(Fillydelphia – Dragon Town) – 19:34
"So, Cinos. Why do you have those bandages? You crashed or something?" Drake asked as you two sit down on one of the tables.
"Uh, something like that…" Cinos said as he look around. The place wasn't big, only seven tables scattered around but six were occupied by various dragons, some eating food while others were chatting.
chuckles* "Well, you must have had a messy fall or something, never seen a pony hurt so much by crashing." He said as a dragon come to their table.
"Hey, Drake. What's gonna be for today?" A pink dragon asked.
"Hi, Bell. A chili dog for me and… a veg one to Cinos here." Drake said.
"Uhum… Eat here, right?" She asked.
"Yup." Drake reply as she went to the kitchen. "So, where are you from?"
"Ponyville…" Cinos said, just paying attention to the spicy scents on the place.
"Ponyville, huh? Quite some distance there…" Drake said. Then Bell came back with their food
"Here you chili dog." She gave it to Drake, then turn and give Cinos his veg dog. "And here's your veg dog. Want anything else?" She asked.
"Nah, I'm go-" He stopped as he and Bell stared Cinos who ate his veg dog in one bite.
"Hm… That was really good. Can I have more?" He asked.
"Uh, you wanna mine?" Drake asked.
"Drake! You know ponies can't e-","Sure!" Cinos interrupted her as he grabbed the chili dog from Drake. Bell stared shocked as Cinos ate in one bite as well.
"Ho-?! You're the weirdest pony I ever meet." She said.
"Bell, why don't you prepare some more chili dogs?" Drake asked, grinning.
"Uh, right. Sure…" Bell said, heading back to the kitchen, a little stunned.
"…So. I have a question." Drake said.
"What is it?" Cinos asked.
"Are you supposed to be an alicorn or something like that?" He asked.
"…Oh. Well, that's a funny, long story…" Cinos says, chuckling.
"Well… We have time." He said.
"Okay… So, there was a…"
(Still in Fillydelphia – City Center) – 19:43
"Ugh! We'll never find him in this huge city!" Rotor said, frustrated.
"Come on, it can't be that hard to spot a pony with both wings and horns." Tails said as he glanced their surroundings.
"And don't forget this is Sonic we're talking about. He's probably in someplace with chili dogs or something… right?" Amy said, unsure as he looked at Tails.
"Chili has meat. We can't eat meat, Amy." Tails said, still looking around.
"Well, do you know if he would search for any specific food around then?" She asked.
"Uh, no…?" He said, shrugging.
"How we gonna find him then?" Amy asked.
"Maybe we should split up, so we can cover more ground. We can meet up back at the hospital in say… an hour?" Rotor said.
"Okay, that sounds good." Tails said.
"Yeah…" Amy said, looking around.
"Alright, see you two in an hour." Rotor then start heading north.
"Be careful, these ponies here are not that friendly…" Tails said as he head west.
"Uh, okay…" Amy then start heading south, after some minutes of walking she strumbled on an entrance with a very decorated sign written 'dragon town', as well as some dragons walking around minding their own business. "Hm… a little look around shouldn't hurt." She said, entering the neighborhood.
The first thing she noticed was that the temperature was a little more warm then on the rest of the city, the second was the strong scent of spicy food and a slightly smell of burned stuff, and the third was some shouting/cheering coming from the next street. Heading that way, Amy found herself in front of a fast food restaurant.
From inside, could be heard someone shouting "Come on, Drake! I bet on you!"
Then a pink dragon wearing an cook's apron left the restaurant with some bubble gum on a claw and leaned against the wall of the restaurant, Amy decided to approach the dragon. "Hey."
"Hm?" The dragon turned to her, "Oh, another pony. What is up with today?" She murmured the last part.
"Uh, I'm searching for someone and I was wondering if you happen to see him." Amy said.
"Well, how do your friend looks like?" The dragon asked, chewing the gum.
"He's a blue pegasus with a horn." Amy said.
The pink dragon stopped chewing and looked at her. "Really? ...He's inside." She said, opening the door with one arm for Amy.
"Thank you… uh, what's your name?" Amy asked.
"You can call me Bell." Bell said.
"Thank you, Bell. I'm Amy." Amy said, holding a hoof to her which Bell took and shaked.
Once inside, Amy saw that one table had a lot of dragons around it, cheering as a green dragon was struggling to eat the half filled big plate of hot dogs in front of him as a blue pegasus with a horn was just finishing his plate.
gasps* "It has to be him!" Amy whispered as she approached the crowd of dragons, watching as the pegasus just finished the plate of hot dogs.
Burp* "What's the matter, Drake? Can't keep up?" sonic said, levitating one of the hot dogs from the dragon's plate and ate it.
"…I *Burp* Can't… I give up…" The green dragon named Drake said, trying not to throw up. Bell then came back from the kitchen with a bucket and put near Drake, who grab it and immediately vomited inside it while Bell rolled her eyes and tapped his back.
"Eww…" Amy gagged as she approuched the horned pegasus. "Hey, Sonic."
The pegasus immediately turned to her, with a curious expression. "Uh, do I know you?" He asked.
"It's me, Amy. Can't you remember?" Amy asked.
"Uh, no…" He said.
sigh* "Look, we need to go and meet up with Rotor and Tails." Amy said.
"Wait, Tails is here too?" He asked, surprised.
"Yes. Now let's go. We gonna wait them at the hospital." Amy said.
"Okay, just let me talk with them." He said, getting up and approuching Bell and Drake. "Hey, uh, thanks for the food. It was very good." He said.
"Heh, glad you liked it." Bell said.
Drake then put the bucket down, "Ugh, I think I'm fine now. Say Cinos, you ready for the next stop?" Drake asked.
"Uh, about that. I kinda have to go now. Sorry." He said.
"Nah, don't worry. But when ya have time, come by and visit us. The place will be always be open for a friend." Drake said, giving him a thumbs up as Bell smiled in agreement.
"Of course. See you two around." He said, then went to the door where Amy was waiting him.
(Cinos's POV) – 20:13
"Okay, let's go." You say.
"Alright, follow me." Amy said as she lead you outside the restaurant then out of Dragon Town. After some more minutes of walking you two arrive at the hospital. "Okay, now we wait. It shouldn't take too long before they arrive."
"Okay…" You say as you glance around for something interesting to pass the time. Not finding anything you just stare at the night sky filled with stars. You close your eyes, concentrating as you decide to try and contact Sonic again.
'Sonic? Sonic, if you can hear me, please answer!' Nothing.
"Amy? You don't mind if I meditate here while we wait?" You ask with your eyes still closed.
"Huh? Oh, uh no…" She said, confused.
"Warn me when they arrive." You said as you sit down and closed you eyes.
Some moments passed and you start noticing the sounds around you start fading until you could hear nothing but your breath. Opening your eyes, you notice you was surrounded by a complete black void of darkness.
"…Sonic?..." You call for him, your voice echoing through the endless void, to receive no answer. "Sonic! You there? Please, show a sign of life. Anything!" You shouted this time, only to meet the same result. "Dammit, Sonic… Where did you go?.." Then you start hearing some muffed sounds, then a feminine voice saying something, you realize it's Amy trying to wake you up.
Once you 'wake up' you see Amy in your front shaking you a little, "Sonic. Wake up!"
"Sorry about that. Did they arrive?" You asked. She nodded and walked to the side, revealing two ponies looking at you.
"Hey, Sonic. It's good to see you're okay, you had me very worried." Tails said.
"Uh, I'm okay..?" You said, a little confused.
"Okay, now that we found you. We can focus on finding the final Chaos Emerald lost on this place." Rotor said.
"Wait, emerald? As in a chaos emerald, Rotor?" Tails asked.
"Yes! You remember?" The Rotor asked.
"Yeah. What would you need that for?" Tails asked.
"And what is Mobius?" You asked, confused.
"Mobius is our world. And we need that chaos emerald to return and defend it against Eggman." Amy said.
"Wait… what?" You and Tails both ask.
"Look, we don't have much time left. We need to-" As Amy was talking, suddently a strange noise came directly above you all. Looking up you widen your eyes as a bunch of robots where about to crash on top of you four.
"Watch out!" You shout as you push Tails out of the way and jump off as well, narrowsly dodging the robots as they crash on the ground. "What the hell was that?" You ask as the robots slowly get up, they didn't look like the robots Eggman send to attack Ponyville before, these robots only were carring pickaxes and one even has a stone crusher.
Gasps* "Eggman's robots! Attack before they do the same!" Amy said as she spawned her hammer and smashed one of them. You quickly follow suit and kick the head of the nearest robot, ripping it off and blowing up it's body. Tails was next as he shoot from his horn a lightning bolt at the last three robots, blowing them up instantly.
All this commotion got the attention of everypony near them as well as inside the hospital's entrance. Causing a little panic due to the explosions. "Weird. Why did these robots have pickaxes instead of weapons?" Rotor asked, confused.
"Maybe he's running out of robots?" You suggest.
"I doubt it. But even if he was, then why would he sent them in the first place?" Rotor questioned as he glance through what was left of the robots.
"Well, running out of robots or not. We should salvage all the parts we can from these, so I can finally fix my tracker." Tails said as he join Rotor on the search.
"So after you two search, we should go where next?" Amy asked.
"We should return to Ponyville. Once I- Got it!" Tails exclaimed as he pulled from the pile of scrap a intact circuit board. "Alright, let's go."
[Ponyville – Golden Oak Library] – (Knuckles's POV) – 20:34
"You sure you don't wanna just rest?" Applejack asked.
"I'm fine, AJ. So, what's the problem Twilight?" You ask.
"No pony around have seen Sonic or Tails all day. I'm worried now." Twilight said, pacing in front of her desk.
sighs* "I guess they are taking a long time to come back." You say as you feel uncorfortable with the huge bandage on your neck.
"Hey… ya hearing that noise?" Applejack asked.
Once you three stay silence, you start picking up the sound of a engine very distant. "…Now that you mention, yes." You say.
Twilight quickly head outside the library, you and applejack following behind. At the sky you could see the shape of a plane you immediately recognize as Tails's plane. "Hey, it's Tails." You say.
[At the plane] – (No one's POV)
"So… That's Ponyville?" Amy asked loudly due to the loud engines of the plane as she stood on the left wing.
"Yes." Cinos replied, standing on the right wing.
"It sure looks like a nice place to stay." Rotor said, seating on the passager seat.
"It sure is." Tails said, as he pilots his plane.
Once they were just some meters from the town, Tails start lowering the altitude. Through on the way, the propeller suddently got stuck and stopped spinning, causing the plane to immediately turn it's nose downwards.
Due to the sudden inclination of the plane, both Amy and Cinos fall of it. Cinos immediately starts flaping his wings but notices Amy falling directly towards a cliff inside the Everfree forest.
"Amy!" Cinos shouted as he dashed to her, managing to catch her just before she hit the ground. She hold onto him very tighly.
"T-thanks, Sonic. You saved me!" She saidn hugging him.
He blushed*clears throat* "Uh, sure. *Gasps* Guys!" Cinos shouted as he saw the plane fall and crash at the forest. He quickly flied to the crashing site, where the found the plane unreconizable as it crashed on a tree which falled on it as well, but no sight of Tails or Rotor any where. "Tails! Rotor!" He shouted.
"Here!" Tails shouted as he landed roughly with Rotor next to them. "Ow!"
"…Good thing you still can fly with your tails." Rotor said as he slowly got up.
"Phew. Thank Celestia you two are okay." Cinos said.
"Who's Celestia?" Amy asked, then a rainbow blur dashed above the trees, then it came back and landed next to Cinos.
"Sonic! You alright? We saw the plane falling." Rainbow Dash said, clearly worried.
