~Chapter Two: The Not-So Princess Stereotype~

Mario kept a watchful eye on Sonic as said hedgehog walked beside him, head turning this way and that taking in his new surroundings. After a moment he let out a low whistle. "Man, this place is gorgeous! We have nothin' like this in Hedgehog Village."

"Hedgehog Village?" Mario questioned. Another difference to note. "Was it named after you by any chance?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, it was actually named after my friend Amy since our friend Sticks owns the village an' they're best friends." Upon seeing the confusion on Mario's face Sonic snorted. "It's, uh, kinda a long story..."

"I'd imagine so." Mario replied lightly as he led Sonic up the path that led to Peach's Castle. He watched as Sonic curiously gazed at the statue of Rabbid Peach, before stopping as he stared up at the castle in bewilderment.

"Sooo... where exactly are we goin'?"

"One of the friends I was telling you about lives here. She's the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom you see."

Sonic blinked. "How does a plumber like yourself end up friends with a princess?"

"I rescued her long ago from the King of the Koopa's, Bowser. And since then I've continued to rescue her, and naturally a friendship bloomed between us."

Sonic hummed. "Man, you're kinda lucky to be friends with a princess. The only princesses I know are the ones in the video games I play with my buds."

Mario uncomfortably smiled. Yet another difference between this Sonic and the one that he'd known.

Wandering up to the door Mario knocked a few times and after a moment the door opened revealing the blue Toad that had accompanied him, Luigi and Peach in the Sprixie Kingdom.

"Good morning Mario!" Toad brightly sang, before his eyes landed on Sonic. "And you must be-"

Mario put his hand over the Toad's mouth in order to keep him from saying anything that could reveal the existence of another Sonic. "Toad, is Peach here at the moment?"

"Yes, she's in the throne room!" Toad confirmed once Mario had removed his hand from his mouth. "You can go right on in!"

"Grazie, Toad." Mario thanked, before motioning Sonic to follow him. As soon as they were inside the castle Sonic turned to Mario in curiosity.

"So... what exactly was that... thing?"

Mario chuckled. "That was a Toad. They make up most of the populace here in the Mushroom Kingdom, and several of them happen to be Peach's retainers."

"But... his name is also Toad?" Sonic questioned with a quirked eyeridge. Mario could only shrug.

"All of their names are Toad, except for Toadette, Toadsworth, and Captain Toad. You'll know them when you see them."

Sonic slowly nodded, having nothing more to say as Mario led him through the halls of the castle, towards Peach's throne room. The closer he got the more anxious he got - he hoped Peach wouldn't say anything that would raise suspicion with this Sonic.

Mario could hear Peach's voice before they even entered the throne room, and he could detect a harsh edge to all of her words. Entering the throne room he found her in a discussion with Toadsworth, her arms folded and face scrunched in a frown. Upon realizing she had company she shooed Toadsworth away and put on a bright smile for her guests.

"Good mor-" she began, before her voice caught in her throat at the sight of Sonic, her eyes widening as she slowly looked between both him and Mario. "-ning." she finished, clearly in a state of shock. Before either her or Mario could say anything more, Sonic sharply gasped and promptly bowed before suddenly being in front of Peach, grasping one of her hands while bending down on one knee.

"Forgive my casual attire, fairest Princess Tangerine, but I was not expecting to find you in real life, let alone in this dimension." he greeted in a faux British accent, before he planted a kiss on her hand. Peach could only blink multiple times in shock.

"Uh..."

"Sonic, this is Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario corrected, to which Sonic reeled at the name and took a few steps back, observing the princess in front of him.

"But... you're the spitting image of Princess Tangerine, the heroine of one of my favourite video games of all time!" Sonic gasped. "Uh... forgive me, your highness." he hastily bowed, to which Peach managed to lightly giggle.

"It's nice to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog," her eyes met Mario's, an unspoken question lingering between them. "May you excuse Mario and I for a moment?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, sure." Sonic waved his hand dismissively. Peach smiled before motioning Mario into the adjacent room, shutting the door once both of them were inside.

"Mario... what's going on?" Peach whispered.

"He seems to be a Sonic from a different dimension," Mario explained. "As you could probably gather, he doesn't recognize any of us either."

"So you don't have a rivalry..." Peach realized. "What are you going to do?"

Mario bit his bottom lip. "I can't just leave him to fend for himself, so I'll see if Professor E. Gadd can send him back to his dimension."

Peach frowned. "Are you sure you'll be able to? He is... still a Sonic after all."

