CHAPTER SIX

"Road trip! WOOP WOOP!"

Applejack's pickup drove down the road, onward to Manehattan. Sonic called shotgun with AJ this time, while Twilight and Rainbow were in the backseat. Everyone else had piled into the back cab. Keeping her eyes on the road, the cowgirl spoke up to the boy in blue.

"So, let me get this straight… you've been spying on us for the past few months?"

"Dude, that's creepy," Rainbow sternly added. As if to prove her point, Fluttershy sank down and hid her mouth with her hair.

"I wouldn't call it spying," Sonic quickly interjected. "We were all just hanging out, only I wasn't invited and no one knew I was there."

"Well, if all you wanted to do was hang out with us…" Twilight asked. "Why couldn't you have just met us earlier?"

Sonic was silent for a moment. "Well… it's not easy to talk about," he softly replied. "I've been looking for the Gems of Miracles for a long time now, and the most important thing was that I couldn't draw too much atten- OH MY GOSH STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW!"

All three girls jolted in alert, with Applejack looking around wildly. "Huh?! What?! Who-?!"

"The world's largest rubber band ball?!" Sonic gasped, leaning his head out the window. Approaching the vehicle was a billboard of the said landmark. "We gotta see it!"

The cowgirl had an expression of "are you kidding me?" on her face. "Hold on just a cotton-picking minute!" she shouted. "You said we needed to find those seven diamonds before anyone else! We don't have time for some silly-" she turned to Sonic… only to see that he was gone!

Everyone gasped in alarm and Rainbow clutched the back of the seat. "Where'd he go?!"

ZIP! Before anyone could blink, he was back.

"Eh, you're right. It was lame," Sonic calmly replied, now wearing a baseball hat of the rubber band ball and holding three rubber band balls in his hands. "Gift shop was cool, though! I got you guys a mousepad!" He held up the said object, which read "I LOVE RUBBER BANDS".

"Uh…" Rainbow was at a loss for words.

"When are we gonna get there?"

Applejack sighed. "We will get there when we get-"

She was interrupted by rapid smacking sounds. Everyone turned to Sonic, who now had his eyes closed, feet up on the dashboard, and was playing with a paddle ball really fast.

"Why do I feel like this is gonna be a long trip?" Pinkie asked.

…

After sunset, AJ pulled into a gas station and parked the truck. She, Rainbow, and Twilight both exited the truck. Sonic moved to follow… until AJ stopped him with a raised hand. "You stay here."

"Huh? Why?" the boy stuttered.

Twilight gestured to a phone booth. "I'm gonna go call my brother; see if he knows anything."

"You're gonna call Shining? In that glass thing?" said Sonic in disbelief, adding an amused scoff at the end. "What is that, a teleportation box?"

The young scientist rolled her eyes. "It's a payphone, Sonic. Mostly used by crooks, fugitives… so yeah."

"Pinkie? Shy? Sunset? Rarity?" Rainbow asked. "Can you keep an eye on him for us until we're back?"

"You can count on us."

"Certainly, darling."

"I suppose…"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

"Stick a cup- what the juice?!" Sonic spoke up in alarm. "What does that even mean?!"

"It's a Pinkie Promise!" the energetic girl told him. "I used to have a longer one about zipping my mouth closed, burying the key, and building a house on top of the hole! But my new one's better!"

"Do you really have to say it like that?" Sonic asked her. "A cupcake in the eye would sting, right?"

"Only if you're lactose intolerant!"

"Oookaaayyy…"

"It's fine, guys," Sunset cut in. "You go, we'll watch him."

Sonic turned to Rainbow desperately. "You sure you don't want me to come with you? I've been cramped up in here for the whole trip! I gotta stretch my legs!"

"Stay. Put. There." Rainbow firmly instructed as if addressing a younger brother. Defeated, Sonic sank back into his seat with disappointment. "Ugh, fine."

Now that the matter was settled, AJ, Rainbow, and Twilight walked over to the payphone. Briefly pausing to adjust her glasses, Twilight looked around to make sure no one was watching… and slipped inside.

Back in the truck, Sonic got bored fast (which came as no surprise to him). Thirty seconds for the ordinary person felt like thirty minutes to him. Yet another thing about being able to travel at high speeds. Grunting, he scooted over to the steering wheel and placed his hands on it.

"Sonic in third place, Spitfire in pole position," he muttered to himself. "The Blue Blur is making quite an impression at his debut. Can he pull this off?" He mimicked engine sounds, pretending to turn the wheel in various directions.

"Sonic's gaining on Spitfire, the two are neck-and-neck! Going to the outside, into the final turn, it looks too close to call! And it looks like the winner is-" His eyes caught something off to the side. "Huh?"

Off in the distance, rock music blared from a building with the words "Piston Pit" in bright red neon. A huge crowd was gathered there, some of the people arm wrestling and others showing off awesome-looking vehicles. Two motorbikes drove up to the crowd. Bikers headbutted each other in greeting. The engine of one hot rod roared like a lion, spewing out flames from its tailpipe.

Sonic gasped in awe… before ducking beneath the window. "Okay, okay, that is the coolest place on Earth…" he told himself. "But you have to stay in the car! Miss Twenty Percent Cooler herself said!"

But he couldn't help himself. Slowly, he peeked out the window. Near the bar, drivers revved their engines at a sound that to Sonic seemed like a jet engine. His heart was beating triple that of a normal human, and Sonic began to sweat. The adrenaline was getting to him; he hardly noticed he was hyperventilating until he had to wipe away the fogged-up glass.

He pressed his face against the window. He didn't know how much longer he could hold out.

A huge monster truck pulled up, the people in back holding up their fists. The driver gunned the engine, the sound bellowing in Sonic's ears.

"Be strong! Be strong!" he whimpered, rocking back and forth in the seat.

While a motorcycle spun around in the dirt, its driver balanced on top while a crowd cheered him on. Sonic's eyes watched the vehicle go… and he snapped. That was the last straw.

I gotta get in there!

His first thoughts were about the other girls. They were keeping an eye on him, so he'd have to distract them. A simple "make-them-look-and-run" trick would do, for now, so he turned to the back…

"...and that's when I realized I had never misplaced my earring at all! It had just gotten stuck in my hair!" Rarity finished with a chuckle.

Sunset crossed her arms with a smirk. "Wow. I feel so bad for Rainbow and Applejack right now."

