Version of Sonic-ish reality note - nothing specific but I tend to default to Fleetway in characterisation...

Note for non-UK/Commonwealth readers - I'm informed crackers are not a universal tradition - you'll just have to figure it out along with Knux if so... (Or Google it... ;)

"Christmas Eve!" Sonic muttered. "What sort of maniac sends out robot attacks on Christmas Eve?"

Hovering above him, Tails shrugged.

"Robotnik."

"Yeah. Still..." Sonic beamed. "He won't make that mistake again!"

The robot was in pieces now, on the dark village square and people were starting to re-emerge from their houses. Curtains were opened spilling light from both the houses and twinkling fairy lights looped around the frames. The lights on the square Christmas tree were out now,the wire having been snagged in the fight, but the tree was still standing, if a bit the worse for wear.

Sonic shook himself, and took a few giddy steps forward.

"Knuckles? You all right?"

A grunt came from somewhere and Sonic frowned unable to place it for a moment then he looked up at the tree. There was a rattling of branches, a shower of pine needles and Knuckles emerged, clambering from the branches where the final explosion had thrown him. He was covered in pine needles and trying to disentangle himself from the lighting wires.

Sonic fought back laughter as Knuckles jumped and glided to the ground but refrained from comment.

Together they checked the robot, ensuring that there was no life left in it and that it wasn't carrying a prisoner. The stolen chaos emerald that had powered it pulsed a dim red in the darkness. Both Knuckles and Sonic reached for it and Sonic paused long enough to let Knuckles grab it.

"Meh, it's Christmas. Try not to lose this one."

Knuckles scowled at him and turned to Tails.

"Can you fly me back up the Island?"

Tails's jaw dropped.

"Now? It's Christmas Eve. And it's dark."

"Christmas Eve?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me - echidnas don't celebrate Christmas. Far too jolly and all that."

Tails looked appalled. "No Christmas? Knuckles, you have to stay with us for the holidays!"

Sonic shrugged.

"We're at Amy's this year, it's right here in the village. Probably why Robotnik showed up here."

Knuckles looked from one to the other.

"Do I have a choice?"

Sonic grinned and Tails tugged on his arm. "Nope!"

Amy was standing in the doorway of her house, still looking poised to attack the robot herself if need be. Several of the villagers looked like they'd taken shelter here and Amy shooed them out at Sonic approached.

"See!" she said. "Didn't I tell you Sonic would sort it out?"

The villagers filled out.

"Off you go home, Merry Christmas!"

The greetings were returned from left and right and amid backslapping and Christmas wishes, Sonic and the others made their way through them and into the house.

"It'll be okay if Knuckles stays too won't it?" Sonic asked

Amy looked startled.

"Sure." She turned to Knuckles. "But don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"The Island," Knuckles said, "But Tails says it's too dark."

Amy stared at him. "It's Christmas Eve!"

Knuckles looked abashed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on a festival."

Amy expression softened at once. "It's not that. You're welcome of course you are. Its just that most people already have plans."

Knuckles shook his head.

"Settled then!" said Sonic. "So... do we get to open just one present early as a reward for our heroic efforts?"

"No!" said Amy. Tails looked scandalised.

"How about a cracker then?"

"Those are for the plates tomorrow."

"Oh come onnnn..." Sonic wheedled. "Betcha poor Knux has never pulled a cracker in his life. You can't deny him his first important Christmas tradition?"

"Yeah," Tails added. "Crackers don't count as opening presents."

"You pair!" Amy rolled her eyes. "Tomorrow! Now come and help with the veg for the meal if you're that bored."

She turned back to the kitchen from where steam was starting to issue forth.

Sonic watched her go then hurried over to the Christmas tree and plucked off three crackers.

"Quick," he said, "One each! Once they're pulled they're pulled!"

Tails eagerly joined him, Knuckles hesitated until Sonic hit him over the wrist with one of the crackers.

"You hold this end. Pull when I say pull."

Tails was pressing a cracker on him from the other direction and Knuckles took hold of one end of Tails' and one end of Sonic' in opposite hands. Sonic and Tails already had another one grasped between so they stood in a circle.