"We are okay. Only the plane itself crashed." He said.
"Oh, good. Now… Where the heck you and Tails were?!" She asked, not happy.
"Hey, who are you? And what you think you doing shouting at my Sonic?" Amy asked, getting in front of Rainbow Dash.
"What do mean by ' your' Sonic? Who are you?" Rainbow asked.
"My name's Amy and who are you and why you care?" Amy asked, spawning her hammer by her side.
"I'm Rainbow Dash and he's my coltfriend!" Rainbow Dash said, glaring down at Amy.
"I think we should stay out of this…" Tails whispered to Rotor.
"Yeah…" Rotor replied.
"Hey! Stop you two!" Cinos said as he put himself between the two. "The hell you both doing?" He asked.
(Twilight's POV)
"Ugh. Why can't Rainbow Dash wait for us?" You say, annoyed as you and the others quickly enter the forest in the directon where the crash happened.
"You think they are okay?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know. The only way to find out is fi-" You all stop once you hear Rainbow Dash's voice. "Is that Rainbow?" You ask.
"I think so." Applejack said. Then you heard another female voice. "Who is that?" She asked.
groaned* "I think I know who it is." Knuckles said as you all continue to the direction where the voices are coming.
You all then reach a small clearing and find Tails levitating a circuit board, a purple unicorn next to him as well as his now crashed plane under a broken tree as they both stared at Rainbow Dash discussing with a pink earth pony while Sonic was trying to separate them. "Hey, Tails… What's happening?" You ask.
"Hm? Oh, hey Twilight." He greeted you with a hug. "Rainbow is jealous… And she just admited they're together." Tails whispered.
"Oh, really?" You say, amused.
"Hey, y'all. Can't you stop bickering? This isn't the place for this, Rainbow Dash." Applejack said as she and Knuckles approuched them.
"Yeah, Amy. Can't you stop for once?" Knuckles askwd, annoyed.
"What? You kidding me? She-", "No! Just shut up!" Knuckles interrupted Amy.
As Amy and Knuckles start arguing, you see Rainbow pulling Sonic by the ear, putting some distance between themselves and the rest, she looked very upset.
As Amy's and Knuckles's discussion start heat up, everyone went to try calm them down after Amy start threatning to use her hammer. You took the opportunity and went to where Rainbow pulled Sonic, hiding behind a tree to listen to their conversation.
"…Really needed to pull and bite my ear, Dash? It's probably gonna leave a mark." He said, rubbing his ear.
"Yes, I needed. Now… Who is that pony? And why is she saying that you is her's?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know. I just meet her at the city as she, Tails and Rotor were searching for me. They said they knew me and Tails before we lost our memories." He said.
sighs* "Okay. But you gonna stay away from her, understood?" Rainbow said.
"Uh, but wh-", "Understood, Sonic?" Rainbow asked again, frowning this time.
"Y-yes." He said, nervously.
You then leave and return to the others just in time to see them leaving. "Hey, Twi. Where's Sonic?" Tails asked.
"Uh, He and Rainbow are coming." You say, as you all exit the forest.
[Golden Oak Library] – (No one's POV) – 20:43
Spike was coming from the kitchen with a glass of milk when Twilight and Tails enter the library. "Hey, where you two were?" He asked, curious.
"I tell you later, now I have a tracker to fix." Tails said as he went to the basement.
"Uh, you letting him go there?" Spike asked.
sighs* "Yeah, I'm too tired now to care." Twilight said as she yawned and head towards her room.
"Uh, goodnight Twi!" Spike shout to her as she entered her room. She didn't seen to have heard it. "Hm… Wait, where's Sonic?"
[Rainbow Dash's cloud house] – (Cinos's POV) – 21:00
You sit at the roof of Rainbow's house starring at the moon, thinking of what to do. "…What should I do?"
"Sonic? What you doing up here?" Rainbow asked as she flied up to you.
"Uh, I... Couldn't sleep." You say.
"Oh." Rainbow sit next to you. "Something bothering you?" She asked.
