The sun's image dipped into the murky waters of the Great River. Pink and orange clouds smeared the purple sky. This beautiful spectacle went completely unnoticed by those living in Knothole. In the depths of the great oaks lived the Freedom Fighters; at the moment, most of them were fending off Badniks that came too close to their secret sanctuary. Soon it was nighttime, and they clocked out in bed, each exhausted from their missions.
Sally couldn't say why she agreed to this. It was outrageous; Scourge turning to the good side? In a million years. Still, she couldn't deny there was some kind of truth in the hedgehog's words… even if he had somehow managed to enter Knothole. She could only wait and see what happened. She and the blue hedgehog escorted the green one into a small hut. She could only hope that this Q&A session would answer some things.
Sonic regarded the green hedgehog in front of him intently. The hedgehog was beaten, battered, bruised… defeated. Rips gouged his black leather jacket, and his fur was marred by some nasty scars. This wasn't a strange spectacle, especially in these troubled times; especially considering the guy was the leader of a gang that hated his guts… but Sonic could see that there was genuine desperation in the hedgehog's icy eyes. He really didn't know what to do.
Sally, on the other hand, was taking control of the situation. She slammed her hands down on the table forcefully, and glowered at the green one sitting across her. She demanded, "How do we know you won't backstab us when you get whatever is it you want?" For an even more dramatic effect, the squirrel narrowed her eyes and breathed heavily. Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder, which appeared to calm her down.
Unfazed, the green hedgehog returned, "Babe, what do you think I am?" He pulled into a lazy position, and before Sally could educate him on what she thought of him, he continued, "I'm serious, guys. I left those jerks way behind!"
Sonic quirked an eye ridge. "I still don't believe you. I don't think Sally does, either."
Sally punched his shoulder playfully. "Says Mr. Be Polite! We were lucky Ari came out at the end!"
"I was wrong, you were right, yeah, yeah," Sonic shot back with a smirk playing on his face.
Sally turned somber. "Fiona," she said quietly.
"Yeah, what about her?" both hedgehogs asked simultaneously, then glared at each other.
"Hey, wait your turn, Scourge," Sonic growled, though both Sally and the green hedgehog could see that he meant it in a joking manner… as usual.
Sally coughed, and both hedgehogs grew silent. "Forget it..." she murmured. She abruptly stood up, the chair squealing in protest as she did so. "You'd best keep your word this time, Scourge."
"Sal?" Sonic said, but Sally just took Sonic's arm, and they sauntered out of the room, leaving Scourge alone to think.
The next morning, the other Freedom Fighters awoke to a great surprise. There was Scourge, evil green hedgehog, the guy who caused so many problems for them, and here he was having breakfast with Sonic. Nobody thought highly of the idea, bar Sonic. Antoine especially detested the idea ("Oui! Zere is two Sonics now, and one is ze big bad guy!"). Sonic figured he might as well be thankful that the coyote didn't attack either hedgehog on the spot, or at least come up with some crazy notion that Sonic and Sally went completely insane. Either way, both Sonic and Sally had a rough time explaining Scourge's sudden self-reform.
Scourge, on the other hand, was enjoying himself. Casually, contentedly, he took a bite from his chili dog. Nobody knew how he had gotten a hold of one, although Sonic had a sneaking suspicion that someone had raided his hoard.
"So, enjoying yourself, huh?"
Scourge spun around to see his dimensional counterpart propped up against a tree. He thought an apology to the chili dog, hoping that it was telepathic, and then flung it to the ground. For good measure, he stomped on it. "No!" he put firmly, in a manner that said the matter was over. Sonic winced.
"Yeesh, y' got an attitude problem? If you didn't want it, you could've given it to me!" Sonic shook his head disappointedly, though Scourge could see the gleam in Sonic's eyes. "Huh, we really do have a lot in common. I did say that all it would–"
Scourge clapped a hand over Sonic's mouth. "–Take is some time, yadayada. I'm no two-shoe, Sonic. Wake me when you're done, got it?" He hated, hated being compared to Sonic – wanted to prove he was more than just another counterpart, but doubts prickled at his mind, too. Was he trying hard enough? Did he truly want to be the polar opposite of Sonic, always evil? He was glad when Tails, Sonic's eight-year-old surrogate brother and local genius, bounded up to Sonic.
"Sonic! I was wondering where you were," yelped the yellow fox, who was now being noogied by said hedgehog. The fox ignored Scourge completely; the hedgehog watched the procession. The prideful part of Scourge wanted to throw up; on the other hand, he felt a little bit jealous. The Miles of his dimension absolutely loathed being treated like a child.
The two hugged and Scourge took a step back. "I'm gettin' outta here – this is way too mushy for me!"
As if just noticing the green hedgehog, the little fox jumped at the voice. Half-frightened, he fixed the hedgehog with as chastising a glare he could, then muttered something not-so-nice under his breath.
"Tails!" Sonic admonished. The fox, seemingly surprised at himself, ducked his head away guiltily to mutter an almost inaudible "sorry."
Scourge uncharacteristically accepted the apology. He was about to leave, but a hand tugged at his jacket. He looked down, and saw Tails.
"No, wait! Um, I really am sorry," the fox said. "'S just that… you an' Sonic are always dukin' it out… an'… Fi…" Tails took a deep breath, and continued, his voice growing steadier as he went on. "An'… I remember when Sonic first found me. I was bullied and called names lot'sa times. So I guess I kinda know how you feel. I shouldn'ta said that, so… sorry."
