That was real revenge, but she couldn't find a way to do it. But Starlight wasn't ready to give up. Revenge was all she wanted, and she would have it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She sat up so quick it gave her a small headache. Who could possibly be knocking on her door at this hour? It was almost midnight.
"Coming," she called in her practiced fake Honey Shine voice. She galloped into the bathroom and pulled up her mane as quick as she could. Her magic flared as her coat color changed to light brown once more, and she carefully used makeup to stencil her fake cutie mark as quickly as she could while sill making it look believable.
After about a minute, she trotted out of the bathroom to answer the door, cringing when it squeaked. Standing outside was a somewhat rotund earth stallion, dark red in color with a giant brown mustache, which stood out even more with his bald head. He had a pair of dark glasses on, despite that it was night, and he was smiling wickedly.
"Starlight Glimmer, I presume?" Her heart skipped a beat.
"I... I think you have the wrong house..."
He wasn't fazed. "Oh, I don't think so. I've been to your village. Happy little place, although I was told it wasn't always like that."
Starlight backed away into her house, her gaze hardening. "Wh-what do you want?" The stallion cackled and walked into the house after her. Starlight's horn flared, ready to attack.
"My name is Dr. Robotnik. Believe or not, Miss Glimmer, but this is your lucky day."
Starlight's magic deactivated. "What?"
His smile grew even wider. "I'm going to make you a deal."