"Pull!" cried Sonic and yanked hard. Tails shot up in the air as he pulled and with a triple volley of snaps the crackers burst.

Knuckles had pulled a split second later than the others and the combination of that and the clearly completely unexpected bang was enough to send him tumbling backwards and down into the low table at the edge of the room. A bowl of sweets on too of it went flying as well as the paper hats, and tiny gifts that came catapulting out of the crackers.

Amy burst back into the room to find Knuckles wide-eyed sitting on the floor and Sonic and Tails doubled over laughing.

Sonic attempted to apologise but only managed a giggling string of, "Ssss rr..." before dissolving in laughter again.

"It went bang," Knuckles looked up at Amy clearly considering this a legitimate explanation for the uproar. "I didn't know it would go bang."

Amy looked at the earnest apology on Knuckles face as he sat there surrounded by the upturned table and dozens of scattered sweets, still holding the end of a cracker at arm's length as though it might do something else unexpected and fought back a smile of her own.

"It's not your fault, Knux. These two clowns on the other hand!"

She whirled on Sonic and Tails who attempted to compose themselves and look remotely sorry.

"Pick up that table and clear up!" She smirked. "Oh, and give Knuckles his cracker prize - he won the big end, look..."

Knuckles looked down at the remains of the crackers in his hands. One had broken at his end leaving Sonic with the larger half, the other had broken at Tails' end leaving him with larger half of that one.

Sonic cast around on the floor. "I have no idea which of these came out of what."

He picked up one of the trinkets and laughed. "Here," he said. "Have this one. Now you've got another emerald!"

Knuckles looked down at the small green bit of plastic Sonic had dropped into his hand. No longer than his thumb it was indeed shaped like a chaos emerald.

"Thanks?" he said, uncertainly.

"Tails had found something else on the floor and held it up triumphantly. "A mini multi-tool."

"Very apt," said Sonic. "So I get... Oh."

The last gift was a dainty plastic pearl bracelet. Sonic made a face but Amy, still smirking swooped down on him.

"Oh Sonic, how thoughtful!"

This time it was Tails and Knuckles who laughed.

It didn't take long to restore some semblance of order and they settled down comfortably, each adorned with their paper hat - Knuckles' perched precipitously on top of his head, Tails' only kept from falling over his eyes by his ears and Sonic's at a jaunty angle over just one ear.

"So how about some carols?" the hedgehog asked and unprompted launched into song.

"Dashing through the snow! On a racing hedgehog sleigh!"

Tails pushed him sideways on the sofa.

"That's not how it goes!"

"No?" I learned the wrong words then. Knuckles then, come on and give us an ancient echidna Christmas carol!"

"Carol?"

"Song," Tails explained.

Knuckles raised his eyebrows. "Oh, that was singing Sonic was doing was it?"

Sonic threw a cushion at him which Knuckles deflected with one hand, nearly upsetting the sweet bowl for a second time.

"Hey! No more wrecking the place!" Amy warned them.

"Sorry," Knuckles pushed the bowl further from the edge of the table. "A song... Your Christmas is a winter festival, yes? When the nights are longer than the days and people all get together?"

"Yeah."

"Then I know one," Knuckles actually looked pleased with himself and Sonic grinned in amusement.

"It was a solstice song long long ago before the Floating Island was floating but they still sang it after that even though there's not really any way of choosing a shortest day of the year when you're always moving.

"It sounds just right," Amy said encouragingly.

"I can't sing it."

Sonic threw up his hands. "Now you tell us! What bit of "song" don't you get, Knuckles?"

"I don't know the tune - it's written down but I don't know how to read the music."

Amy jabbed Sonic in the ribs. " It's fine," she said. "It'll be a Christmas poem instead."

Knuckles stood up and Sonic gave him a sardonic clap or two before he began. Knuckles had a frown of concentration on his face and Sonic realised belatedly that he was probably translating as well as trying to remember the words.

"All the flickering stars call us away through the dark
Darkness is only another light
We see the truth and beauty through it
Kin together in the silent sky
All through the dark

So shine the stars on their sister world
Through dark ages and dark struggle
To beautify the night even 'till our last days
We'll raise our little lights together
All through the dark"

There was a silence in which Knuckles had started to look embarrassed.