"No. I'm just… not tired." You say.
"You're sure? You know you can talk to me if you want." She said.
"I know… I think I just need to run a little." You say, getting up.
"You sure?" She asked.
"Yeah. You can go sleep, Dash. I'll be back in a few minutes." You say, flapping you wings.
sighs* "If you say so…" Rainbow said, heading inside.
You land under Rainbow's house and trot through the almost empty streets of Ponyville. Only the night guards were outside, patroling the streets. Looking at the distance you could see Canterlot, which reminded you of the princesses.
"Hm… What if Luna or Celestia can help me?" You wonder as you start to run to Canterlot's direction. Through on the way, suddently a rift opened right in front of you, not leaving space to dodge it you sprint right inside it. A bright white flash blinds you as you crash into something.
Recovering you bearings, you open your eyes to see a metal wall in front of you. "What the?" You look around and notice you're in a dark white hallway, you could see marks of claws on the walls and floor as well as what seemed small pieces of wood scattered through the metal floor. You could sense very faint magic coming from the pieces. "What is this place? And how did I get here?"
You then hear a faint but very familiar angry voice coming from one of the hallway's intersection. "…Could be…" You get up and make you way to the intersection, you hear the voice again coming from the right hallway.
You follow the voice's direction until you arrive at a open metal door that had the same claw marks from before. Looking inside the room, you saw Eggman typing furyously on a computer as a robot came from another door, it llooked damaged with a lot of claw marks. "M*ter, *ntru-* exter-*ed." The robot said, it's voice glitching.
"Unbelievable! How can a single primitive wood creature do so much damage to my base?! Go fix that!" Eggman ordened, the robot tried to salute but his arm fall on the floor then it leaved the room. "You gotta be kidding me." He pick up the metal arm and threw it at a trash bin next to him.
You enter the room as Eggman start typing on his computer again. You sneak behind him and kick him hard, making him slam his face at the screen, cracking it but not entirely breaking it. "Argh!"
"This is the end for you Eggman!" You say, approuch him.
"N-no! Guards!" Eggman shouted as he tried to crawl away to a red lever on the wall, you saw this and jump in front of him, blocking the way.
"Where you think you're going?" You ask, using your magic to pull him up by the collar, about to punch him.
"W-wait!" Eggman said, nervously. You was about to punch him when you notice a quick flash appear behind you, then a growl. You turned around just in time to see a timberwolf jumping at you, making you drop Eggman as you hold it off you.
(No one's POV)
Eggman takes the opportunity and runs to a desk nearby and picks up a small laser pistol. He turns around to see Sonic pushing the timberwolf off himself and got up, when he turned to Eggman, he widen his eyes as Eggman fired and hit him straight in the chest, sending him backwards and pushing the timberwolf as well thought another of the rifts that suddently opened behind them, which dissapeared immediately after they passed it.
Eggman lowered his gun, intrigued. "Those rifts are getting more frequents…" He murmured as three security robots burst into the room. Eggman groaned "Now you decide to show up."
[Sally's castle] – (No one's POV) – 21:12
At the war room, Sally was pacing next to the table very stressed thinking when Silver entered the room.
"Silver? Something wrong?" She asked.
"Yes. There's some wood creatures appearing out of nowhere, they damaged a lot of stuff." Silver said, holding his bandaged arm.
"What happened to your arm?" Sally asked.
"One of this creatures manage to bite my arm." He said.
sighs* "Okay… What was damaged?" She asked.
"Well… The workshop is completely trashed, the infirmary got a little damage but the rest of the place is okay." Silver said.
"Everything in the workshop is trashed? Nothing left?" Sally asked, worried.
"Yes. All the stuff is broken." He said.
Sally slammed her fist on the table, "Dammit! How we gonna fix our systems if this keeps happening?!"
Silver was about to say something when a rift suddently opened above the table, dropping two forms that crashed at the table, breaking it in half. Sally jumped back and draw her energy blades as Silver stood beside her on guard.
One of the forms revealing itself to be another of the wood creatures which jumped to attack them. Sally quickly slashed it's head, breaking it and causing the creature to fall on the ground as it's body fell apart.
Then they noticed that the other form that fell from the rift was a blue pony with wings and a horn, he seemed paralyzed but conscious and had a burn mark in his chest. "Silver, get help. I'll stay here in case any of these wood creatures appear again." Sally said as Silver quickly left the room.
"Help is on the way, don't worry." She said to the pony as she stood near him, blades drawn.
After some minutes Silver came back with a medic with him. The medic immediately went to the pony and applied something on the burn mark, after it he pulled a small devide from his bag very similar to a tazer but with way more buttons. He pushed some buttons then touch the pony with it, causing his body to jolt then he started moving normally.
The medic leave as the pony slowly got up. "Thanks." He said.
"You're welcome. What happened to you and how did you get here?" Sally asked.
"How I got here I don't know, these portal things just appeared out of nowhere. And to what happened to me, Eggman shoot me." He said.
"Wait, Eggman is on your would again? Crap…" Sally said, worried again.
"Well, he's on space. I was on his base." The pony said.
"What!? How did you got there?" She asked.
"I presume by these portals?" Silver asked, to which the pony nodded. "Hm. We need to know what is causing these portals to appear before they cause even more trouble."
"Look, can you help me get back to my world?" The pony asked.
"I'm sorry but the only one who knew how is currently at your world and we have no means of communication with him." Sally said.
sighs* "Gotta be kidding me… Dash's gonna frick out once she notices I disappeared." He murmured the last part.
"Look, you can stay at the barracks where you probably gonna be safe from any type of attacks while we wait for our friend to return. How's that?" Sally offered.
"Eh, sounds good. It's not like I can do anything else anyway." He said.
"Alright. Silver, show him where's the barracks. I'm gonna see with the tech team if they can scavenge anything from what's left from the workshop." Sally said as she left the room.
"Okay, follow me." Silver said, heading outside the room.
"Right behind ya." The pony said, following him.
As they walked down the hallway, Silver looked at the pony, "So, what's your name?"
"…Cinos." He replied.
"I'm Silver. And the squirrel from before is Sally." Silver said.
"Squirrel? I didn't saw a squirrel…" Cinos said, lookig confused at him.
"Uh, the girl on the room you got teleport to is a mobian squirrel. Forgot to specify." Silver said.
"Huh, interesting." Cinos said.
"So… you're supposed to be some kinda of horse? If you don't mind me asking."
"I'm pony. A pegasus to me more precise." Cinos said.
"Never heard of a pegasus with a horn. Do all the pegasus from your world have horns too?" Silver asked.
"Uh, no. Only unicorns and alicorns should have horns. The horn on my head was an accident." Cinos said.
"Uhm, what kinda of accident gives you a horn?" Silver asked.
"Accident with potions you don't know what they do." Cinos said, shaking his head in annoyance for remembering that day.
"Okay… you did mention alicorns, what are those?" Silver asked.
"Alicorns are ponies with both wings and horns, they have very powerful magic." Cinos said.
"Hm." They stopped as they reached a double door, Silver opened them with a wave of his hand.
"You can use magic too?" Cinos asked.
"It's not magic. It's telekinesis." Silver replied.
"… Looks like magic to me." Cinos said.
"But, it's not magic." Silver said, annoyed.
"If you say so…" Cinos said as he followed Silver inside.
[Next day – Rainbow's cloud house] – (Rainbow Dash's POV) – 08:49
You open your eyes and notice you are on the floor. *Yawns* You look around but no sign of him. "Sonic?" No reply. "Oh, come on… You gotta be kidding me."
You check the front door and notices it's still unlocked. "He didn't came back last night… Ugh! I knew I shouldn't let him go alone!" You quickly leave the house and fly towards the library.
Once there you slam the door open with your momentum, "Twi! Tails! Anypony here?"
muffed 'Yeah'* You look behind and saw Spike closing the door as he rubbed his nose, looking very annoyed to you. "What's that for, Rainbow?"