"But, hey!" Pinkie cut in. "At least they found tons of stuff in the sand!"

"True…" Fluttershy added. "Oh, did I tell you about the time we helped some baby turtles find their way to the ocean?"

"Baby turtles?!" Pinkie cried in happiness, while Sunset looked interested in this. "Wait, you did what?" she asked, leaning closer.

Rarity's eyes went wide. "Oh! Yes, I remember that time all too well! Please, Fluttershy. Do continue!"

"Well, it started when Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and I heard the sound of something crying while sunbathing…"

Sonic smiled to himself. That oughta keep them busy. Now for a disguise…

He looked around the truck. In the backseat, he saw a cyan hoodie with red, yellow, and green colors on the arms and sides. Rainbow wouldn't mind if he borrowed this, right?

Taking one last look to make sure none of the girls' eyes were in his direction, he snatched the hoodie and put it on. Lastly, he grabbed some rainbow-colored sunglasses from the passenger seat mirror and snapped them open.

Showtime.

…

Twilight anxiously held the phone to her ear, tapping her foot. The noise of the other end of the phone picking up made her exhale in relief.

"Canterlot Police."

"Shining? It's me."

"Twily? I, uh, I'm so glad that you called."

Twilight paused. "Uh, you were expecting me?"

"Some guys came in and asked some questions. Little creepy, if you ask me."

"Wait, wait. What kinda questions?" Twilight asked, her nervousness slowly returning. "And what guys?"

"Questions about… some guy, I think. They didn't give a name," her brother answered. "But he's supposed to have blue, spiky hair. At first, I thought they wanted something with Flash Sentry, but they say he's not the guy they're looking for."

Sonic. Twilight's heart momentarily stopped.

"Shining, listen to me," she spoke. "Don't tell them that we talked, okay?"

There was silence from the other end. An awfully ominous silence.

"Sh-Shining?"

"Yeah, I-I think they already know…"

"Twilight Sparkle, is it?"

A chill ran down Twilight's spine. She knew that voice.

"Y-yes," she squeaked. "Uh, who is this?" Even though she knew the answer, she had to at least play it cool.

"My name is Doctor Robotnik. Is Rainbow Dash with you?"

Twilight's eyes darted outside. The aforementioned tomboy caught sight of her face by this point, and she didn't need to tell Twilight she knew something wasn't right.

"N-no."

"Well, the next time you see her, tell her the only other person who ever punched me in the face was the school bully," She could almost feel him breathing in her ear as if he was right next to her instead of miles away. "He hit me in the cafeteria, causing a blunt force contusion to the soft tissue surrounding my orbital bone."

"So, a black eye?" she concluded.

"Clever girl. He humiliated me in front of the entire school and you know what I did in response?"

Twilight swallowed and cleared her throat. "You went to the principal's office to report unacceptable behavior?"

"No," Robotnik replied coldly. "I examined the inefficiency of a world where brawn reigned over brain, and I used technology to resolve that. Long story short, that boy ate his meals through a straw for a year, and I have never lost a fight again… until today."

Something inside Twilight grew unsettled. Whereas she used science and technology for the benefit of her friends and for others… Robotnik used it only for harm. For his own desires. This just hit a personal level.

"Hooray for me, then. Yay," she gave a slightly embarrassed giggle.

"No, because you're about to become the bully! With the straw!" Robotnik shouted into her ear, making her flinch. "I'm coming for you, Twilight Sparkle. And Rainbow Dash. And that kid. And when I catch you all, I'll-"

Twilight slammed the phone back into the receiver, realizing just now she had been sweating and breathing heavily. Wiping her forehead, she made her way outside just as Applejack returned with an armful of food.

"Sorry I took so long, y'all. I… Twilight, what the hey's up with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Yeah, what happened there?" Rainbow asked urgently. "Your big bro okay?"

"Robotnik," Twilight gasped. "He's onto us. If he catches up, I'm gonna be the bully with the straw."

"Uh, say what now?"

"Forget it! We gotta get outta here!"

The trio made their way back to the truck. Having just finished their next story, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sunset all noticed them. "Okay, this ain't exactly the healthiest meal, but-" Applejack's words were cut off when she looked into the truck… and found it empty.

Twilight and Rainbow noticed this, too. Soon, everyone noticed that Sonic was nowhere to be seen.

Twilight facepalmed. "Ugh! I told you guys to keep an eye on him!"

"Does that kid seriously not know how to sit still?!" Rainbow groaned. "Wait, where's my hoodie? And my shades?!"

Sunset and Rarity were speechless. Fluttershy just giggled and sheepishly blushed. "Um… oopsie?"

"AAAAAAAH!" Pinkie's sudden screech made everyone jump. "I BROKE MY OWN PINKIE PROMISE! I WAS SUCH A DOOFUS! A DOLT! A MORON! A… I… I… I don't feel too well…" And with a sigh, she collapsed into Rarity's arms.

"Heh… sorry," Sunset chuckled nervously. Twilight closed her eyes and held up a hand to silence her.

"Okay, yelling at you guys for being complete nincompoops isn't gonna solve anything," she told them. "We just need to find where he… went?" The music from the nearby building turned up, catching everyone's attention. Twilight's eyes locked on the roadside tavern… and she gulped.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no…."

Everyone was dead silent as they took in the sight of the bar. Fluttershy whimpered, ducking under the cab. While everyone stared at the bar, Rainbow narrowed her eyes.

"I'm going in."

"Uh, lemme go with you, Dash," Applejack suggested, putting the food inside the truck. At the athlete's confused face, she cleared her throat. "Big Mac has, uh, had a history with this place. He tried taking me with him."

"Okay. If you insist. Anyone else?"

No answer came from those in the back… until Twilight hung her head with a sigh. "Fine. But just this once."

…

Applejack pushed open the doors. "Just stay calm and don't stare at anything longer than you have to."

Twilight only nodded, holding on tightly to Rainbow's wrist as the three made their way inside. The nerd felt overwhelmed at the sight of arcade machines, a mechanical bull, a counter menu with questionable names like "Dodge the Draft" and "Bottom of the Bucket", and seemingly-less-than-friendly patrons… or maybe it was just her.

"Wait… there," Rainbow said, jerking free of Twilight's grip. She fast-walked her way over to a figure in a hoodie and a cowboy hat with AJ by her side. Trembling, Twilight ran to catch up with them.

Unamused, Applejack tapped the figure on the shoulder. The person turned, revealing a pair of rainbow-colored sunglasses on his face.

"Howdy, partner!" Sonic greeted them with a tip of the hat.

"I ain't your partner right now. Come on, let's skedaddle," AJ told him, gesturing for the doors. Rainbow stepped forward. "And I want my things back!"

"But there's a cover band tonight!" Sonic protested. "You gotta see their beards!"

"We'll catch them some other time," Rainbow replied in frustration. "Let's go, get up!"

"Please?" Twilight added nervously.

"If we stay," Sonic answered, crossing his fingers. "I Pinkie Promise I won't say another word for the rest of the trip, starting… now!"

"Uh, do Pinkie Promises work like that?" a stunned Rainbow said to Twilight, who shrugged. "Dunno. You'll have to ask the master."

"Welcome to the Piston Pit. What can I get you girls?" A waitress spoke up, startling everyone. Rainbow turned to her hastily. "Uh, we're not-"

"Oh!" Sonic gasped, immediately breaking his promise. "I want nachos and buffalo wings- oh! And guac! Heh! Funny word, isn't it? Guac, guac! Guaaac!"

If someone asked Rainbow, she'd say he was poorly impersonating a duck. The waitress turned to Sonic… and frowned before turning back to the girls. "Hey, no kids allowed in here, ladies."

"Um, he's eighteen like us, actually," Rainbow fibbed instantly. "We're gonna be starting our first year at Everfree University and he has a rare disease that stunts his growth." Sonic, initially confused at this, placed a hand on his hip.

"The face I was born with," he smugly added to the waitress. "The confidence I picked up along the way."

"Make his a Mellow Yellow, please," Rainbow suggested. With a nod, the waitress walked away. Sighing, Rainbow Dash sat down across from Sonic and pointed at him. "You owe me one, bud."

Sonic hardly listened, as he was too busy being entertained. "I've never sat in a barstool before! So squishy, oh, look at this! It spins!" He spun around in his seat, making Rainbow roll her eyes and Twilight rub her arm subconsciously.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa, ha, ha, ha, I feel sick." He stopped spinning, the glasses flying off and landing in Applejack's hand. She handed them back to Rainbow, who stuffed them up against her pocket.

"You having fun, Sonic?" She said with false pride. "Big night for you? Gonna check this off the old bucket list?"

"Great idea! In fact, I already have it on there!"

"Wait, what?" Rainbow dropped her tone, stunned at the words. Sonic muttered to himself, patting himself all over. "Let's see, where did I leave- no, not there. Um… aha! Here it is!"

He smacked down a small piece of notebook paper and snatched up a nearby pencil. "Hang out at a bar, check!" In one swift motion, he drew a line through the words. Looking back up, he noticed the girls' confused faces staring at him as if he had done something totally ridiculous. "What?"

"You… actually have a bucket list?" Rainbow asked him.

Sonic scoffed at her in shock. "Of course I have a bucket list! Who doesn't?! You're telling me you don't have one? You girls should totally get one! Just think of all the stuff you could do before kicking the bucket!" he picked up his list, gesturing to it and pointing at each phrase. "Look at this: learn parkour, eat a whole pizza, see a live race, find a magic treasure, make a prank call, run on a roller coaster track, guitar solo, learn a super cool dance, complete Daring Do comic collection, master the skateboard, I've practically done everything on this list! Well, almost everything."

Rainbow could see a few uncrossed things on the list. One of them had a circle around it, meaning it had to be an important one. But before Rainbow could get a good look at it, Sonic pulled it back to him. "Ladies, you have no idea what you're missing out on here at the Piston Pit."

"Ya know… I kinda get why you'd do that," AJ told him. "You had to leave your home to find seven magical crystals, so… why not have fun doing it?"

"Exactly!" Sonic shouted in an exasperated manner before turning to Twilight and Rainbow. "She gets it, why don't you two get it?!"

Rainbow Dash paused, slowly taking in Sonic's words.

"Well…" Twilight spoke up, running a hand through her hair. "We have done some pretty amazing things before, like saving the day numerous times and starting a band."

"Not sure if 'saving the day' can go on a bucket list, but who am I to judge you?"

Rainbow looked Sonic in the eye with a calm smile. "You know what? You're right," she explained. "Heh. I mean, look at me. I'm one of the most awesome people in all of Canterlot City. I've played in every single school sport, I'm the lead singer of the Sonic Rainbooms, I've used my super-speed to help people, and the first thing I do when I come in here is telling you to leave? What was I thinking?"

Sonic smiled back at her. "That's the Rainbow Dash I know."

"This place does look like the kind where you can get a lot of living done in a short period of time," Twilight added, feeling better about the Pit already. "We could spare an hour."

"Whaaat?" Sonic dramatically gasped. "You're all gonna bucket list with me?"

"You know it," Rainbow replied, holding out a fist. Hardly managing to contain his excitement, Sonic bumped it and adjusted his cowboy hat.

"You won't regret this!" he said excitedly, standing up from his seat. Twilight just gave him a nervous look.

"I'm pretty sure I will."

…

THUNK!

While a country-style beat played from a jukebox, Rainbow lowered her outstretched arm from the dartboard where her dart had hit the bullseye. She turned to Sonic with a confident expression. "Top that, blue!"

Sonic just rolled up the hoodie's sleeves, picked up a dart…

...and fired off every single dart in the can at rapid speed. Like bullets, they embedded themselves into the wall. A nearby waitress with darts in her hat dropped her jaw in shock as beer sprayed from dart-punctured cans.

"HA!" Rainbow shouted triumphantly. "You didn't even hit the board! I win!"

"Hey, ever hear something called thinking outside the dartboard?" Sonic replied, checking "compete in a sport" off his list.

On the dance floor, Sonic hopped around a dancing Applejack while twirling an imaginary lasso above his head. "Yippee-kai-yay!"

Twilight tossed basketball after basketball into the hoop, nearly at the high score. Taking a deep breath, she mentally calculated her next shot…

...only for a bunch of basketballs to sail through the net at once.

In shock, she dropped her own ball and turned to a knuckle-cracking Sonic. "New high score!" he called out. Whipping out his list, he drew a line through "do a slam dunk".

"Yeehaw!" AJ whooped, hopping off the mechanical bull and allowing Sonic a turn. He vaulted the fake beast, signaling to Rainbow. The girl slipped a quarter in and pressed "Shaken Not Steered", which lit up a green color.

"Wait a second," Sonic spoke over the music. "Is this bull missing a head or does it have two butts?"

Rainbow faked a yawn, almost regretting doing the lowest difficulty. Suddenly, Twilight's hand went in front of her face, a quarter in hand.

"Ha, ha! This is easy!"

Rainbow snickered at the girl in glasses. "Do it."

Twilight slipped the quarter in… and pressed "Deadly Desperado", causing the panel to flash red and an alarm to go off. Suddenly, the bull went wild, making angry noises and moving every which way as Sonic struggled to stay on.

"I'm a cowboy, baby!" he managed to say while the girls erupted into laughter. Applejack slapped her knee at the sight. But a huge crash made them stop and turn back to the bull… that was now bareback.

Sonic zipped back on. "I'm okay!" As soon as he got the beast under control, he checked off "tame a wild animal". Still giggling, Twilight took off her glasses to wipe at her eye.

Back on the dance floor, Sonic was having the time of his life. In fact, he was having so much fun, he hardly noticed himself bumping into Rainbow, who bumped into Twilight, who bumped into Applejack… who crashed into some barrels of beer. While patrons turned to the scene, the cowgirl spit the liquid out and groaned.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Sonic laughed a moment later while Applejack shook her hat to send droplets flinging. Twilight and Rainbow handed her some napkins, and she took them without even looking. "That was hilarious!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," AJ groaned, dabbing at her face with a napkin. "I'm just glad you're having a good time."

"I AM having a good time! This is the best night of my life!" Sonic answered happily. "What could go wrong?"

The girls looked at him… but instead of answering him, their eyes went past him and they all froze.

"You."

Sonic turned around… and saw three bulky guys standing over him. One of them, a bald guy with a beard, did not look happy.

"Hello, good sir!" Sonic greeted. "Is there something I can assist you with?"

"You've got something that belongs to me, you little punk."

"Wha- I beg your pardon?" Sonic answered, standing up to look the man in the eye. Even though he was bigger than Sonic, the boy wouldn't let anything like that stop him. He took off the hat, pretending to examine it. "I'm sorry, lemme see if this hat has your name on it- OH, WAIT! It doesn't!" He put it back on.

"Oh, uh, hey, you know what?" Twilight butted in. "We were just leaving, weren't we, buddy?" Rainbow, on the other hand, had a look that just dared the man to do something stupid.

"No, no, no, it's okay," Sonic replied. "I know exactly how to deal with guys like these."

"No, we're leav-" Twilight began, but sighed in defeat when Sonic picked up a bottle and cleared his throat. This is not gonna end well.

"Pop quiz, hotshot," Sonic boasted in a mean-sounding tone. "You just picked a fight with a poorly disguised, adrenaline-loving, carefree teenager who's seen way too many action movies. What do you do? What. Do you. Do?"

He bonked the bottle on the man's head… but nothing happened.

"Huh? Oh, uh, hold on. Didn't get that right. Lemme try again."

He bonked it again. "Dink. Dink, dink." He began to speed up and hit it faster, making Twilight gulp. "Break, please! Break, please! Break this bottle, please! Pleasepleaseplease!"

"Uh, Sonic?" Rainbow said, walking up behind the boy. She had to stop this before it got any-

"Wuh-oh!" Sonic suddenly ducked… and the fist meant for him smacked Rainbow across the face, knocking her into another patron. That patron made another person drop something that broke on the ground. Furious, that patron grabbed the one Rainbow had been knocked into and punched his lights out. Soon, the whole Piston Pit turned into a free-for-all.

Rainbow hissed, touching her stinging cheek. "Oh, you wanna do this the hard way?!" she called, standing back up to the man and punching an open palm. "Let's do this the hard way!" With a yell, she charged and tackled him to the ground.

Twilight yelped, cowering behind AJ for cover as the cowgirl bolted to her feet. AJ put her hands up like a boxer, punched a man aside, and dodged a blow aimed for her head. She nailed him in the gut, but someone else smashed a stool over him before she could do anything else. Another one came right at her, forcing her to duck in the nick of time. A strong kick sent him stumbling into two patrons.

"Twilight, stay close!" Applejack called, grabbing her hat and slapping it on her head. She turned to Sonic. "Now look what you've done!"

"Thanks! It's awesome, right?" Sonic said, putting up his dukes. "Alright, who's next? Who wants some? Who do I get to beat up?" While anxiously searching for someone to fight, he failed to notice the other two goons quickly overpowering Applejack. The farmgirl was nearly beaten into submission while Twilight desperately held her hands up in surrender. She couldn't risk using her telekinesis on them.

"Hey, has anybody seen my waitress?" Sonic called out to the crowd, oblivious to the girls' predicament while someone was flung to the floor in front of him. "Still waiting on those buffalo wings! And guac!"

Rainbow landed hard with a grunt, a few bruises on her face. Sonic looked to where she had come from… and saw the bald guy wipe some chair bits off his shoulder. He turned to Sonic with anger in his eyes.

"Why, you-!" Sonic shouted, dashing up to him, quickly landing some pummels on his face, and landing gracefully. "Thank you! Thank you! You're all too kind!"

"I'm gonna squash you good, you bug!"

Sonic turned… and his face fell. The man was hardly fazed by Sonic's attack. With a steaming face, he charged for Sonic like a bull, held out his hands to grab the boy… and stopped.

"Really?" Sonic asked the motionless man. "Ugh. Cheap move." His eyes scanned the bar, which was now completely frozen. Just before the man could touch him, Sonic had increased his awareness a hundredfold, his body now moving so fast it was reducing everything around him to a super-slow crawl.

But just behind the man, he heard Rainbow groan and clamber to her feet. Sonic slid underneath the man- leaving his hoodie and hat behind- and ran to the girl's side.

"Alright, you jerk! That's it! Nobody messes with Rainbow Da-" she paused, taking in the sight of the paused scene around her. "What the…?"

"Wow. This is new."

"Sonic? I… how… what just happened?"

"Basically, you should be frozen because I went so fast I slowed time to a snail's pace," Sonic explained.

"Whoa… you can do that, too?" Rainbow asked with awe. "Oh, that is so cool! I only did that once, you know!"

"Maybe because you have super speed too, you aren't affected," Sonic guessed. "Great. The more, the merrier."

"So… now, what?" the athlete questioned. "Must've done this for a reason. And please don't say leaving."

"Leaving? Nah, I got something in mind."

"Like…?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Oh… I should probably help them out." she pointed to a struggling Applejack and a cowering Twilight about to be punched in the face.

"You help AJ. I got everyone else."

"How are you gonna do that?"

Sonic gave her a smile. "Lemme show you how it's done." And he took off with Rainbow hot on his heels.

Sonic slowly ran through the bar with a blue streak trailing behind him, passing brawling patrons and smashed chairs. He smirked coyly at the sight of a broken bottle, ducking between the legs of another patron. Rainbow zipped up to a startled waitress with a rainbow streak, grabbing her tray and smashing it against a patron's face. She slid along the floor, snatching a pool cue and running up to another patron about to body slam someone else. Swinging the pool cue like a baseball bat, she broke it across his back.

Sonic slid to another patron, taking a quick selfie with his phone. Breaking into another slow run, he saw Rainbow remove a guy's belt and tie his hands together with it. Spotting Sonic, she flashed him a thumbs-up. Sonic returned the gesture…

...and got socked by a flying cowboy boot. Rainbow laughed at his face, to which the boy in blue just scowled at her. Just then, the two approached AJ and Twilight.

Rainbow grabbed one of the attackers' fists, redirecting it into the other one's face. Ducking underneath and grabbing AJ, she pushed her over to the counter. Sonic jumped on top of patrons until he reached Twilight's attackers. Pulling the first one's hat over his head, he bounced off the man's belly and reached the second one's pants. The boy grabbed his underwear, stretching it all the way to an eagle ornament. He jumped off onto the wall, pushing himself off and into Twilight.

While he pushed Twilight up to the bar, Rainbow picked up a bottle, emptied it of its contents by moving it away from the liquid, and smashed it across the face of a person who just happened to be facing her. Sonic landed on the counter, breaking up glass beneath his shoes and kicking a drink in AJ and Twilight's direction.

He ran along the counter toward another waitress who had a patron shoved into her. Curious, Sonic took one of the hot dogs with chili on it, took a bite… and his face lit up. He scarfed down the rest of the chili dogs and took off with sparklers, ketchup, and mustard in his hands.

Rainbow casually strolled through the bar, putting her finger in a flying container of dipping sauce and into her mouth. She calmly pushed away a chair leg, climbed over a fallen patron, and took a buffalo wing. She bit into it, kicking a barrel someone was standing on from underneath him. She tossed the buffalo wing away with pride… and stopped in her tracks.

Sonic was on top of three more patrons. He was doing a little dance with sparklers on one of them and spraying both ketchup and mustard on the other two's heads. He was zipping between positions, making it look like there were three of him. Once he was finished, he drew a little face on the first patron and stuck the sparklers in his ears.

Next, a blue whirlwind zoomed around two patrons, one of whom was about to smash a barrel over the other. When the typhoon died down, Sonic tossed a roll of toilet paper onto the wrapped-up patrons.

Showoff. Rainbow Dash thought. She ran off in a multicolored blur, her sneakers slapping the wooden floor. Sliding to a stop in front of a stool, she grabbed it and shoved it seat-first into a patron's gut. She jogged across the bar, looking for whatever fun she could have next… until she felt something brush against her ankle.

Rainbow stopped, looking down to her feet to see a barter line zipping past her. Sonic carried it alongside him as he ran, trailing it underneath the legs of every patron Rainbow didn't get. He ran up onto the wall and on the ceiling, attaching the line to the ceiling fan and swinging off.

Lastly, while Rainbow ran alongside him, he plucked a bear head off the wall and jumped on the patrons like platforms. He plopped the bear head onto the head of the bald guy who was charging for him. Now in front of the man again, Sonic got his hoodie and hat back on. Rainbow joined him just as he retrieved a napkin from the counter and handed it to her. Taking the napkin from Sonic, Rainbow stood ready…

...and Sonic snapped his fingers.

The bar sprung back to life. The people Rainbow had messed with fell, collapsed, got knocked down, or inadvertently hit an ally while the ceiling fan spun, taking the barter line with it. The patrons yelled out, the line sweeping them out from underneath. One of Twilight's attackers punched his accomplice in the face… and the eagle ornament broke off, smacking him right in the rear end. He screamed.

"Ole!" Rainbow cried, the bald man charging past her and flying straight out the window. Glass flew everywhere and he tumbled to the ground.

Twilight yelped and AJ jolted to action… only to find themselves at the counter. The young genius opened one eye and AJ slowly lowered her guard with heavy breaths. Both girls stood confused as everyone in the bar lay hurt, knocked down, or unconscious. Several of them groaned.

One poor soul wrapped in toilet paper staggered toward them like the mummy he resembled, mumbling something incomprehensible. He tripped over a fallen patron and collapsed. Before anyone could question what had happened… a blue and rainbow blur flashed in front of them.

"Should we get out of here?" Sonic suggested, Rainbow Dash doing a little stretch.

"Uh… sure," AJ replied, still hopelessly baffled. The two speedsters turned to each other and high-fived.

…

Sunset Shimmer sighed. "Where are those guys? They shouldn't have been long."

Before anyone could answer, someone with a bear head crashed through the window of the tavern, alerting everyone outside. "My goodness!" Rarity gasped as the crowd murmured. "Whatever happened to him?"

Suddenly, the doors to the Piston Pit burst open. AJ and Twilight were sprinting towards the truck, Sonic and Rainbow Dash close behind them. Sunset couldn't tell from here, but it looked like the two of them were… celebrating?

"That was amazing!" Sonic shouted, tossing away his hat while Rainbow whooped in delight and jumped over the fallen man. He zipped around the athlete, ending up running backward. "Oh, wait a second! Did we even pay our tip? IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

Applejack quickly unlocked the truck, scrambled into the driver's seat, and started the engine. Twilight practically dove through the open window of her seat and tumbled inside. "Ow…"

"Twilight!" Sunset gasped. "What-"

"Watch this, watch this, I always wanted to do this!" Sonic zipped up to the truck, slid across the hood like a cool dude, and vaulted inside. "WOO!"

Rainbow jumped onto the roof of the truck, grabbing the underside and swinging into her own seat. "AW, YEAH! SO AWESOME!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what-"

Sunset was cut off by the truck lurching into reverse, nearly smacking her against the window. Everyone else was thrown onto the back cab, causing the unconscious Pinkie to stir.

"Get 'em!" someone shouted from the crowd. From the truck, Rainbow waved while Sonic gave a two-fingered salute.

"See ya, suckers!"

"Buh-bye, bozos!"

"I can't say for sure, but I think they liked me! Way more than those guys at Mirage Saloon!"

"Oh, they LOVED you, dude!"

"WOOHOO!"

AJ"s truck roared onto the road and took off at full-throttle, leaving the rest of the angry bar patrons in the dust.

Sonic and Rainbow whooped triumphantly again, this time with Twilight and AJ joining in with a "Yeehaw!" from the driver.

"YEAH! HAHA! Ooh, ouch." Rainbow touched herself on the cheek.

"He... he got you pretty good back there!" Sonic laughed, turning around to face her.

"It's alright. I've been hit harder," Rainbow reassured him.

"Did you see how much toilet paper I used?! The next person that goes into that bathroom will have NOTHING to wipe with!"

"Ha, ha, ha! Best! Night! EVER! Huh? Aw, man! That jerk scratched my shades!"

"Ah, forget about that! You can just get new ones, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sunset shouted, finally drawing the attention of everyone inside. "Slow down for a second!"

"Slow down? Slow down?" Rainbow repeated in disbelief.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" Sonic backed up.

"What happened there?" Fluttershy asked. "Why were those people mad at you?"

"And for goodness's sake," Rarity added in frustration. "What kind of ruckus did you hooligans get yourselves into?!"

Before a reply could be given, Pinkie Pie groaned and rubbed her head. "I had the worst nightmare ever…" she said. "I dreamed that I made a Pinkie Promise… and I broke it!"

Twilight, AJ, Rainbow, and Sonic all shared a knowing smile. On his bucket list, Sonic crossed out "start a bar fight" while Rainbow watched him.

"I have got to get my own bucket list."

…

"The floors were sticky! The crowd was rough! And the odds were against us! But there was no stopping Danger Dash and the Blue Blur!"

"Well…" Sunset told them. "I'm glad to see you two are getting along just fine. But I still can't believe that guy had the nerve to punch you in the face."

When AJ had pulled into a hotel, Twilight requested two rooms of four. In one of them, AJ was recapping the events at the bar with Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. In the other room, Sonic, Rainbow, Sunset, and Twilight were all settling down to sleep.

Twilight handed Rainbow a towel, and the jock pressed it against her face. After Twilight handed another towel to Sonic, he wasn't sure what to do with it… until he looked to Rainbow. The boy pressed it to his own cheek. Rainbow caught notice, although she didn't give it much thought.

"Mm."

"Mm," Sonic repeated.

"Mm."

"Mm."

"Mm."

"Mm."

"Okay."

"So, what are we gonna do now?!" His own excitement burst to the top like Pinkie.

"I…" Sunset answered for Rainbow. "...am going to pass out watching TV. You should, too."

"The night's still young, Shimmy!" Sonic answered in an annoyed tone. "And I wanna soak up every minute of it!"

Sunset paused. "Did you just call me 'Shimmy'?"

"Anything you can find to do in this room, although I doubt there'll be much..." Twilight told him. "You knock yourself out."

Sonic looked around the room like a kid unsure of what to get in a toy store. Then, he started to do whatever he could in the hotel room in blurry afterimages of himself. He manually channel-changed the TV, pillow-fought with himself, balanced on a light fixture with a lampshade on his head, dug through some napkins, spun around on a painting, stomped on the toilet, messed with the cabinets, toilet-papered the room, and raced into the bathroom… all in five seconds.

All the while, Twilight, Rainbow, and Sunset all looked around in a frenzy in a desperate effort to keep track of him. A flushing sound was heard, and Sonic zipped back onto the bed he shared with Rainbow wrapped in towels.

"Good times."

Rainbow laid down next to him while Twilight and Sunset crawled into bed. Sonic took off the towel around his head and set it aside. "Hey, so… never thought to ask this earlier, but… where exactly did you come from?"

"And how can you use magic without a geode?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, now seems like a reasonable time for an explanation," Sonic agreed, reaching into his bag of rings. He held one out in front of him… and Rainbow's hand clamped down on his arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You said you were gonna explain things, not take off on us!"

"Hey, hold your horses!" Sonic told her. "There's another neat trick the rings can do!" He took another ring out of the bag, slipping this one onto his finger. He held up the first ring to his eye, cleared his throat, and spoke clearly in deep thought.

"Ring: Reveal."

The golden decoration flashed with a dinging sound, and Sonic tossed it between the beds. It erupted in size, revealing a beautiful tropical island on the other side.

All three girls were awestruck as they got a closer view of the island as if they were seeing it from a flying bird's eye. Shortly, it stopped near a grassy path near a land bridge.

"This is the island where I'm from," Sonic began while the girls saw a blue streak inside the ring racing down the green path. After climbing a slope, the streak looped around and zoomed over the land bridge, making it crumble in his wake.

"South Island, the most beautiful place in the Mobius Archipelago. It had everything: sandy beaches, cascading waterfalls, public access to loop-de-loops..." As he spoke, the blur sped through a mentioned loop. Sunset, Twilight, and Rainbow could hear childlike laughter coming from it.

"And I never had to catch a school bus because I could run across the entire island in less than two minutes." Rainbow opened her mouth to ask a question…

"Also, there was no school."

That settled it, then. She turned her eyes back to the ring. Everyone got a better look at the blur after it shot off a natural ramp and landed on the other side: a younger Sonic, possibly around six years old.

"I know! Pretty sweet island, right?" Sonic commented, noticing the girls' amazed looks.

The kid Sonic bounded off rock walls and raced down another grassy hill, rounding a bend into a tranquil village overlooking a lovely beach. He raced past buildings while everyday villagers had to step aside. Rainbow caught a few kids, one who was tinkering with something, waving hello as the blur sped by. The blue streak traveled up bridges, across alleys, onto rooftops… and finally, through the front door of one wooden hut.

Inside, the streak raced around a woman in a circle, slowing down right in front of her. An owl on top of its perch flew to the woman's shoulder, who opened her eyes to look at the young Sonic.

"That's Longclaw," Sonic told the girls as his younger self presented a sunflower to her. "She took care of me. She's descended from one of Seaside Village's founders, making her a really important person on South Island. And she's also a really nice woman."

He held up his ring finger… and the footage in the other ring stopped. "So, I know what you're thinking," he said, directed specifically to Twilight. "You still want to know how I got my powers, right? Well then, let's back up."

He pointed to his left, mimicking some rewinding noises while the footage flew by in reverse. Pretty soon, it showed a dark cave with water surrounding a rocky path. A stalactite shone with a bright blue color… and a figure appeared at the entrance.

"I was just an ordinary kid longing for something greater," Sonic explained as his younger self stepped onto the scene. Unlike what the girls had seen earlier, his hair was dark brown and his green eyes scanned the cave in amazement. "Ever since I could remember, I would explore South Island for something awesome. Mostly, I never found anything good… but that day, when I was five, I discovered something epic."

Sonic's younger self gasped when he saw the blue glow on the stalactite. He ran up to it, eager to see what it was. The glowing object soon came into view: a bright blue crystal that Twilight recognized. "A geode… just like our own."

"Maybe it was," Sonic said. "But it did something yours probably didn't." In the ring, the younger Sonic reached out to touch the crystal… and grabbed it.

The crystal suddenly flashed, spreading blue lightning throughout the child's body. The boy let go of the crystal, which began to dissolve into mist. The mist flew into the air… and into the boy's body, now giving off a blue glow, who passed out and collapsed as the last bits of lightning sparkled all across him.

"It fused with you… amazing," Twilight realized. "That's why I didn't see one on you."

Soon, the boy came to, rubbing his head getting a static shock. He turned to see his reflection in the water… and saw that his hair was now a bright blue color. "Wow. I always thought that was dye." Rainbow commented. "Like mine."

"Nah, this is a hundred percent natural," Sonic replied, pointing to his hair. "Plus, if it was dye, I'd never wash it out for good!"

Back in the ring, the boy scrambled to his feet, still looking at himself in awe. "I… I gotta tell the others!" He moved to run… and sped off in a blue streak.

WHAM! He ran straight into a rock wall, which made everyone but Sonic flinch. Rainbow was reminded of the time she had first got her own super speed… and had experienced a similar feeling. The boy fell to the ground in a daze.

"Ow… what the…" The boy held out a hand, now seeing it spark with blue lightning. But beyond the hand… were chunks of rock from the impact falling towards him!

"AAH!" the kid screamed, shielding his face with his hands. Then, just before the boulders could crush him… they slowed to a stop until they were right above him. The kid cracked open an eye… and scooted away from them in panic before realizing they weren't moving.

"Huh?" he climbed to his feet, now seeing everything around him had stopped. A nearby butterfly was frozen mid-flight. He waved his hand in front of it, but it didn't respond. "Whoa… this is crazy… what happened to me?"

"Listen, I don't exactly know what that crystal was for sure and how it worked…" Sonic told the girls. "But I learned that it was straight-up awesome sauce! It made me do things I could never, ever do! The super-speed? That was just the tip of the iceberg! It enhanced my awareness to make everything slow down!"

The young Sonic turned to a hill, took a deep breath… and began to run slowly until a blue streak trailed behind him. He ran steadily downhill, starting to get the hang of the speed. However, his joy was abruptly cut off when he tripped on a rock. He yelled out, tumbling down in a ball-like shape… until he became enveloped in a bright sapphire ball of lightning and energy.

VREEEEE!

The spinning blue sphere smashed through a boulder, reducing it to dust and pebbles as time resumed to normal. The blue light faded, making the young Sonic tumble and land face-first on the ground. Dazed and woozy, he rose to his feet and turned around. His eyes widened and all breath left his throat when he saw what he had done.

"It made me extremely flexible, making me able to curl into a ball and knock over targets like bowling pins! For most people, that would be impossible to do; their spines just wouldn't take it!"

"No. Freaking. WAY!" the young Sonic shouted in excitement. Eager to see what else he could do, he blasted off down the path. As he raced and zoomed across the island, the girls continued to watch.

"The crystal also made me super agile. I was pulling off all kinds of parkour tricks in no time! Located just outside the village, Green Hill became my first personal racetrack! The loops and corkscrews? All. Mine. Pretty soon, I charted all of what South Island had to offer, and if that wasn't enough, the entire archipelago nearby was waiting! Both Westside and the floating Angel Island soon had a blue streak racing through it!"

The young Sonic blasted down a straight road, now moving so fast that a vapor cone formed around him. Awed at this, the kid pushed himself further… and further… and further until…

He blasted past the barrier, a blue shockwave traveling out behind him. Trees were nearly torn from their roots and a loud thunder-like sound rocked the island.

"And once I managed to break the sound barrier and perform my very first sonic boom, I decided it was time to reinvent myself completely. I ditched my birth name and gave myself a new one dedicated to my newfound awesome, way-past-cool power: Sonic!"

Sonic paused the feed again, this time pointing to the right to make it fast-forward. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. Turns out that speed wasn't just for show. One day, the island's animals and several people began to mysteriously vanish! And I was the one to boldly step up and find out what the heck was going on!"

A blue streak sped through the area known as Green Hill of South Island, eyes peeled for anything suspicious. But, a minute into his run, he saw something.

"Gyah!" he braked to a halt in front of a huge, robotic ladybug. "What's that?" The machine swiped at him with a pincer, to which he jumped over to avoid. "Besides unfriendly."

More of them sped up to him, surrounding him from all sides. "And numerous… uh, hey, guys! Wait…" One of the robots moved towards him, only for the thinking kid to block it with his foot. "Or is it girls? Do robots get genders? You know what? I'll just call you…"

In five seconds, he smashed and trashed the bots to scrap with wild spin attacks. "Motobugs!" he finished with a snap of his fingers, standing at the wreckage of one of them. "Which seems… oddly appropriate."

Something squeaked from inside. "Huh?" He moved aside parts of the wreck, revealing a bluebird that flew away. The animal chirped in thanks to the stunned boy.

"Like… really appropriate," Six-year-old Sonic said, now noticing other small animals emerging from other robot shells. "Guess this solves the mystery of what happened to all the animals, at least."

"Fluttershy is not gonna be happy about this," Rainbow spoke up.

"Someone was using these critters as power sources for robots. Now, I had to find out why. Fortunately, one of the robots was a little… cooperative."

Young Sonic spotted a mechanical chameleon on a nearby rock wall. In a flash, he darted up a tree, jumped off, and grabbed onto the robot.

"Hey there!" he called, holding the bot down so it wouldn't attack him. "So, who built you? And why did they think it was cool to stuff you full of critters?!" The robot rose into the air, taking the boy with him.

"Alright, buddy! Mush! Take me to your leader!"

More footage followed detailing Sonic throwing the robot into some kind of containment pod, fighting off someone with a wrecking ball, and making the pod self-destruct to free the villagers inside.

"I learned that Starline, the man whose butt I kicked, claimed to be working for someone at a way higher level than both of us. Someone who deemed all organic life to be inefficient and dreamed of a world full of metal and machinery. Someone who cared for circuits and sensors more than he did for flesh and blood."

Twilight gasped, remembering what she had heard back at the soccer field. She had heard the man saying how much he loved machines, how they were flawless…

"Robotnik!"

"Yeah, but I didn't know at the time. All that mattered to me was South Island's safety and my kick-back-and-relax style. If he gets the Seven Gems of Miracles, he could make that dream a reality."

"So what inspired you to get them first?" Sunset asked.

"Not Robuttnik, I'll say that," Sonic said, once again fast-forwarding the footage. "Something darker. Something that struck South Island recently, when I turned thirteen almost a year ago."

A dark cloud formed over the village, blocking out the sunlight and scaring the villagers. "We hardly used magic all the time, but it was still a part of us. I can tell you this: that storm or whatever it was wanted our magic. And it tore the whole village apart to get it."

Purple lightning struck villagers, draining them of magic and making them collapse. "Turns out with great power comes great power-hungry bad guys. Anyone who had magic in them? Weakened."

After a magic ring emerged from a lake, high winds sucked up all the water. "The Lake of Rings? Dried up."

People and animals scrambled for safety while more lightning decimated villagers. In the midst of it all, Sonic fought back against the wind. "I thought I could take this thing by myself."

He scowled, blasting into the village, climbing the huts, and leaping up at the dark clouds. He got ready to spin… and two purple eyes opened in the darkness.

Sonic froze in fear, unable to do anything… until a large, murky hand appeared from the dark and swatted him aside. Sonic crashed through a tree, splintering it to bits and making it collapse.

"I couldn't fight it. But now I knew that something was in that storm, and it wouldn't leave until it drained South Island of all magic, as it must have done for everywhere else it traveled. So now, all everyone could do was hide… and hope for a miracle."

Inside a cave, survivors huddled together while Sonic looked after an injured Longclaw. Her owl never turned its eyes away from its master. "Longclaw was badly injured, and all my other friends had no idea what to do. Longclaw begged me to find the gems, no matter where they hid. Should I find them all, I can use them to wish away that thing. Even now… I still have nightmares in which I fail."

Sonic opened a ring portal, took one last look at the South Island villagers… and jumped through. He arrived in a dark forest somewhere on the mainland, alien and unfamiliar. The image in the ring he had thrown shifted to reveal South Island... completely covered by dark clouds and violet flashes of lightning. With a heavy heart, Sonic reached out to the ring as he looked back on the only home he ever knew...

In the hotel room, the ring shrunk and flew back to Sonic's hand. Taking off the ring on his finger, he placed both of them back in the bag. "They're all counting on me to save them. To fix everything."

The girls were silent. Rainbow could still see the dark eyes. "And if I fail…" Sonic whispered. "Then it's all over. I won't have a home to go back to."

"Sonic…" Twilight whispered as Rainbow got up from the bed. "You're not alone this time."

"Yeah…" the boy muttered to himself. "Not alone… that would've been nice earlier."

"You should get some sleep," Rainbow said, moving over to a lamp Sonic had knocked over.

"You sleep," Sonic said, raising his voice and pointing to Rainbow. "Don't worry about me. I'm gonna stay up all night enjoying this place while I can. I live for adventure, after all!"

"Sure, kiddo," Rainbow said, turning off the light- after picking up a lamp Sonic had knocked over during his speeding spree- and heading back to bed. "As long as we're on the road by-" Sonic was now asleep and out cold, snoring and muttering stuff to himself. Sunset smiled. "Whatever happened to staying up all night?"

"C'mon, Sun," Twilight said with a yawn, turning out the light and placing her glasses on the nearby stand. "Time for you to set." While everyone else settled down, Rainbow started to tuck herself in… when something on the stand caught her eye.

She waited until everyone was asleep before she made her move. Slowly, she reached over the snoring Sonic (who muttered "pop quiz, hotshot" as she did), taking a piece of paper from the stand. Rainbow reached for her necklace, closed her eyes calmly… and prompting the geode to glow. Now with a proper light source, she held the paper up to her face.

"Sonic's bucket list?" she whispered, her magenta eyes taking in the sight of crossed-out words. Her eyes moved down the line of what he had and hadn't done, smiling at the sight of those he did at the Piston Pit. But when she came to one uncrossed line, she noticed a circle around it: the same circled phrase she'd seen when he first presented it to her. And around that circle was one phrase written neatly.

Make a real friend

Something tugged at Rainbow's heartstrings. She cursed herself for not seeing it earlier. This kid was forced from his home, forced to abandon all he knew… including whatever friends he made over there. Maybe even that kid...

He was… lost, to put it simply. All alone, wandering a strange, unknown-to-him land in his quest. Alone without anyone to keep company. And on top of homesickness… it was eating him out. He had to start all over.

He once knew what friendship could be… but now he had forgotten.

What was that thing they said about speed? The only thing about being faster than light is that you only live in darkness? That was the best description she could come up with for this… even though she knew the teen could move faster than sound, not light.

Rainbow Dash's geode dimmed its glow, and she put the bucket list back on the stand. As she readjusted herself… she felt something wet roll down her cheek.

Wait, was she crying? She was the best sports player in CHS, she didn't cry for anything! Let alone a kid she barely even knew!

Wait, no… she did know Sonic. She took that back. But… Why was she feeling this way for him? Sure, they loved adventure, they both had super speed, they were both loyal to their friends, and they both enjoyed living life at high speed…

She paused. Those were exactly the reasons. She just wasn't sure how to handle it. Did… did he feel the same way? Had she opened up more since the Pit and their little celebration?

No, she shouldn't worry. Right now, she should get some sleep already.

She let her head fall on the pillow, and, after taking one last look at the sleeping boy in blue… she smiled and closed her eyes.