Mario was quiet before he heaved a sigh and nodded. "I can do it. I... I need to move on eventually. Maybe, in some strange way, it can help me get over him."

Peach sadly smiled and gently rubbed Mario's arm. "Alright then. I suppose we should go back out there, he's probably wondering what happened to us."

Both Peach and Mario stepped out of the room and rejoined Sonic who brightly smiled at the both of them.

"So Sonic," Peach began. "Mario says you're from a different dimension?"

"Apparently so," Sonic replied. "Sooo... how exactly are we gettin' me back to Hedgehog Village?"

"I have a friend who goes by Professor E. Gadd. He may be able to help you return to your own dimension."

"Great!" Sonic exclaimed. "If he's anythin' like Tails, I'm sure he'll be able to, no problem!"

"I'll have the Toads prepare a couple of backpacks and food for your journey since it's quite a long journey," Peach spoke up. "And why don't we all have some cake before you have to leave?"

"I'm afraid there is no time, Princess." a new voice rang out, and Mario noticed how Peach's eyes narrowed as Toadsworth re-entered the throne room, his cane clicking on the floor as he approached the group.

"I believe there is plenty of time." Peach shot back, her friendly demeanor turning hostile and her eyes hardening to ice as she folded her arms once again. Mario looked between Peach and Toadsworth before shrugging at Sonic who had been giving him a questioning stare.

"Princess, you have one hour to get ready. I'll meet you here. Do not be late."

Toadsworth wandered out of the throne room while Peach glared a hole in the back of his head. After a moment she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "My apologies, it appears that we cannot have cake today." She snapped her fingers and almost immediately a Toad was at Peach's side. "Please help prepare a couple of backpacks and food for about a week for Mario and his friend here."

"Sonic, would you mind helping the Toads prepare the backpacks?" Mario asked, and while Sonic wanted to protest he noticed the way Mario was looking at Peach and realized it was a subtle way to get him out of the room.

"Yeah, sure, no prob!"

Sonic followed the Toad out of the room, asking him if the mushroom on his head was a part of his body or a hat while Mario turned to Peach, concern in his eyes. "What was that all about with Toadsworth?"

Peach sighed heavily, sinking into her throne. "I'm meeting suitors today," she replied flatly, her voice clipped. "Ever since Bowser tried to force my hand in marriage, he's been rather... persistent... about marrying me off to a neighboring kingdoms prince."

"I thought you were going to tell him about Rosalina." Mario replied with a quirked eyebrow. Peach sadly shook her head.

"It wouldn't do any good. The rules of this kingdom state that I must be married to a prince to be crowned queen and keep the bloodline going. It's not about being in love, it's about joining two kingdoms together."

"That's not right." Mario whispered. Peach sadly smiled.

"I'm a princess. It's my duty, whether it's right or not," she gave Mario a curious look. "Are you sure you're going to be alright, Mario?"

Mario gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I guess we'll see." he mumbled. Peach leaned down to give him a hug.

"Be careful on your journey Mario. I'll be praying for you."

"Grazie." Mario thanked, before turning and exiting the throne room. Peach watched him go, before sighing once again and reaching into the pocket of her dress, producing a small picture.

"Rosie..." she murmured sadly, before retreating to her room.

Replies

TheGameNguyener: Oh, this story is part of the main canon, but think of it as more of the bizzaro episode of the series. The two stories I'm planning to follow this one are going to be more in line with the rest of the series. Thank you for the review!

GirlOnDarkerSide: You bring up a good point about Boom! Sonic not knowing about Modern Sonic. I wonder if he'll ever discover there's another version of him... hmmm. It's going to be interesting indeed. Thank you for the review!

lovemet123: Well, my goal with this fanfic is to make more people like Boom!Sonic, since I was in the same boat at first and then I gave the cartoon a try and it appealed to my sense of humor. And Fire & Ice was a pretty decent game as well. Thanks for the review.

Pamitydesu01: Honestly, my idea for this fic wasn't part of the FRtR canon at first. But when Forgotten Memories went in the direction it did and I wrote Over, I realized that this would be a good story to go with to help break up tension a bit and give Mario something to do while he thinks the Sonic he knew is dead (when he's actually taking part in the events of Sonic Forces). Thank you for the review!

AN: Yeah, you're gonna be seeing a lot of background PeachxRosalina whenever I decide to ship Mario off with someone else.

I also realize Sonic has been a bit... bland... in these first couple of chapters. That changes next chapter when we get into the meat of his character, and where his differences with Modern Sonic start to become more noticeable.

~Steel