> Sonic Forces: Standing United > by Loveshock > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Stage 1: Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Sonic! Eggman’s forces are surging into the city! We need you here, now!” “Hold on, Tails, I’m on my way!” With the call received, Sonic blasted through Green Hill. He stopped to look at some of Eggman’s new robots. “Nothing worthwhile,” he thought to himself, before knocking them all to the ground in a scatter of bolts and screws. As the city grew nearer, the familiar sights of the place Sonic called his home started to fade. The lush greens around him were replaced with faded tans and yellows. Sonic kicked the ground, and a cloud of sand blew by. “Green Hill’s looking a lot more like Sand Hill right now,” he mentioned, before speeding off towards the city once again. In the city, Eggman had gathered Tails and a group of townsfolk into a corner, keeping them pressured with his Egg Pawns. In a flash of blue light, the blue blur came boosting in, taking out the robots with ease. “Everyone okay?” Sonic asked. “We are thanks to you,” Tails replied. “Cutting it kind of close though, pal.” “Well, yeah, that’s pretty much how I roll. Now let’s finish this, Eggman!” Sonic charged up a Spin Attack and launched it towards the doctor, only to get knocked down, landing right on the ground. “What the…? Before Sonic emerged Shadow the Hedgehog. With him came several of his past formidable foes - Chaos, Zavok, and Metal Sonic. And then, materialized a new face. Or, rather, a new mask - this new creature didn’t seem to expose his face at all. On this creature’s chest was an odd gemstone of sorts. He put his hand to the stone, and before Sonic could even attack, he fell right to the ground, cold. No one else around him noticed a thing. ———————— “Something doesn’t feel quite right,” Sunset quietly said. She had been hanging around the portal to Equestria for about an hour. It was emitting an energy she could feel but couldn’t quite identify, but nevertheless it had her concerned. She put her hand on the sides of the portal. She quickly pulled her hand back. “Ow!” She yelled. “What’s wrong, Sunset?” Twilight asked. She had been working on her homework, while Sunset investigated. “It’s…hot,” she explained. “Not, like, warm-from-the-sun hot. It’s burning hot. Something is up.” Twilight went to touch the portal herself. Like Sunset, she very quickly retracted in an exclamation of pain. “Yeah, that’s definitely not normal,” Twilight added. “Anyways, we should probably let it go for now. It’s getting late.” As much as Sunset hated to admit it, it was already past the time they were supposed to linger on CHS campus. She grabbed her bag, and went on her way. “Talk to you later, Twi,” she called out. “Bye,” Twilight called back. As Sunset walked away, Twilight packed up her own things. But not before making a few notes of her own. “Strange energy, excessive heat, Sunset’s confused,” she wrote down. “There’s no way someone isn’t tampering with it from the other side.” On her walk home, Sunset thought heavily about what was happening. I’ve gotta find out what’s going on, even if it means walking through that unstable portal. This has never happened before, so is an outside force tampering with it? Sunset sent out a text to her friends. This wasn’t an uncommon text to send; she had taken many trips to Equestria, usually lasting a day or two. But she knew she wasn’t going to Equestria, or if she’d really be back in a bit - or even if she’d be back at all. But she did know she was stepping in that portal and getting to the bottom of the the scenario. When she got home, she simply grabbed a quick snack and put her message journal away - she feared bringing it would risk its safety. She made sure to grab her geode before leaving - in case she needed it. And, just like that, Sunset left everything else behind. Armed only with a physical representation of her magic, she went right back to the portal. When she got there, though, she saw six other people. She was really hoping this would go without a hitch, but here they were. All six of her friends. “If you’re going in, we’re going with you!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We’re not letting you risk your life without us!” The rest of the group nodded in agreement. “How did you guys…?” Sunset asked, confused. “Twilight told us all about it, dear,” Rarity responded with her phone in hand. “We weren’t just going to let you go alone, you know.” “No,” Sunset shot down. “It’s not safe. I don’t even know if I’m going to make it back. It’s too dangerous for you to just walk into it.” “Awww,” Pinkie Pie whined. “If you get to, why can’t we?” “This is my portal back home, and I have to make sure that it’s alright. You guys stay here, and keep CHS safe. Without us here to defend, who knows what magic could attack next.” There was a silence, and Sunset looked back to the portal. She slowly walked up to it, before being shoved to the side. “Catch ya on the other side!” Rainbow yelled, before boosting into the portal in a flash. “Rainbow Dash!” The girls called. Sunset quickly followed her in, with the other girls following after. Fluttershy seemed hesitant to step in, before Pinkie grabbed her by the arm and dragged her in with the rest of them. ——————— “Where are we…?” Rainbow Dash looked around. She did not expect to wake up in the streets of a crumbling city, but then again, she really didn’t know what to expect. She made note of her observations. Cracked city streets. Buildings falling apart, rubble all over the ground. “What the heck is that?!” She exclaimed, looking at a giant robot in the distance. It was gray and round, with a bright red eye in the middle. “More like…what the heck are you?” Twilight countered, pointing at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash turned around, getting a glimpse of Twilight. She was most definitely not human. And Rainbow concluded that she too was no longer human. She looked at Twilight. She still retained her regular outfit, but in place of a human head was…something else. Spines, a muzzle, a pointy black nose, and a giant singular eye with two pupils. “Enough about appearances, I’m confused too! Let’s just find the others!” RD told her. “Yeah, good idea,” Twilight replied. Rainbow grabbed her by the hand, and dashed ahead, off to find her missing friends. > Stage 2: Join the Resistance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash and Twilight had started to become familiar with their new forms and the new world they were put in. “Where’s our crystals?” Rainbow asked, looking around, panicked. “Everything else is here, where’d the crystals go?!” “They have to be somewhere,” Twilight replied, calmly. “I can sense them. They’re around us.” “Woah woah woah,” RD interjected. “What do you mean, ‘sense them’?” “I can just…feel them,” replied the scientist, who still kept her composure. “Can you feel the others’, too?” Twilight paused for a moment, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “I sense all seven of them. The first two are here, with us. The other five all seem to be close together, but somewhat far away.” “If our elements are where we are, where could they be? We must’ve dropped ‘em or something, I’ll look for mine,” Rainbow Dash replied. She started running off, only to go way faster than she meant to, a rainbow trailing her - and she was running directly towards a lamppost. “Rainbow Dash! Look out!” The scientist called, putting her hand out. Just like that, RD halted mid-run, a magical force keeping her from moving. “That…was…awesome!” Rainbow yelled, still stuck in Twilight’s purple bubble. “It appears that the portal combined us with our crystals. They’re part of us now, so it seems our powers are permanent - at least in this form.” She put Dash down. Dash came bolting back. “Hop on and hold on! You handle directions, I’ll get us there quick!” Rainbow knelt down, as if to give Twi a piggyback ride. Hesitantly, she climbed onto RD’s back. “I’ll tell you again, in case you missed it - hold on tight!” “I’ll just tell you whether you’re getting warmer or colder,” Twi told her, “unless, of course, you’re going too fast for my voice to catch up.” “Then let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash took off once again, with Twilight holding on for dear life. The two blasted through the worn-down streets and roads, in awe at the flames and destruction. It was unlike anything either of them had seen. It was like a ghost town - there was no one else around, other than the giant robots that loomed over. “Getting warmer!” Twilight yelled. “Just a bit farther! Around that corner!” She pointed to a turn right down the street. “Awesome, we’ll be there in just a second!” “And who might you be?” A deep voice asked from seemingly nowhere. Dash came to a stop. Twilight hopped off and got her bearings, and they both looked around frantically. “Who’s there?” The purple hedgehog cried. “Answer my question first,” the voice called back. “M-My name is Twilight,” the girl replied, her voice shaken with fear and curiosity. “A-And this is my friend, Rainbow Dash. We’re not here to cause trouble, we promise…!” With that, a purple chameleon revealed himself to the two. “I’ve never seen either of you before, but that speed…surely, only matchable by Sonic himself…we could use you.” “H-Huh?!” Rainbow Dash was shocked. “Need me for what? And who are you, again?” “Espio,” the chameleon replied. “I’m with the Resistance. Ever since they took Sonic, we’ve been at a loss. Eggman’s taken the whole world over, and now he has Sonic as his prisoner. We could really use someone like you helping us.” “I-I’ll think about it, but I should probably get back to my own world.” “Oh, are you with those five?” He asked. “They mentioned something about being from another world, as well.” “Yeah, those are probably our friends. Do you know where they are?” Dash asked. “They’re back at Resistance HQ. I’ll bring you to them - if you join our forces.” “If we join them, we may have a better shot at getting home,” Twilight added, trying to get Rainbow to sway. Dash reluctantly sighed. “Fine, I’ll help you, as long as my friends can help too.” “That can be arranged,” the chameleon replied. “Come on, let’s get you two to headquarters.” The trio navigated dark alleys and numerous broken-down buildings before finally arriving at the Resistance’s base. When they arrived, they were greeted by all of Twilight and RD’s friends, only for them to also have been transformed. “These…are our new recruits,” Espio told the Resistance. “They’ve agreed to help us, and if this blue one is of any evidence, they all seem to possess some interesting power.” Mixed in with their friends were some new faces - a big green crocodile, a red echidna, a gray hedgehog, and some other species that they had yet to encounter before. “So, what is this ‘interesting power’, Epsio?” The red one asked. “Why don’t you see for yourself? Rainbow Dash, was it? Could you run a lap or two?” And with that, Dash ran around the HQ a few times with incredible speed, a rainbow trailing behind her once more. “So? What do you think?” Espio asked. “I think we’ve got ourselves a new squad! Allow me to introduce you all, since I don’t believe anyone’s done that yet.” Knuckles talked the crew through names and introductions, before getting interrupted by a call through the Resistance system. “Knuckles, can you read me?” The voice said. “Loud and clear. What is it now? Robot attack in Capital City? Hostage situation?” “…Sonic is alive,” the voice said, with the room gasping in shock. “He’s trapped on the Death Egg in high-security.” There was a quiet cheer throughout the room. A light of hope - their star player was still in the game, and all they had to do was rescue him. Easier said than done when he’s trapped in space. “Thank you for the intel,” Knuckles told the voice, before ending the call. “If we time our attack right, we can hijack a shuttle at the Space Port. Won’t be easy, but we can send in Eagle Squad perhaps…” “No,” Espio shot him down. “This would be a good test for our new members. And besides, as reliable as Eagle Squad, they don’t quite have the firepower to fight off Eggman if he catches wind of the mission.” “Hmmm…you’re right. I know it’s a little early on to be asking, but…you think you can handle this mission?” “There’s nothing we can’t do, as long as we’re together!” Rainbow triumphantly cried. “There is no together on this one, sadly. You need to be as quiet, fast, and discrete as possible. Your friends will help us operate behind the scenes, while we test their abilities. Espio, Vector, and Silver will be your teammates for this one. You need to act quick and quiet. Got it?” The echidna gave Dashie the rundown. After a few hours of preparations and planning, the mission was all set. Given an objective and a team, Rainbow Dash was ready for her first encounter with Eggman and his army. “Good luck out there!” Dash’s friends called to her. “I’ll be back in ten seconds flat, don’t you worry!” With her new team, a new objective, and a new purpose, Rainbow Dash set off to rescue the heroic Sonic the Hedgehog from Dr. Eggman, with her friends behind her to help. However, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and something’s not quite right at Canterlot High… > Stage 3: Chemical Plant - Shuttle Showdown > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “We’re almost there,” Espio said. “Just to run through it again, you and Silver will find the shuttle. Vector and I will create a distraction to buy you as much time as possible.” As the team walked on, they felt the chilled winds of the Space Port blowing through them. “This is where we split up. Good luck team.” The chameleon and his crocodile companion took their own path, leaving