Far, far away from Canterlot City and across the country, there was a small devout village surrounded by mountains. It was much colder in this area as there were patches of snow on the ground with snowflakes slowly falling from the partly cloudy sky. The tops of the mountains were covered deep in thick white snow. And one of these mountains was where Eggman created his new base with the Chaos Emeralds in his possession.

The base was created on a side of the closest mountain where it couldn't be seen, built with a hangar and a runway that was packed with his repaired Eggpod and other vehicles. Construction badniks had been built to carry supplies around the hangar. Above the hangar was a semi-circular structure with Eggman's newly built advanced high-tech lab, full of tools and equipment for building and designing machines. Shelves were stacked with Eggman's drones and badniks in the middle of the lab. And by the windows was the doctor himself, sitting down on a chair in a u-shaped desk with equipment on the sides and an advanced multi-monitor computer with a table on both sides being used as the keyboards for said computer.

Eggman tapped on the keys on his tablets as he observed the screens. The monitors showed images of different people from this world, detailing their appearances and the locations across the country. While he showed the lack of surprise that there were humans in this world, he was fascinated by the fact that these humans stood out by appearance while still acting extremely similar to those from Mobius.

As Eggman continued to observe the information on the monitors, Orbot appeared hovering next to him over his shoulder. Noticing him without turning away from the computer, the doctor asked, "What is it, Orbot?"

"Well, doctor," Orbot responded, "Cubot and I spotted something. It's approaching us at this very moment. You may want to come outside and see for yourself."

Eggman slowly turned his head towards Orbot as interest grew on his face. Whatever it was about this news that piqued his interest, it would only grow as there was the sudden sound of something landing inside the hangar below the lab.

Eggman came out of the elevator in the hangar to see the source of the noise. Crawling on the ground towards the doctor was a badly damaged yet still functioning Metal Sonic. Sparks of electricity flickered around his body from in between his limbs. His eyes had a glitching effect as his visor had a crack on the left side.

"Metal!" Eggman rushed over to his creation to check on him, "You've made it to this world as well! What has happened to you, my finest creation?!"

Metal only raised his head as he looked at the doctor with his glitching eyes flickering on and off. Taking a moment to examine the damage, Eggman let out an angry snarl to himself, "Of course. Sonic. Come, Metal. I happen to have the tools to repair you."

Eggman, with the help of Orbot and Cubot, started carrying Metal back towards the elevator. Eggman huffed as he looked over his creation once more, "How dare that hedgehog damage you like this?! He wouldn't recognize a work of art if it punched him in the face! …You did punch him in the face, right?"

To answer his creator's question, Metal raised his hand and gave him a thumbs-up, to which Eggman smirked in delight, "Attaboy."

Though it had only been close to fifteen minutes since Metal Sonic's arrival in this dimension, the news of the incident was going viral on the Internet. Posts were getting published, reporters were on live TV discussing the situation, what else could be going on at this point?

Meanwhile, in Mobius, with some time, effort and assistance from GUN put to use, Tails managed to build an interdimensional transporter similar to Eggman's back at White Acropolis; albeit at a much smaller scale. The main part of the device was a containment field with a platform for any volunteers to use it or return on. On one side, a large ring was built around and attached to the Master Emerald so that the energy could be transferred into the machine without removing its connection from Angel Island. The other end had a computer with a keyboard attached to the machine where Tails was typing.

One of the residents of Sky Sanctuary and part-time GUN scientist, 20-year-old Relic the Pika, did a system check on her tablet, checking the stability of the transporter for the test. So far, the stats were all green, "Alright. System's online, the engine's linked up to the Master Emerald; I think we're good to go, Tails."

Tails nodded as he tapped away on his keyboard. Though it seemed like this was approved by all, it would be a lie if one said everyone was optimistic. Amy, Cream and Blaze showed signs that they were unsure about this.

"Are you certain that this will work?" Blaze asked with concern, "We don't know the possible consequences if this plan goes south."

"We've prepared a shutdown sequence that'll cut the connection from the Master Emerald in case it goes haywire," Relic answered, "Knuckles will handle the Master Emerald, and Shadow will help Gage out if he gets stuck."

Tails typed in the final codes and called up to the figure standing on the platform, "Gage, you ready?"

Gage nodded, gripping the Elemental Crystal in his hand, "Knuckles, you're up. Everyone else, stand by."

Relic walked up next to Tails while the rest of the Mobians stepped a few feet away. Shadow stood close enough to the transporter at the ready. Knuckles, taking a deep breath, raised his arms and concentrated. The Master Emerald began glowing brightly with particles flowing out. The platform below Gage's feet began glowing as the transporter was powering on.

Relic checked the readings on her tablet; so far they appeared stable. She gave a thumbs-up to Tails, who nodded in response before calling up to Gage, "Alright, let's crank it up."

Gage closed his eyes as a glow began emitting from his Crystal inside his hand. He raised his other hand as particles of light formed from it. A beam of light shone and fired out from the platform in front of Gage.

"The platform should lock onto their signatures and pull them right back!" Tails called out as he continued on his keyboard.

Though the beam of light looked stable enough, electricity began sparking around the platform with Gage in it. The other Mobians started showing signs of worry. Knuckles called out while trying his hardest not to break his focus, "How is it, Relic?"

Relic checked her tablet again. This time, the bars on the screen were rising and changing from green to red, indicating that the energy was growing rapidly fast, "Containment field's up, but the levels are spiking by the second!"

In mere seconds, the electricity started sparking out rapidly as the energy beam started appearing unstable. Some of the electricity bolted through the Master Emerald and struck Knuckles in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Gage gritted his teeth tightly as he focused as much as he could trying to stabilize the portal.

Shadow could see that the transporter was going haywire with the amount of energy transferred into it, "Tails, shut it down! Now!"

Without hesitation, Tails slammed his fist on the big red button to cut the power. The beam of energy began vanishing but Gage was still locked in the containment field. Shadow quickly jumped forward to grab Gage. He managed to jump onto the platform, but the very second his feet made contact, a blinding explosion of light suddenly went off with a loud sound. The Mobians covered their eyes from the bright light.

After a few moments, the light vanished as the transporter powered down. Everyone uncovered their eyes to see the aftermath of the test gone wrong. What they saw made their mouths drop; Shadow and Gage were gone but the Elemental Crystal was left on the platform.

Back in the other dimension, a soccer ball flew in the air in front of the sun with the sound of the wind blowing by. All of a sudden, a figure appeared behind it and Rainbow kicked it down towards the ground with a backflip. The ball bounced on the ground and rolled along the grass towards the net right up until Sonic stepped right on it and kicked it in front of him as he ran forward.

Rainbow rushed forward into her net and prepared to catch the ball. With a confident smile, Sonic gave the ball a strong kick with enough force that he did a backflip in the air in the process. The ball went flying through the air straight towards the net. With a quick exhale, Rainbow jumped up in the air reaching for the ball. Her hands were able to make contact with it, but it just slipped right through her fingers at the last second and bounced against the net.

Rainbow landed on the ground with a shoulder roll, and shock was about the only expression she could have on her face, "No way did that just go through!"

Sonic chuckled as he jogged his way up to her, "Our score's even; ten to ten in just fifteen minutes."

Sonic offered his hand to Rainbow to help her up, to which she accepted with a smirk. As Sonic pulled her up, Rainbow could only chuckle over their score, "Man, never thought I'd say this, but I think you just might be one of my only equals."

"One of your only equals, eh?" Sonic asked with an arched eyebrow, "Wonder who else there is?"

Rainbow wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead and motioned to the bleachers with her thumb, "How about we take a quick break and sit down? Could use a little water."

Sitting down on the lowest seats of the bleachers, Sonic and Rainbow each grabbed a bottle of water from a cooler next to her jacket on the seat. After taking a sip of their drinks, Sonic was the first to break the silence, "So, how long have you been here at CHS?"

"Long as I can remember," Rainbow answered, "I hate doing all the tests here, but I love coming here for all the sports I get to do; soccer, tennies, basketball, just about anything."

"Don't see a lot of space for the baseball equipment," Sonic observed the field, "Unless you usually do it in the gym."

Rainbow gave a casual shrug, "Usually, but our teams also take a quick walk to a public baseball field when it's free. It's nice to be outside; you get the fresh air…"

"And the more activities you do, the healthier you get, right?" Sonic asked.

"Exactly!" Rainbow pointed while holding her bottle, "Wow, you're good. How many sports have you done in your life?"

"Honestly, I couldn't tell ya; I've spent way more of my life running than anything else," Sonic answered after taking another sip of water with Rainbow following him, "I have tried some basketball once or twice. Not really my kind of sport, but I get around."

"Don't ever slow down, eh?" Rainbow arched an eyebrow.

Sonic chuckled in amusement, "Nah, I don't know how or when to slow down, but I do know how to stop when I gotta. Say, you said that I'm one of your only equals? Was there anyone else before me?"

"Yeah, there was– well, sorta, but…" Rainbow replied, "She got expelled and for good reason."

"Why, what'd she do?"

"Lightning Dust. She used to be a co-caption for one of our teams, but I found out she was doing something… illegal. Exposed her and got her expelled for it. Let's just say she tried using some kind of 'boosters' that aren't good for your body and none of the teams approved of that, given how extreme the drugs were."

"I don't want to meet her," Sonic said.

"No, ya don't," Rainbow agreed, "She's got some serious attitude issues. More than me, I admit. Even when she knows she's face to face with someone in the authorities, she'd act like she was above everyone else. And guess how that turned out for her?"

"She got arrested."

"Yep. For at least a few months. But even after that, she still acts like she's above the law."

"Guess she's got a big, big head. But not big enough for her ego."

Rainbow shook her head with a chuckle, "Nope."

"When'd that happen?"

"Four years ago."

Rainbow just then noticed that Sonic still had his hood over his head, "Say, why don't you take your hood off? You oughta be sweating by now."

"I'd rather not," Sonic shook his head, "I… have missing hair that doesn't grow back for some reason. Plus, I like the ears."

"I can tell, but maybe a bit too much, don't ya think? Plus, it looks like something some weirdos would use on their Internet vines."

"Nah, I don't do social media."

Rainbow casually shrugged again, "Eh, suit yourself. So what do you think, you gonna transfer to CHS?"

"Haven't decided," Sonic answered as he put his water bottle down on the seat, "So far, aside from Sunset Shimmer and the Dogs, everyone I've run into are nice people."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Rainbow added, "I've seen it for myself."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"Long story short, some people I thought were my friends, all turned on each other and me. I really don't know why. And honestly, I don't talk to them nowadays anyway."

"Would one of those be Applejack?"

Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise and turned her face towards Sonic, "H-how'd you–"

"Met her today," Sonic answered, "She seemed like a nice girl. Even gave me one of her apple ciders. But she said you're the only person I should trust less than Sunset Shimmer."

"It's Applejack you shouldn't trust," Rainbow sounded more serious with her response, "If there's one thing she's the captain of, it's that she says she chose the right day for you to see her, only for her to change the schedule behind your back and cancel on you. And so, I've not talked to her once after that."

Sonic could only ponder about this with curiosity; Rainbow said Applejack was the one no one should trust, yet Applejack herself said the same for Rainbow. If they both were friends in the past, what could have caused their friendship to fall apart?

Rainbow let out a sign as she looked down at her hands on her knees, "Though, I can't lie; I miss hanging out with her. She and her family made amazing apple products. Especially her apple cider. Man, that was the best cider I ever had. Way better than any store-bought cider. You know what they say, the fresh-and-homemade is better than the bought-from-the-store."

"Have you ever thought about trying to talk to her?" Sonic asked.

Rainbow gave Sonic a complex look with her eyes, "Kinda hard to do that when you know your friend's ditched you. It's not like I can just, y'know, go right up and say 'How could you just turn your back on your friend?'"

Sonic suddenly froze. Those last ten words that Rainbow just said… started echoing in his head. His head slightly turned away as the echos started getting louder, with her voices changing to different ones. And then along came the echoing sounds of wind blowing by. Everything started turning white in a blinding light as Sonic began to remember something. He closed his eyes as the whole world around him was engulfed in white…

When Sonic's eyes snapped open and the next thing he knew, he was suddenly back in his Mobian hedgehog body. He was back on Mobius, standing near a cliff at the top of a hill next to the bright blue ocean on South Island. To the right of the mountain on the land was the peaceful town of Green Hills, one of the safest locations with two of Sonic's closest friends; Police Sheriff Tom Wakaouski and his veterinarian wife, Doctor Maddie. Next to him was an airplane runway which came from a red barn house a few years behind him. The doors of the barn had a painting of Tails' twin tails on them; this was one of Tails' private workshop houses and one of several backup bases of operation.

The loose leaves rustled as they blew along in the whistling wind. His fur and quills shifted along with it. He stood on the grass with his arms crossed, hearing the ocean waves splash against the stone walls of the hill as he watched the sun setting behind the distant water leaving its bright colours in the sky following.

Sonic's foot was tapping on the ground, as if he had been standing there for a long period of time. After a moment of time had passed, his right ear twitched as he could hear footsteps approaching from behind. He turned around to see Amy and Shadow walking up to him.

Sonic fully turned to face his teammates, expressing worry about something, "Anything good?"

"Tails is going to be alright," Amy answered, "The robotization he had wasn't permanent. He made sure of that while he was captured."

Sonic released a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank Chaos."

Shadow crossed his arms, "It's going to take him a while to recover though. Had he not pulled through, there could have been some serious permanent damage to his brain. He's tough for a fourteen-year-old."

"And he's gonna turn fifteen in a few weeks," Amy added, "I'm just glad he won't have to still be roboticized on his birthday."

The sudden thought of that statement made Sonic cringe. Something of which Amy took notice of quickly, "Oh, sorry, Sonic."

Sonic turned away again, gripping his arms tightly. He let out an unsteady breathing with shivers coming out of every exhale. His body twitched with unsettled movement, leaving Amy and Shadow to lay their eyes on Sonic with concern.

Amy walked over to Sonic, raising her hand and placing it on his shoulder, "Sonic, are you alright?"

Sonic, continuing to breathe unsteadily, answered while looking at the ground, "He could've died. Our team, everyone, all of Mobius could've died. Because of what I did."

Amy couldn't seem to figure out what he meant by what he said, "Sonic, what are you–"

"I was careless, okay?" Sonic responded, sounding more serious, "I let my attitude get to me while I just wanted to deal with Egghead quickly and get off of the Lost Hex. And because of that, the Zeti absorbed nearly all the life from here and was leaving it dry of all things that breathe."

"Yeah, but we still pulled through, right?" Amy asked, "Even when the odds were stacked against us."

"We were lucky," Sonic turned to fully face Amy, "We were lucky that the rest of the Zeti turned on Zavok after how he treated them. That made it all the more easier for us to take him down and save the world. If we hadn't gotten lucky, we would've lost everything. I would've lost everything!"

"Yet we still made it through," Amy repeated, "So why are you getting so worked up about this?"

Sonic sighed as he lowered his head away from Amy, "My actions almost cost everyone's lives on Mobius along with Mobius itself. I'm not willing to take that risk again. I won't lose another friend. I can't. That's why…"

Sonic paused as a part of himself knew that what he was about to say was something Amy wasn't going to take lightly. He took a quick inhale and exhaled through his nostrils, before he looked directly back at Amy, "I'm disbanding our team. For good."

This response left Amy distraught. Shadow was silenced and stunned by what he had just heard; this was something Sonic had never said before. He was the one behind the team splitting up.

"WHAT?!" Amy began to protest, "Are you crazy?! We've stuck together for years! We've always had each others' back! We always had your back whenever most if not the rest of the world thought you had turned against us! And now you're just walking away from us?! Why?!"

"So I can protect all of you!" Sonic argued, "You, Tails, Cream and Cheese, everyone!"

"By walking away and going after Eggman by yourself?!" Amy angrily held her arms out.

Sonic started breathing sharply as he grabbed hold of his head. Shadow couldn't seem to figure out how to get involved in this argument. Maybe he just couldn't get involved.

Sonic's breathing started speeding up as the pressure of the argument was building up. Amy shouted once more at him as tears were beginning to build up in her eyes, "How can you just turn your back on your friends and call that protecting us?!"

Sonic finally snapped as he shouted right in front of Amy's face, "For the love of God, Amy! I can't lose anyone else I love!"

Dead silence flew over the three Mobians with only the wind blowing by and the waves splashing below. Both Sonic and Amy had their eyes locked on each other without saying another word. Shadow could only look back and forth between the two hedgehogs, unsure of how to respond. No one said a word for what felt like a century until Amy finally broke the silence.

"Are you even our friend?" Amy asked, her teeth gritted as her tears started sliding down her face, "Or did we only become friends because you were too scared to actually try?"

Sonic's mouth dropped and his eyes widened, "What?"

Amy started speaking as she looked down at the ground, the shadow blocking her eyes, "I thought you were more than just a hero; I thought you were a kind and selfless person. And sure, I may have had an annoyingly big crush on you, and I was selfish then, but I learned to mature and behave like a grown up as I should've before. But now… Now I see that you don't actually care about us. You were only there for us because you were selfish."

Sonic exclaimed at Amy's words, "N-no, Amy! That's not true! I do care about all of you!"

"Do you?" Amy asked, raising her head, "What about the time with your ex-girlfriend? Tempest the Dolphin? When you dated her and you said you loved her, did you actually mean it?"

"That's not fair!" Sonic retorted, "She and I never even dated to begin with! That was just one time and it was a goodbye moment! The point is that–"

Amy didn't let Sonic finish his sentence, "The point is that you just wanted to be loved for your victories against Eggman! You didn't get friends in your life because you needed them, it was all your ego! Being a hero is too important to you!"

"Being a hero is important, but it's not all just for me!" Sonic argued, "It's for everyone in the world! I know how dangerous Eggman is more than anyone! I just don't want anyone else to–!"

Amy snapped, cutting him off again, "I don't want to hear it, Sonic!"

As the argument only continued to heat up, Shadow finally warped forward and appeared right in between Sonic and Amy, pushing them away from each other, "Both of you, calm down! That's enough!"

Both hedgehogs pushed Shadow's hands off their shoulders and stepped back a few feet from each other. After a brief moment of panting, Amy scoffed at Sonic as her tears continued to fall, "Go ahead and leave, Sonic. I'll let the others know that the team's disbanded. But know that whenever or even if you do come back, we're done. For good. And I can honestly say, I regret having liked you."

Sonic couldn't find any way to respond to Amy's harsh words, all he could do was let his own tears flow down his face like waterfalls. With nothing left to say, he swiftly turned around as his quills started glowing blue with lightning sparking out of him and his eyes brightened in the same blue glow. He sprinted forward along the runway with his blue energy blur following him. He jumped right off the edge of the runway and flew towards the ocean below. Using his super speed, he ran straight across the water, boosting through the waves that got in his way.

As Sonic continued to run across the water, his tears flew off his face and fell behind him. The sounds of his energy flowing out of his body and his feet running across the water was all he could hear. Then everything around him started turning white as he closed his eyes…

When his eyes slowly opened as his mind was back in the present time. A tear slowly slid down his face as he inhaled and exhaled unsteadily. After a brief silence, he heard Rainbow's voice right next to him, "Sonic?"

Sonic let out a gasp as he snapped out of his trance. He turned his head to see Rainbow was looking at him with concern as she asked, "Hey, you okay? You look like you just got spooked by something."

"Uhh…" Sonic quickly wiped the tear off his face, "Y-yeah, I-I'm okay. Just some… bad memories. I-I should just go."

Sonic stood up from his seat and began walking down the bleachers. Rainbow watched him with a look of wonder; she couldn't help but ponder what was with this guy. From the moment she first met him up to their private soccer game, he was optimistic and adventurous, and now he suddenly shifted to quiet and slightly teary-eyed. She felt concerned about how he sounded when he came out of his trance.

But she wouldn't get to think about it further as she realized something; Sonic forgot his backpack which was sitting right next to her hoodie on the seat. She quickly jumped down to the bottom of the bleachers and grabbed the backpack, "Hey, wait!"

Sonic stopped and turned around to see Rainbow running up to him with his backpack, "You almost forgot this. Don't think you wanna lose it."

Sonic was briefly surprised to see that he almost lost his backpack; the Chaos Emeralds he held onto were still in there. Had he lost the backpack, the Emeralds would've likely been stolen by some thug or worse. With a quick sigh of relief, he reached for his backpack, "Oh, thanks. No wonder my shoulders felt a bit lighter than I remember."

Rainbow handed Sonic's backpack over to him. With a smile, Sonic gladly took hold of the shoulder straps. Right in the process of doing so, he accidentally placed his hands right over hers. Both felt the sudden touch and they quickly pulled their hands away from each other with Sonic taking the backpack.

"Oh, sorry!" Sonic and Rainbow both said startled at the same time, "No prob, my bad."

Both were suddenly silent as they looked at each other after realizing their unintentional sync. Then they smiled. And then they laughed. They laughed for what felt like a long while over how funny it felt.

"Oh, man," Rainbow chuckled, "I don't remember the last time I had this happen to me."

"Me neither," Sonic agreed as he pulled his backpack on, "Well, it was nice talking to you. Gotta go now. See ya, Dash."

Sonic turned back around and headed back towards the school. Rainbow waved bye to him as he jogged away. Once he had gone inside and the doors closed behind, Rainbow stood where she was. She just stood and looked at Sonic's direction. Then she looked down at her hands, remembering the very moment they made contact with Sonic's.

A light breeze blew past, lifting Rainbow's hair in the wind. She raised her head looking back up at Sonic's direction. A small smile formed as a light hint of pink appeared on her cheeks and she flicked her hair, "Yeah, see ya… Sonic."

Sonic jogged down the hallway, finding his way back to the library. He knew he had to get back to Twilight as soon as possible. However, the very second he came around the corner, he quickly skidded to a halt as he was just about to bump into somebody. Luckily, he stopped himself just in time and the person whom he almost literally ran into was Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was startled by Sonic's sudden appearance. Sonic scratched his head embarrassed, "Sorry 'bout that, Fluttershy. Just trying to find Twilight. She needs my help with something."

After catching her breath, Fluttershy let out a little chuckle, "That's okay. Just… try and be a little more careful?"

"My bad," Sonic waved as he walked around her, "See ya."

Sonic was about to head off again, but Fluttershy suddenly reached out to his shoulder, "Wait, Sonic."

Sonic stopped and turned to listen, "Yeah? What's up?"

Fluttershy, sounding a little nervous, flickered her hair, "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"Mm-hmm?"

Fluttershy's cheeks were having a shimmer of pink as she spoke shyly, "I know that we just met today… and it probably wasn't the best of ways we could've, but… I've been thinking about how nice you've been to me and how you stood up to Sunset Shimmer, even when you didn't know who I was. So, um, I was wondering…"

Her voice started having a few squeaks as she got even more shy by the second, "W-would– would you… umm… well… y-you don't have to if you don't want to…"

"Fluttershy," Sonic said quietly.

Fluttershy was quiet as she looked at Sonic who gave her a reassuring smile, "It's okay, go ahead."

This gave Fluttershy a small boost of confidence; just enough to ask as she gently took hold of Sonic's hands, "Do you want to go to the Fall Formal with… with me?"

Sonic was stunned by Fluttershy's offer; she wanted to go to the Fall Formal on a date with him. He was not sure how he should answer. On the one hand, she seemed like the nicest girl he'd ever met, aside from Cream, and she never asked for much from him. And though he'd much rather have as much freedom as possible for adventure and thrills that came with it, he had thought out changing things in his life. But on the other hand, he remembered his argument with Amy. What could happen to Fluttershy if the same thing happened between him and her like with Amy? How would she be able to recover if history repeated this way?

Hesitant, but knowing he had to answer, Sonic with a deep breath responded, "I'm grateful for the offer, Fluttershy, and you're a very, very sweet girl, but…"

Sonic paused for a moment with a sigh before he finished, "I just don't think I'd be the right person for you. Besides… I've kinda gone through some things that… made me want to avoid getting in a relationship ever since."

Fluttershy's eyes widened at Sonic's answer, but not by his decline; his mention of past events. She lowered her head to look at the floor as she was saddened that he said no. Small tears built up in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away as she replied, "Oh, I-I'm so sorry. I just thought…"

Sonic softly put his hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, "But I'm very glad to have you as a friend. I hope you are too."

This made Fluttershy smile happily, "Thank you. I am."

Still, she felt there was something she wanted to give him, "Um, can I still give you something? As a 'thank you' for standing up for me against Sunset Shimmer?"

Sonic nodded yes. Having gained enough confidence from this, Fluttershy leaned forward and gave Sonic a quick kiss on the cheek. When she pulled away, Sonic was rather surprised by what he was given, but smiled anyway as he scratched his head, "Heheh, thanks. Have a good night."

"You too," Fluttershy replied as she turned and began walking away down the hall.

Not too long later, back in the library, Sonic, Twilight and Spike continued reading through several books for information. Throughout their research, all other students previously present had left for home. Twilight's table was covered and surrounded by a large number of books; a pile stacked on the desk itself and a mess of them on the floor beside it. Spike was reading a book of his own underneath the table while Sonic simply laid on top of a shelf on the second floor with one book open underneath his head for a pillow and another in his hands for reading.

The sky was getting dark and the stars were beginning to shine. The lights in the library began to turn off as Vice-Principal Luna's voice spoke through the speaker, "The library will be closing in five minutes."

Twilight closed the book she'd just finished reading and let out a yawn; she had gotten tired. Upon realizing this, she gasped, "I hadn't even thought about where we're going to sleep tonight."

Spike lowered his book after hearing this. He smiled as he walked out from under the table, "Way ahead of you."

Curious, Twilight followed Spike up to the second floor. Right next to the shelf Sonic was laying on top of was a large carp that covered something. Spike pulled off the carp with his paw, causing some dust to follow as if it hadn't been touched in a months or years, "It's a little (cough-cough) dusty, but it doesn't seem like anybody comes up here."

What had been underneath the carp was a makeshift bed made entirely out of nothing but library books. Twilight sat down on the bed and took a moment to see what it felt like, to which a smile followed, "It's perfect, Spike."

Twilight gave Spike a comforting scratch on his head, to which the little puppy fell to the floor relaxed from how good it felt. Sonic closed his book and jumped down from the shelf, landing on the book bed. He sat down next to Twilight, "So, find anything in your research?"

Twilight held out a blue book which had the picture of a golden horseshoe on the front, "I found this book. It's called a 'yearbook'. It seems to be something they use to keep a record of things that have happened at the school."

Twilight rested the yearbook on her lap and flipped through the pages looking for something specific. A few pages were flipped and she found something interesting, "Look, guys."

Sonic and Spike shifted in to see what Twilight had found; a photo of four familiar teenage girls along with one other girl from their younger years. Twilight pointed at each of the girls in the photo naming them, "That's Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy… and I'm gonna bet the girl on the far right is Rarity."

At the very second of hearing the name "Rarity" being brought up, Spike swiftly grabbed the book and stared closely at the photo with excitement in his voice and his tail wagging, "There's a Rarity here?!"

Sonic arched an eyebrow at Spike's sudden act. Spike soon caught onto his silly words and gave the book back to Twilight embarrassed, "Uh… I mean, uh, interesting photo."

Twilight's reaction? Just a smile as she rolled her eyes. Sonic couldn't help but feel curious as he asked while pointing at the girls in the photo, "Are these girls your friends in Equestria?"

Twilight nodded as she didn't look away from the photo, "And it's interesting because they look like they're friends."

Spike responded while shrugging, "They do look like our friends. But I thought we already figured that out."

Twilight shook her head as she examined the photo more closely, "No, I mean they look like they're friends with each other. But it doesn't seem like they're friends now."

As Twilight put down the book and rested her chin on her palm, Sonic and Spike responded, "Noooot so much."

With a sigh, Twilight took a book from the makeshift bed and opened it up to use as a pillow. She laid down with her head on top of the open book. Sonic grabbed the carp from the floor as he pondered, "Y'know, guys? I can't help but get the feeling that Sunset Shimmer might've been responsible for their broken friendships."

As Sonic pulled the carp over Twilight as a blanket to keep her warm, Spike jumped onto the bed and laid down next to Twilight, "I wouldn't put it past her. But she wanted the crown because she's planning on doing something even worse. If we're gonna stop her, we'll need to focus on making friends here."

Twilight continued to look at the photo in the yearbook as Spike yawned, "Even if they… do remind us of our Ponyville friends."

Twilight smiled as she comforted Spike, "You're right, Spike. Eye on the prize."

Sonic was quiet. He didn't say a word. He couldn't help but wonder. He and Twilight were in somewhat of a similar situation; stuck in a world they knew nothing about and holding a goal to retrieve gemstones that contained great power. And someone else filled with greed wanted the power all for themselves.

Sonic looked up at the moon through the window in the ceiling as he pondered to himself. He had a home to go back to, friends to go back to… family to go back to. And he wasn't the only one with this obstacle. After some thought, he looked over to Twilight to see that she and Spike had drifted to sleep. He let out a smile as he thought to himself, "I guess Mobius can wait. Don't worry, Twilight; I'll make sure I'm here to stay as long as you need help."

Sonic jumped back onto the top of the shelf and laid down with his head over the book he had before. He stretched his arms out and put his hands underneath his head. He yawned as he stared at the bright moon with the glittering stars in the night sky. His eyes closed as he began to drift to sleep with his hands behind his head.

At first, it seemed quiet. Peaceful. But then a small ringing started being heard in Sonic's ear. Muffled voices began speaking quietly, yet they sounded like they were shouting. Then other sounds came; gunshots, screams, explosions. His head began shifting back and forth and he started grunting uncomfortably as the sounds grew louder.

And then a voice echoed, "Sonic, help!"

Suddenly, Sonic's mind flashed into the environment of a city reduced to rubble with walls of fire roaring from the debris. Laser blasts fired across the air as buildings crumbled and fell to the ground. People in the background screamed in terror as they ran for cover. Then silhouetted Mobians began appearing; one was an adult hedgehog using an advanced blaster against a group of Eggman's swatbots and three children were a rabbit, coyote and walrus trapped in a ring of fire.

Sonic's hand reached out towards the children as his voice shouted, "NOOOOOO!"

Then a massive object fell down from the sky and landed on top of the children, resulting in a flash of light and the loud sound of an explosion. And with a sudden jolt, Sonic's eyes snapped open as he awoke in a fright, "AAH!"

Sonic panted as he checked his surroundings; he was still in the library at CHS. Sweat slid down his head as he relaxed his breathing. He looked below to see that Twilight and Spike were not woken up by his startled shout.

That nightmare was something Sonic lived; a memory of his past. A memory that haunted him. He shut his eyes and grunted to himself, placing his palm over his face as he whispered, "It won't happen again. It can't happen again…"

Sonic laid back down, still letting out panicked exhales as he looked at the stars in the sky. Whatever it was he remembered, he wanted to forget about it and fall asleep. After all, today was the start of a new adventure in a new world, tomorrow new things were going to unfold.

FanFiction story written by Sandstorm - Books based off of the original screenplay of Meghan McCarthy

Characters of Sonic the Hedgehog owned by: SEGA and Sonic Team

Characters of Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie) owned by: Archie Comics

Characters of Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) owned by: IDW Publishing

Characters of Sonic the Hedgehog (Film Series) owned by: Paramount Pictures

Characters of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls owned by: Hasbro

STORY ELEMENT INSPIRATIONS

Sonic the Hedgehog - Main Series Games by: SEGA and Sonic Team

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic/My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Series and Films by: Hasbro, Inc

Sonic the Hedgehog - Archie Comic Series by: Archie Comics

Sonic the Hedgehog - IDW Comic Series by: IDW Publishing

Sonic Cinematic Universe - Film Series by: Paramount Pictures

Super Mario Bros. Z - Fan Crossover Web Series by: Mark Haynes (Alvin-Earthworm)

Sonic Legacy - Fan Comic Series by: Sonic Paradox

Sonic Chaos Adventure - Upcoming Fan Webcomic Series by: Team Chaos (YouTube)

Sonic 06 Rewritten - Games Rewritten by: Garrulous64 (YouTube)

Break the Walls Down - Sonic and MLP Fan Story by: Super Saiyan D (FIMFiction)

Equestria Girls: Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonic and MLP Fan Story by: sonicfan05 (FIMFiction)

CHARACTER DESIGN INSPIRATIONS

Sonic the Hedgehog - Main Series Games by: SEGA and Sonic Team

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic/My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Series and Films by: Hasbro, Inc

Sonic Boom - Game Series by: SEGA and Sonic Team

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) Film by: Paramount Pictures

The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Fan Comic by FrostbiteWhiteKnight (DeviantArt)

Super Mario Bros. DX - Fan Crossover Sprite Series by: Smashinity (YouTube)

Other specific elements for character designs are inspired by various artists on DeviantArt.

OCs

Gage the Hedgehog - Gage the Hedgehog (FanFiction)

REFERENCES

Eggman complimenting Metal Sonic is an homage to the memory scene in IDW: Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 12.

The overall scene where Shadow and Gage get sent through the dimensional transporter is based off the opening scene of Injustice: Gods Amoung Us - Chapter 6: Cyborg by Netherrealm Studios.

This Fan Fiction story is written out of love and inspiration from the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog and My Little Pony. Anyone who is interested in using concepts, materials or ideas of character designs from my stories is allowed to do so as long as they ask me and say where the idea originally came from.