"Spike, where's Twilight and Tails?" You asked.
"Yeah, they all left with the others to Appleloosa, Princess Celestia sent a letter asking them to go there see what's going on. Apparently, there is something causing trouble there, and they didn't want to bother you two so they went without you." He said.
"What do you mean they didn't want to bother us?" You asked.
"You know, after the fact you admitted you two are a thing…" Spike said.
"I… did I?.. Didn't realize I did it…" You said embarrassed, then you shaked your head remembering why you was here. "Spike, have you seen Sonic this morning?" You asked.
"Uh, no. I thought he was with you, isn't he?" Spike asked.
"No. Last night he went on a night run but he didn't returned." You said.
"That's not good. Do you know where he went last night?" He asked.
"No… *Sighs* I knew I shouldn't let him go." You said, stomping one hoof on the ground in frustration.
"Hey, calm down. I can help search him and I think Knuckles stayed at the farm, we should get him as well." Spike said going for the door.
"Right, let's go!" You said, dashing through the open door catching Spike mid-way and knocking him to your back as you quickly flied to the farm.
[Sweet Apple Acres – Apple Orchard] – (With Knuckles) – 09:09
You just finished punching the trees to drop the apples when Applebloom approached you. "Hey, knux! Have you seen Applejack? I can't find her anywhere on the farm." She asked.
"Yes, Twilight came and said something about the princess calling them for something." He said, putting the apples on the basket.
"How's your neck? Does it still hurts?" She asked.
"Well, if I look to the sides too much it does. But it's healing." He said, touching the bandages on his neck.
"Oh… Do you want some help to put those apples away? You should go and rest a little." Applebloom said as she went to grab one of the baskets.
"I'm fine Applebloom." He said, grabbing five other baskets with his mouth.
"Knuckles! Stop putting weight on your neck! You gonna hurt yourself." She said worried.
"I've been doing this through the morning, I'm not hurting myself." He said.
"You sure?" She asked.
"Yes." He said.
"Okay, if you say so…" She said as she followed him to the barn with the baskets, putting them away then exit it. "Sorry if I'm annoying you but we all are just worried, you know." Applebloom said.
"Yeah, I know." He said as they saw Rainbow Dash flying with Spike on her back coming to them.
"Well, it's almost time for my school. Bye, Knuckles!" Applebloom said and left.
"Bye, Applebloom." He said as they approached him.
"Knuckles! Sonic disappeared, can you help us find him?" Rainbow asked.
"Wh- Again?" Knuckles asked, amused.
"Yeah, can you help us find him?" Spike asked.
"Of course. I almost finished my tasks anyway." He said.
[Appleloosa – Train Station] – (No One's POV) – 09:31
Yawning, Tails was the last to left the train.
"Tails, I still can't believe you stayed up all night." Twilight said, disappointed.
"But it payed off." You said, showing the tracker. "Finally fixed it. Once we solve what's going on here we can search for the last emerald." He said.
"So, this is Appleloosa?" Amy asked, seeing some wood buildings and dirt roads.
"Yup!" Applejack said as they all realized one of the buildings have a door broke in half. "Hey, what happened there?"
"I don't know. Let's check it out." Twilight said.
Once inside, you notice the place was some sort of jewelry but all the stuff looked like it was stolen. "Oh my. What happened here?" Rarity asked to the orange earth pony who was cleaning the broken glass from the now empty showcases.
"Hm? Oh, hello. I'm sorry but we're closed due to um… this." She said, clearly very upset.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Twilight asked.
"Well, how do I start… Two days ago, during the night something broke into my store and stole everything. When I came downstairs, all I could see was a dark, huge figure running out making a weird sound of munching or something like that." She said.
"Oh, that's terrible. Did it do anything else?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, it broke one of the wagons of my friend, Frosty." She said.
"Hm, where can we find this Frosty?" Tails asked.
"She owns the salon down the road, she opens around 10 in the morning." She said.
"I'm really sorry for what happened, darling. Perhaps I can help your situation." Rarity said.
"What do you mean?" The pony asked.
"Let's just say I have an talent for finding gems, I can help you find new gems." Rarity said.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! I don't know how to repay…" She said.
"No need to, darling. I'm just glad to help." Rarity said.
"Alright. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, you two go with Rarity and uh…", "You can call me Sunny!", "And Sunny to find gems, while the rest of us investigate more about this dragon thief." Twilight said as them go outside with Sunny.
As they left the place, sheriff SilverStar entered. "What's hap-Oh, you again... What you all doing here this time?" He asked.
"Hey, sheriff. My friends and I were sent here by the princess." Applejack said.
"Wait, she sent you?" He groaned, annoyed for some reason.
"Uh, something wrong?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing… If you're here to catch this thief, you should go check on the buffalos." He said.
"Why? You think it was them?" Applejack asked.
"No. I already investigated this place and I found some claw marks on the door frame and in one of the showcases. There's no way it's them." He said.
"Hm… We should we go first, the buffalos or the salon?" Tails asked Twilight.
"Well… The salon only opens after 10, so we should go see the buffalos." Twilight said.
"Right." Tails said.
"Then let's not waste another minute." Applejack said.
"Alright, if ya need me you know where to find me." He said, leaving.
[Cave system somewhere around Appleloosa] – (Rarity's POV) – 10:03
"We are getting closer, I can feel it." You said as you lead Sunny, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy through the cave. Everyone has a bag and are holding a pickaxe except Fluttershy who was carrying a lantern.
"Okay… Thanks again for doing this, miss Rarity." Sunny said, following you.
"Like I said before, Sunny. I'm just glad to help, a d please just call me Rarity." You said, seeing a biforcation right ahead.
"Which way should we go?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh! Maybe the path with the footprints!" Pinkie said, jumping up and down as she lokked to the right path.
"Wait, footprints? Where?" You asked.
"Right there by the side of that conveniently placed gem shard." Pinkie said.
You frowned as you examinated the footprints. All you could see it wasn't made by ponies. "Hm… These are not hoofprints. What could have made these prints?" You wondered aloud.
You see Fluttershy gaving it a close look, after some moments she widen her eyes as she turned to you. "These are dragon footprints…" She said, getting worried.
"Dragons? No, it can't be. What a dragon would be doing here?" You questioned.
"I-I don't know." She said.
"Uh, we should really be here? We'll be toasted if this dragon find us." Sunny said, scared.
You focused on your senses and noticed that the nearest gems are on the right path as well. "Well, I said I would get you gems and I'm not going to back down my word for nothing!" You said determined, going to the right.
"Wait for meee~!" Pinkie said, following alongside you.
"Uh…" Fluttershy timidly hurried to your side as well, leaving only Sunny at the bifurcation.
sighs* "This isn't gonna end well… Hey, don't leave me behind!" She said, running after you all to catch up.
[Canterlot] – (Spike's POV) – 10:07
You left the train station and glanced around, seeing a lot of the rich and snobbish ponies walking around, you head towards the castle.
Once inside the castle, you head to the throne room where you find princess Celestia reading a scroll. "Hey, princess." You said.
She levitated the scroll down and smiled. "Ah, Spike. What a surprise, what can I do for you?" She asked.
"Have you seen Sonic today, or maybe last night?" You asked.
Celestia looked confused, "Uh, no. May I ask why?"
"He dissapeared last night. Rainbow Dash, Knuckles and me are searching for him. Maybe Luna saw him by chance?" You asked.
"I do not know, I will wake her up and ask-" Just as Celestia said that, Luna barged in the room disturbed. "Sister, I think Sonic might be in trouble!" She said, looking both alarmed and tired.
Sorry 'bout the taking too long, some problems here and there but it is finally here this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
P.S: No. The title is not inspired by the new Ratchet and Clank, it is just a funny coincidence. - Rio