"I know it doesn't really sound the same in translation - I mean, originally it rhymes and-" He waved a hand rhythmically in the air.

"-scans?" Tails filled in the word.

Knuckles nodded.

Sonic cleared his throat.

"Well that was a really cheerful little number, Knux, thanks for that!"

"Sonic!" Amy gave him a shove and in the scuffle Knuckles returned to his seat. Tails moved next to him.

"It was very pretty, Knuckles," he said. " But it is a bit gloomy. Christmas carols are normally happy songs."

Knuckles frowned.

"But it's not a sad song."

"Uh, hellooo?" Sonic couldn't help himself. "Dark dark dark! La la la! Daaarrrkk!"

"Sonic!" Both Amy and Tails had protested this time but Knuckles still looked confused rather than upset or angry. As though whatever interpretation he was putting on it was the obvious, only one.

"It's not a song about the dark..."

"It's about what you do about it," Amy said.

Knuckles' face lit up, looking relieved someone had got it.

"Yes!"

"Hmm, well that's a bit deep for this hedgehog." Sonic shrugged. "I'll stick with the easy ones."

And, in demonstration, he launched raucously into 'Deck the Halls' without waiting for a response and carried on picking tunes at random with such bellowing enthusiasm that after a few rounds Amy and Tails gave in and joined him, and eventually by the time they'd cycled back around to Jingle Bells, quietly, with a look on his face halfway between caution and embarrassment, even Knuckles picked up the thread of the chorus.

Sonic grinned and flapped his hand in a beckoning, 'sing up' gesture. Knuckles smiled - Sonic made a face of mock shock - but shook his head.

After the singing Amy went for more snacks and Tails started trying to explain to Knuckles the rules of the board game he'd brought out from somewhere, claiming it as another tradition.

Sonic listened in amusement until he realised that Amy had been a long time and that he should probably maybe be helping. Or else she was waiting to ambush him with mistletoe. Reluctantly he got to his feet and headed to the kitchen.

Amy jumped and spun from the windows as he entered looking up from a handkerchief.

"Amy?" Sonic said. It almost looked like she was tearful. "Everything okay?"

Amy blew her nose. "It's nothing. It's just... It was sad. The song. You could tell it wasn't meant to be-"

"Could you?"

"-all about standing against the dark, all brave and cosy, but it was about doing it together. And now they're all gone except Knuckles and he doesn't even know the tune, he's never sung it with anyone... He'd been on the Island now, on his own if Robotnik hadn't shoved his oar in, in the square."

Against his better judgement, Sonic moved across the kitchen and drew Amy into a hug.

"Yeah, you're right. It's kinda sad." He stepped back, spoke briskly. "Right, here's a plot. We make sure he's not on his own over Christmas, right? Every year. From now on. If we can't collar him down here, we go there. Right?"

Amy smiled. "Right."

"Good." Sonic grinned. "It'll drive him absolutely nuts!"

"Sonic!"

Sonic winked and Amy rolled her eyes.

"Let's get back in there then," she said, "Before Tails warns him how many different ways you know to cheat at that wretched game.."

As they re-entered the Tails was talking thoughtfully to Knuckles, twirling one of the playing pieces in his hand.

"Have you got a lot of the old music written down, Knux? 'Cause there might be a way of working out the notation. Sort of like code breaking."

"Argh!" Sonic said, flopping down beside Tails, "Tech talk at Christmas! Banned!"

Tails only smiled. "You sit they other side of the board, Sonic. You're not getting you hands on the ring bank."

With a flurry of exaggerated grumbling Sonic moved.

"Get ready to lose!"

Outside the window, as they started the game, someone had managed to restore the damaged Christmas tree lights on the square and they twinkled brightly, shining against the winter darkness.

End note - the echidna 'carol' I wrote here is my own loose translatiion and adaptation of the Welsh one "Ar Hyd a Nos" - which wasn't originally a carol but has been used as one for a long time. Google that too if you what the original words and tune... It's prettier than my version.

The story came about because I drew a pic of a the cracker pulling attempt and the rest of it came from there. That's on DeviantArt under this same user name.