Dash and Silver. While Silver was nervous, Rainbow Dash was even more so. Not only was she in a strange new world with an all new body, but she was unaware of her own abilities AND she was tasked with saving a big-time hero for the fate of the world. Even her own confident ego couldn’t withstand the amount of pressure. “Let’s go, we’ve got no time to lose!” Silver said. “Right. Where should we start?” “From what we’ve gathered, we should be able to get to a shuttle a little past the train.” He pointed to a train track, far in the distance. “Got it! Let’s blast aw—“ Silver used his psychokinesis to hold Dash in place. “Shhh! Do you hear that?” The girl listened, and Silver confirmed what she thought. “Robots! Egg Pawns, to be exact. We’ll have to fend em off.” Silver put Rainbow Dash down, and looked around. Soon, an army of Egg Pawns landed right from the sky, like they had been dropped off. “What the…? Where’d those come from?!” Surprised and startled, Rainbow Dash bolted towards the robots, only to realize she had no idea what she was doing. She hadn’t any methods of attack, other than her fists and speed, but that wasn’t much. She got closer and closer to the enemy, before letting her instincts take over. Out of pure instinct, she curled up into a ball and started spinning rapidly, slamming herself into a robot, and shattering it to bits. When she uncurled, she stood up and stood there in a daze. “Nice one!” Silver cried. He was busy taking out Egg Pawns of his own, throwing them back and forth and into each other. Rainbow Dash took a second to regain her balance, and then charged up yet another Spin Attack, launching herself right into the enemies and destroying six bots in a single blow. After some back and forth fighting, the two hedgehogs had finished off the last of Eggman’s ambush. “We need to head on, we haven’t gotten anywhere,” Dash said. “Yeah, agreed. Let’s head towards a shuttle.” The team sped through the Space Port, before arriving right at the train tracks described. However, between their current location and their destination, was a huge jump - not one that Dash thought she could make and Silver couldn’t float both of them over. “I’ve got an idea. It’s really risky, but it may work. I’m still not used to these new abilities, but I think I’m learning them on my own,” Rainbow piped up. “If we don’t have any other ideas, then I guess we can try,” Silver replied. “Hop on!” Rainbow commanded, getting down to get Silver on her back. “What are you doing? We don’t have time to play around, you know!” “Just trust me, this is all a part of my plan!” Reluctantly, he hopped on the girl’s back. “Hold on tight!” Rainbow Dash started running in place, kicking up clouds and clouds of dust and frost behind her. She waited about three seconds, before launching herself towards the train track and jumping as far as she could. “We’re not gonna make it!” Silver panicked. “Hold on! This is my first time trying this, be patient!” Suddenly, the silver hedgehog felt the two being launched higher and farther than initially. Around him, a bright rainbow-colored wave emerged, and he felt and heard the sound of a sonic boom - a few seconds late, of course. He looked in front of him. Rainbow Dash had successfully pulled off an Air Boost - something that the Resistance had thought only Sonic could do. He realized at that exact moment that the abilities of the new recruits were something that no one in the Resistance had seen before, and that if they used them properly, they may just save the world. Rainbow Dash, however, was shocked that she had managed to pull it off, especially after her first try, but she was relieved that she did. She landed safely on the ground, and looked behind her - leaving in her wake a Sonic Rainboom. Perfect! And just in time - the train had started speeding by right as they had landed. “We made it!” She celebrated. “That actually worked!” Silver was speechless. He took a second to regather himself. He could not believe what he had just experienced. After a few minutes of relaxing and celebrating, the pair looked ahead. They were very close to the shuttle launch bay, and there was a shuttle right where they wanted one. “Here, take this,” Silver said, handing RD a key. “It’s for the shuttle. Put it in, and we can control the shuttle from HQ, getting you to Sonic. After what I just saw, I think we’d be better off if you went up there.” Rainbow took the key and put it away. Silver’s radio buzzed. “Yes we can,” he replied. “We’re right near the shuttle bay. I gave Rainbow the shuttle key. I think it’s better if we leave the rescue to her.” “Understood!” Silver replied. “Get on over to the shuttle and put that key in. You head out. As soon as you put that key in it will connect it to HQ, so don’t worry about communication. I’m going to head back now. It’s all up to you!” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Good luck out there. You’ve got this!” “Yeah I do!” and with that, the girl quickly ran towards the shuttle, her rainbow trailing her as usual. She quickly opened the pod, and put in the key. In just a few seconds, she heard the shuttle radio buzz. Knuckles asked. “I hear ya!” Rainbow replied. And with that, the vehicle launched off towards space at blistering speed. Rainbow sat back and took a breath. Silver had started making his way back, before encountering the train track once again. He sat and thought about how to cross. He decided to try what Rainbow did - he charged up a Spin Dash of his own, and threw himself across. As he noticed that he was about to fall, he held himself up with his own abilities, and floated back to safety. He had crossed - but the hard part wasn’t getting past the train - it was what waited for him on the other side. “Metal Sonic…!” Silver looked up. Sure enough, Eggman’s old robot had come back for another round. He wasn’t about to lose the fight. “Silver to HQ! Requesting backup! Metal Sonic is here!” Back in Resistance, they contemplated who to send into combat. Discussion amongst the Resistance members was heavy until an interjection. “I’ll go,” Sunset Shimmer piped up. Knuckles was taken aback. “Are you sure?” He asked. “You don’t know what you’re up against.” “Trust me, I’ve dealt with…quite the foes,” she replied, reminiscing about the Dazzlings, Gloriosa, and Midnight Sparkle (of which she hoped to never encounter again). “Alright, then…” Knuckles loaded some commands through HQ’s terminal, and directed Sunset to the transport pad that Tails had invented. “Silver, we’re pinging your location; backup will be there in just a second! Brace yourself, soldier,” the echidna said. Sunset closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and Knuckles launched the teleporter as it whisked her away to the Chemical Plant. Sunset opened her eyes. It was cold here. She looked around. Tubes and iron grates all over, blue and purple liquids in giant containers galore. And, right in front of her, was a giant blue robot, with glowing red eyes and yellow accents. “That’s…a big robot,” she commented. “Bigger than usual, even for Metal Sonic!” Silver cried back. “Sunset, was it? We need to take care of this one, quick!” All of a sudden, Metal lunged towards Sunset. “Look out!” Sunset stood there, petrified as Eggman’s machine flung itself towards her. As the metal monster was about to make contact, time froze. Inside her head, she felt one thing - fear. But an intense sense of fear. She had experience with identifying emotions, and she knew that this was more fear than any one person could handle. So she came to the conclusion that she could sense the emotions and feelings in the air. Twilight and Rainbow had their own set of powers from fusing with their gemstones, so it made sense to her that she could identify those feelings as her own power. She then channeled all of that fear, to create a protective bubble around herself. Time instantly resumed, and the robot bounced off, leaving Sunset unharmed. The bubble itself disappeared, and Sunset felt a new set of emotions appear - confidence, surprise, amazement. Silver wasn’t even surprised at this point, but nevertheless, was still in relative awe. These new faces had magically appeared, and they had some special powers to boot. Who were these rookies? Sunset, with her new powers, decided to experiment with them. She thought that if she could defend herself with fear, so maybe she could attack with her more positive emotions. She channeled her confidence into a bright, glowing energy ball, and aimed for the metal menace. She sent a mental signal to fire her projectile, and it launched shards of energy and power towards the Sonic clone. Clangs and pings filled the air, as Metal Sonic started denting and breaking. Sunset and Silver watched as the robot started glowing red, and then he simply turned into a stack of cubes and disappeared. “Did we…did we beat him?” Sunset asked. “Can’t say for sure,” Silver replied. “Let’s head back to base, but keep your guard up.” The two embarked on their journey back to Resistance HQ. “An interesting spectacle, to be sure. Whoever these new foes are, it will be fun to wipe their miserable faces off this planet,” commented a masked figure, hidden from viewpoint.