Scourge was slightly unnerved by the sincerity of Tails' outburst. It didn't help that the fox was practically staring him down with a gloomy look on his face. In all his days on Moebius, Scourge had only ever seen and heard people seek forgiveness in order to save their own skins. Sure, there was Kintober – but the guy was a complete wimp! In a way, the cub's innocence appealed to him, so he stiffly accepted the apology. He was about to leave anyway, wanting some time alone, when the fox stopped him. Again.
"Wait! Sally wants us to investigate some kind of disturbance. She said Amy, Antoine, Bunnie, and she will come too." Tails took a deep breath. "An' I dunno why, but Shadow seems real interested, too. Maybe it's a Chaos Emerald, but I can't detect anything with my tracker. Maybe he's doing it for G.U.N."
"Whoa, must be mondo important if pretty much everyone –" Sonic waved his hands for dramatic effect – "is coming, huh?"
Scourge wondered whether he should be happy to be given a chance to prove himself. His heroic counterpart's cheerfulness was infectious; eventually he nodded, even found himself returning the thumbs-up Sonic gave him.
"Yeah, let's do it to it!"
Equestria. A magical land distinguished for its magical citizens. Actually, it was the only world known to its inhabitants; the ponies were happy enough there and their form of technology was unicorn magic. But I digress. In short: Equestria was magic, magic empowered by the magic of friendship.
Ponyville was a quiet town in Equestria. Established by the Apple family, these grounds were also home to the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, otherwise known as the 'Mane Six.' There were six ponies who shared a magical friendship (it's getting tiring hearing 'magic' so much, isn't it?).
At this moment, Twilight Sparkle, the Bearer of Magic, was preparing for a documentary on the cosmos. She was a light-purple alicorn princess with long indigo and pink-streaked hair. On her flank was a six-pronged magenta star that emanated white sparks.
"Spike? Spike? There you are! Have we packed everything?" she frenzied, turning to her assistant for help. He was a purple baby dragon with green eyes, at the moment not at all fazed by his friend's actions.
"Quit worrying, Twilight," Spike groaned. "We've got everything."
"Oh, I'm so worried, this kind of thing only happens once every decade!" Twilight shook her head, and eventually she nodded resignedly, and took a deep breath. "Okay. Anyway, we may as well get going. I can't miss this; I promised Princess Celestia that I'd give her a full documentary!" She hurriedly used her magic to open the door.
Spike groaned again. He followed after her outside, shivering. It wasn't out of cold, but something just didn't feel right. He began to worry.
At that moment, Rarity, the Bearer of Generosity, was preening herself in front of a fashionable mirror. The unicorn was well-known for her sense of fashion and sophisticated style. Meticulously she began to apply blue eye shadow. It blended in perfectly with her pearl-white coat and crystal-blue eyes.
After she had done that, Rarity trotted over to her studio. Mannequins (or rather, manequins, Rarity thought wryly – she had recently dressed them in flamboyant hats) dressed in gorgeous dresses lined the walls. Rarity nodded approvingly to herself, and began to gather supplies for her next design.
"Yes, Rarity, you have truly outdone yourself," she hummed. "This will be absolutely gorgeous!"
Suddenly she felt very tired. She sighed disappointedly – strangely enough, she had always felt sleepy around this time every day since last week.
"Well, I suppose I do need my beauty sleep," she murmured. She sorted the materials out on her workspace. She clambered up the steps tiredly, and as she collapsed on her bed, called, "Good night!"
She found she couldn't sleep.
High up in elite Canterlot, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna occupied a grand castle where they each ruled Equestria. They did so for thousands of years; years longer than any pony (besides themselves, of course) could remember. There had been a time, however, when a different being – in both species and morals – had ruled the land. That being was Discord, the Spirit of Chaos. The Princesses of Night and Day used the Elements of Harmony to stop the draconequus. While the intended effect was to cleanse him of his evil, they had somehow turned him to stone instead.
Recently the draconequus had reformed, thanks to Fluttershy, the Bearer of Kindness. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had not completely lost his twisted sense of humor – as a recent experience taught Celestia and Luna. They were both extremely tired after the 'incident,' as they called it – but today they both felt oddly calm. It was strange, because not only did they have the future of Equestria in their hands, but today had been an extremely trying day for both of them – being royalty, they had to assume a proper position, and take care of the problems that other ponies complained of.
The night sky was a serene dark purple. An alicorn, obscured by shadows, smiled up at it. She had made sure to decorate it with extra care in time for the special event. Her sister strutted beside her; a tall white alicorn with a flowing pastel mane.
"You've really outdone yourself, Luna," Celestia complimented. "I'm glad to see you are back to making your night beautiful."
"Thank you, Sister Dearest, but what are you talking about? I have been continuing my quest ever since I have returned," Luna replied, casting a puzzled look at her sister.
"I know," Celestia answered with a wink.
There was a long silence while both alicorns gazed at the night. Then, uneasily, Luna spoke.
"Sister, do you feel… strange? …As though something big shall happen soon?"
The solar princess tipped her head. Now she thought she could feel something… yes, there was definitely some kind of tension in the air. "It's probably the comet," she decided after a pause. "But if it's not, we can most certainly handle it."
Luna nodded, even though she wasn't completely satisfied with Celestia's answer. The two princesses resumed their awkward appreciating of the stars. Still, Luna couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen…