Being in Celestia's office a second time felt strange for Sonic. The first time it was a calm moment, meeting someone new and getting to know the place. But now, he had just explained to her what he told the girls earlier.
Celestia sat on her chair at her desk, taking her time to think about this information. Sonic was left wondering what she had to say to him for hiding his true self. After some thought, Celestia finally asked, "So you say you come from another world in another dimension, you're the protector of your world and you were sent here by your enemy?"
Sonic lightly shrugged to her question, "Pretty much sums it up."
With a sigh, he went on, "Principal Celestia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I didn't think you'd believe me if I did. It's a lot to take in. If there's anything you want me to do…"
Sonic was about to finish his sentence, when Celestia raised her hand, giving him a sign to wait. She glanced at him for a long moment, leaving him to frown in worry that he was about to be in trouble.
Then Celestia smiled, "I have to admit, when I first learned of this entire theory of other universes, I had my doubts that it could even be true. I thought it was all simply nonsense for people to make stories about, which they actually have…"
Celestia had a moment to let out a chuckle before she finished, "After some thought, I've become quite fascinated with the theory. Sometimes, I can't help but wonder that there's something more to this very location than meets the eye. Particularly the Wondercolt statue at the front of my school."
Sonic slightly tilted his head at this statement, "You mean the statue of the horse?"
"Exactly," Celestia answered, "As far as I'm aware, this school in general has been in Canterlot City for decades. Though the building itself had always had its fair share of reconstruction, the statue had always remained untouched. Most people believe that leaving it the way it was originally built will preserve its representation, but I believe it may be connected to something more. Perhaps even the key for a gateway to another place to explore."
Sonic pondered to himself about this entire idea of the Wondercolt statue, "Could the statue actually be the gateway to Equestria?"
Celestia then cleared her throat, "Listen, Sonic. I'm glad that you and I had this talk. It's reassuring to know where you come from and that you care for others. However, I ask that you honour this request. Every student in my school is special to me in their own way, and I care deeply for their safety. So please, if anything dangerous occurs and it threatens them, make sure that you help to protect them."
Sonic nodded to Celestia's request, "I'll do my best, Principal Celestia."
With a smile, Celestia nodded back, "Thank you, Sonic. You can head out now. Be careful."
Standing from his desk, Sonic gave a thumbs-up as he headed out the door, pulling his hoodie up over his head to cover his ears once again. Soon as he walked into the hallway and out of the office, he lightly pushed the door, closing it behind him… completely unaware that someone had hidden behind the open door.
Once the door closed on its own, it was revealed that Flash Sentry had been the one hiding behind it. He had listened to Sonic's conversation with Celestia. Looking down with his eyes, he stopped recording the audio on his phone before throwing it in his pocket and replacing it with a notebook. He opened it, flipping through multiple pages until he reached a specific page with a big, bold word in the very middle, "Sonic."
Around the name were multiple notes, including "superspeed, inhuman acrobatics, non-human ears" all with a question mark at the end. Flash pulled out a pen from the binding of the notebook and wrote down on the bottom of the page "also from another world in another dimension".
Wait… Also? What did it mean "also"? Was there someone else Flash was aware of that no one else was? How long had he known about this? Regardless, after he wrote in his notes, he put the notebook away and started following Sonic quietly.
If there was one thing that Sonic had any high hopes on for the rest of the day, it was that he wouldn't get any more attention from the students. But the only expression on his face was disappointment as he could only get the complete opposite; quite literally every student in the hallway had their eyes on him, recording him with their phones and asking him questions about the video.
Sonic sighed with frustration as he gripped onto his hood very tight; he was not going to take any more chances on people pulling it off to show his hedgehog ears. To make things worse, students started getting in his way to try and get his attention, reaching out to grab him. Their voices overlapped each other so much so that he could barely understand a word anyone was saying. He had to carefully push the students out of his way as he went down the halls, "Anyone here ever heard of something called personal space?!"
The hallway was so jam packed with students surrounding Sonic that Flash wasn't able to get to him through the crowd. With a huff, he proceeded to take another hall to get around to the other side quicker.
Sonic tried desperately to make his way through the crowd; he really didn't want to be here and he had to get back to the girls. But the more he pushed his way through, the tougher the students got with him. Their phones continued recording and lights flashed off as photos were taken, fevered by the questions and shouts of his name all mixed in a thick cloud of noise.
All of this attention was something Sonic hadn't been used to in a long time, "I've had stampedes follow me before, but this is ridiculous!"
Sonic could barely make his way through anyone now; it was clear that he wasn't going to get out. Even with his super speed, he would risk accidentally hurting the students. He let his head drop as he finally sighed in defeat. He raised his hand to address the crowd, waiting for them to quiet down. Lucky for him, they all lowered their voices within seconds.
Sonic raised his head with yet another sigh as he hoped to himself that answering their questions would help him. He opened his eyes and addressed the crowd, "Alright, everyone. First off, thanks for easing up. Haven't had this much attention in months. Second, I'm still in a bit of a tight spot, so y'all mind giving me just a little space and slowing down?"
Acknowledging this, the students provided enough space for Sonic to stand in a circle. This eased his tension quickly as he held his arms out, "Thank you. And third, I'll answer your questions, but please, one at a time and one question from each person so everyone gets a chance."
A barrage of voices was about to follow, right when two girls, Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops aka Bon Bon stepped out of the crowd and into the circle to ask their questions. Lyra asked hers first, "Sonic, can you confirm that you were the person seen on the news who knocked away that violent robot?"
Sonic nodded yes, which led Bon Bon to ask her question to follow Lyra's, "Do you have any connections with it?"
"No direct connections," the Mobian answered, "But Metal Sonic and I have history. He's the creation of my arch nemesis, who's the bad guy where I come from, Dr. Eggman."
As Lyra and Sweetie stepped back into the crowd, students started raising their hands to ask their questions. Sonic pointed his finger at Blueberry Cake to hear what she wanted to ask, "Who is Dr. Eggman? Why is he called that?"
This was a question Sonic couldn't help chuckling at as he rested his fists on his hips, "He's the one I've stopped from achieving his global takeover for years. His real name's Ivo Robotnik. Used to call him 'Eggman' to make fun of him for literally being as unnaturally fat as an egg. Even though he's lost some weight, he ended up liking the name so much that he decided to keep it. The name might sound funny, but he's no laughing matter."
Heath Burns asked his question, "Weird question, do you know why Sunset Shimmer had you in that video of Twilight Sparkle?"
Sonic deadpanned, "She hates me. Plain and simple. And what you saw of Twilight on that video, that's just Shimmer being a dirty bully."
Nolan North asked next, "What kind of powers do you have? How'd you get it?"
Sonic casually shrugged with his eyes closed, "Mainly speed. I move faster than the speed of sound. Had that since I was born. I'm also pretty acrobatic. Just the kind of hedgehog I am."
Sonic's eyes suddenly snapped open right when he heard the words that just came out of his mouth. This caused Thunderbass to ask, "Hedgehog? What do you mean you're a hedgehog?"
All of the other students laid their eyes on Sonic, waiting for a response. He knew he screwed up and he couldn't lie. He pulled his hood off to reveal his Mobian ears as he pointed at them, "See the ears here? They're the same ears I had back where I come from, another world."
Everyone stared at the ears, seeing very clearly that they were all too real to be fake ears on a headband. Upon seeing them, Photo Finish, the school photographer, pulled out her camera and began rapidly taking pictures focused on Sonic's head to get full focus of the ears, much to the Mobian's annoyance as he had to cover his eyes from the flashes, "Hey, constant flashing's bad for the eyes!"
At the same time of Photo taking her pictures, Micro Chips asked his question to Sonic, or rather… started asking multiple all at once, "So are you an alien? What is your species called? What kind of planet are you from? How did you end up on our planet? Why did you–"
Sonic waved his hands out, signaling Micro Chips to stop, "One question for everyone to ask, remember? Technically, yes, but less 'another planet' and more 'different dimension'. As for how I got here, that's a long story and I've got no time to share that."
As the students continued asking their questions, no one was able to notice a door to a classroom was opening from the inside. Flash quietly poked his head and arm out from behind the door, waiting for an opportunity, but of what?
Octavia Melody was next to ask her question, "Do you think the authorities are going to come looking for you?"
Sonic rested his wrists on his hips, "No doubt, but the footage of me on the news was quick. Even so, you people are the only ones to have seen me before that happened. So if anything, I'd be out of their line of sight in the blink of an–"
Before Sonic got the chance to finish his answer, Flash grabbed him from behind by the shoulder of his hoodie and pulled him straight into the classroom, slamming the door shut in the process. The students didn't get a chance to process what just happened.
Flash quickly locked the door so the students in the hall couldn't get into the classroom. Sonic was stunned by how he got yanked into the room, "F-Flash? What'd you do that for–"
"Not in here, Sonic!" Flash cut him off as the students in the hallway started calling out into the room, banging on the door to get in.
Hearing the sound of the students outside the classroom gave Sonic a shiver. He hoped that answering their questions would get them off his back, but it wasn't enough. Now they were desperate to get to him. Flash quickly ran towards one of the windows at the end of the room. With some struggle, he pushed the window open and started crawling through it to get inside. Halfway through, he called out to Sonic, waving his arm, "Quick, outside!"
Heeding his words, Sonic quickly followed Flash to the window. Immediately after Flash pulled his leg out of the way, Sonic dived straight through the window followed by a shoulder-roll on the ground. Flash grabbed onto the open window and tried pulling the window back down before the students could see, but it was much more difficult to do so from the outside. Sonic was quick to get up and assist him, successfully shutting the window.
With the crisis averted, Sonic and Flash both let out a sigh of relief. The rocker rested his hands on his knees while the Mobian leaned against the wall. Sonic quickly wiped some sweat from his forehead, "Yo, thanks for the save, Flash. I really thought my bacon was in a cocoon there."
"No prob, dude," Flash simply waved his hand, "Just helping out. Man, I thought everyone else would ask questions, but that was not what I expected back there."
Sonic huffed as he stood up straight, "Trust me, I've had audiences back home, but not like that. Now that that's done, I've gotta go find Twilight."
Sonic brushed a bit of dust off his shoulder and started to walk away. He didn't manage to even take twelve steps before Flash called out to him, "It's called Mobius, right?"
The question caused Sonic to freeze in his tracks; Flash knew the name of Sonic's world. The Mobian turned back around in surprise, "W-what?"
Flash repeated his question and elaborated, "Your home world, it's called Mobius, right? I mean, that's where you come from. Like, I know you just told everyone back there that you come from another dimension, which is still kinda hard to believe for me, but you didn't say the name of your world."
It became crystal clear that Flash knew something about Sonic the other students didn't and he wasn't trying to hide it. Sonic crossed his arms following Flash's explanation, "You're right, I didn't say that name of my world. So how'd you figure it out?"
Flash was about to answer, then hesitated. He glanced around at the surroundings, making sure that no one was around, and then asked while pointing behind him with his thumb, "Think you and I can talk about that in my car?"
A short time later, Sonic rode with Flash in his car to Sweet Shoppe. It was a slow drive; traffic had gotten rough since Metal Sonic's attack. But even then, Sonic didn't seem to mind waiting. After all, he and Flash were in the middle of a conversation, and that didn't need to be short-lived.
Sonic rested his chin in his palm with his elbow on the open window as he let out a sigh with surprise, "Man, I can't believe you actually recognized me back there, even when I moved so fast that you'd miss me if ya blinked."
Flash gave a chuckle in response, "Yeah, I guess I happen to be pretty self-aware for a normal person. Funny thing, some of my friends have been thinking I've watched too many detective shows recently and nicknamed me 'Super-Observant Flash', believe it or not."
The nickname caused Sonic to let out a laugh as he rested his hands behind his head, "Ha! That's funny! There's this one guy back on Mobius named Carl who I called 'Super-Observant Carl'. When I was just a kid and visited Green Hills on South Island, he was the only one aware of me and tried capturing me a lotta times. The whole town called him 'Crazy Carl' and labeled him as the town lunatic."
"Oh, yeah?" Flash asked with a smirk and an arched eyebrow, "How'd all those efforts go for him?"
"Either I eluded him or got him caught in his own traps every time," Sonic smiled confidently, "One time, I got him stuck in his rope and left him hanging there shouting, 'I know you're out there, and I know you're real'!"
Flash couldn't help laughing at this, "Oh, man, sounds like people really thought he was an idiot."
Sonic went on, "This one other time, he tried chasing after me in his car with a net-gun. Made him follow me around in a public parking lot in circles. By the time he fired the thing, he thought he finally caught me, only for it to be… a police officer!"
Flash let out a burst of laughter, "Oh-ho-ho-ho, no! Oh, he had to be in trouble there!"
The two boys shared a long laugh over the tales of Crazy Carl. The interactions between them made it feel like two best friends spending time like a chance they never had in a long time. After a moment had passed, Sonic couldn't help but wonder about something; how did Flash come to be this aware of such things? There was only one way to find out.
"Flash, how exactly did you get this observant?"
Flash turned his face to Sonic, but didn't immediately respond. He looked away, tilting his head down as he thought to himself. After a short period of thinking, he let out a sigh as he looked back at Sonic, "It all started after the breakup a few weeks ago."
Sonic arched his eyebrow at the last word of the sentence, "Breakup?"
"Would you believe me if I said I used to date Sunset Shimmer?"
Sonic's expression suddenly shifted; confusion to shock. Eyes wide open. Silent in surprise. Flash glanced at Sonic's expression, "I'm… gonna take that as a… 'probably not'."
Sonic then quickly shook his head, snapping out of his trance and getting back to reality. With his focus restored, he asked, still surprised, "You and Sunset Shimmer?"
Flash let out an embarrassed chuckle as he explained, "Yeah… things didn't quite go the way I thought. You see, after I broke up with her, I started noticing her going off and doing… unusual things in the background. Everyone else, understandably afraid of her, stayed away, but I just couldn't help feeling curious. So I followed her. Started taking notes. Kept track of the locations of her choosing."
Sonic thought to himself for a moment, thinking about what Flash was telling him as the latter went on, "Then a few days ago, I heard her mention something called 'Equestria'. At first, I thought it was a name for some kind of project, but after some further investigation, I realized it was a place. And not just any place. It was part of a whole nother world, and the gateway is literally the Wondercolt Statue."
Sonic's eyes widened upon this; his theory about Celestia's suspicion on the Wondercolt Statue was all true.
Flash proceeded before turning his attention to Sonic, "Earlier this morning, the answers became clear when I saw two other things, the crown for the Fall Formal Princess… and Twilight herself. Tell me, Sonic… that crown, it's really Twilight's, isn't it?"
Sonic was once again stunned in silence, "H– How did you–?"
"I've looked at the crown more times than I can count," Flash answered with a shrug, "You can pick up a thing or two when you pay attention to details."
Sonic could only let out an exhale out of surprise, "Wow, Flash… you really are a sly dude."
Flash chuckled at Sonic's compliment, before he continued with his explanation, "Even though I suspected that both Twilight and Sunset come from Equestria, including that crown, I wasn't a hundred percent sure until I heard you talking with her. And as a side note, I also happened to overhear you telling the other girls about your world earlier."
"Yeah," Sonic crossed his arms over his chest, "They deserved to know. Same with Principal Celestia."
Flash let out a sigh as he turned away, "Listen, Sonic…"
Sonic looked over as he listened to what Flash wanted to say, "Despite everything Sunset's done… I really feel bad for her. She doesn't seem truly bad; she's just… lost. Confused. Conflicted. I think there's a part of her deep down somewhere that knows it too. That's why I haven't been affected by how she treated me after our breakup."
Sonic was rather quietly surprised to hear this, "How can you know that?"
"Because long before that happened, she seemed like a kind person," Flash answered, "Even if she never truly liked me, liked me. She just needs the right kind of help. After all, we'll never have a chance to talk if I hold a grudge; it's always better to add water to the flame than to keep gassing it."
Sonic turned his head away, thinking about those last words Flash stated. Though he'd have to remind himself as he felt Flash pulling his car over to the sidewalk, "We're here. The Sweet Shoppe."
As soon as the car was parked, Sonic and Flash stepped out to see their destination; the Sweet Shoppe, a street corner diner owned by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Just across the street. Sonic was quick to pull his hood over to cover his ears before anyone could see.
Flash was quick to notice and remember Sonic's sightings on the news, "Even with your hood up, don't you think people would recognize your style in clothes?"
Sonic felt confident from this statement as he and Flash crossed the street to the diner, "I was mostly covered in lightning and that was all that was in the footage. 'Sides, only the students back at CHS have eyes sharp enough to know since they've seen me more than anyone else."
Upon opening the doors, Sonic and Flash found the diner to be fairly quiet; only a select few tables were taken and most of the customers were taking their orders to go. And lucky for Sonic, nobody was eyeing him.
A quick glance to the left and the girls were all together at a table with chairs and a couch. Rainbow, Fluttershy and Rarity shared the couch together with Spike taking a nap on Rarity's lap. Pinkie sat in a chair with a drink that had an orange wedge on the top of the glass and Applejack sat in another chair which faced the table backwards.
Sonic gave Flash a quick pat on the shoulder, "Thanks for the ride, Flash. I owe you one."
Flash chuckled as he gave a light wave, "No worries, man. I'll let you catch up with 'em. Want anything? A drink? Snack? I'll pay."
Sonic, though briefly surprised by the offer, pointed his thumb over at the drinks in the fridge behind the counter, "They got anything like orange soda?"
Flash smirked with finger guns, "Coming right up."
Rainbow was taking a sip of her drink when she noticed Sonic approaching their table, "There you are. Thought you said you were fast, blue boy."
Sonic scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah… I kinda got a bit held up."
"Lemme guess," Applejack gave a teasing smirk, "You kept getting blinded by the cameras from fans?"
Sonic scoffed as he rested his hands behind his head, "More like stalkers. They kept asking me questions as if I was some famous actor at Comic-Con."
With that subject out of the way, Sonic reached out to grab a spare chair from an unused table. He was mere seconds away from grabbing it when he suddenly felt someone else's hands touching his hand. He turned his head to see that it was none other than Rainbow Dash to be the source.
Everyone else at the table had their eyes open in surprise. Rainbow gently pulled Sonic over to the couch, "C'mon, we can scooch over for ya."
Rarity and Fluttershy, though still surprised, shifted themselves over to make room for Sonic to sit down beside Rainbow. The Mobian, a bit shocked, gave an embarrassed chuckle, "Uh, heheheh, thanks…"
Rainbow herself was quick to realize her actions and turned her head away while still keeping her eyes on Sonic, "No prob."
Both Sonic and Rainbow had their heads turned away from each other as a small hint of pink was forming on their cheeks. Applejack was the first to see the scene between the two, and a sly grin shone from the sight. She faced the other girls and motioned her eyes on Sonic and Rainbow. Both Pinkie and Fluttershy looked at each other and put their hands over their smiles, quietly giggling. Rarity gave the two a cute stare, resting her chin over her hands.
Sonic and Rainbow were quick to notice that they were getting looked at by their friends, "What?"
Applejack gave a soft chuckle as her eyes looked away, "Oh, nothing."
Rainbow's eyes shifted back and forth at the other girls, "Okay… why are you all staring at us?"
Rarity tilted her head and rested her cheek against her palm, "Aww… you two look so adorable together."
Sonic and Rainbow's cheeks suddenly began to shift from pink to red. Their confusion turned to embarrassment. Both looked at each other for a split second before they quickly turned their heads away in an effort to hide their blushing.
Sonic let out an embarrassed scoff, "Pfft, what? Dash and I? Nah-nah, w-we're not a 'two'."
Rainbow gave a nervous chuckle while her eyes shifted back and forth looking at the ceiling, "Yeah, yeah. We're a "one and one". T-there's nothing between us. Nope, nadda, not a thing."
"Toooootally nothing at all," Sonic added while putting his hands behind his head, trying to act casual.
Despite their attempts to deny anything, embarrassment overflowed the environment around Sonic and Rainbow as the other girls continued to stare at them. Applejack chuckled once more as she spoke more directly to Sonic, "Ah'll be honest, Sonic, I kinda thought I might've had a thing fer ya, but now that I see ya with Dash… Ho boy, I think you two are really charmin' together."
Sonic and Rainbow's cheeks continued to burn bright red; it was safe to say that whatever they were thinking about each other was crystal clear. But before anyone else could get a chance to say anything else, there was the sound of something spilling on the floor. Everyone glanced over to see that Twilight and Flash had accidentally bumped into each other and as a result, Twilight ended up spilling her drink on Flash's shirt.
Though both shocked by the outcome, Flash quickly brushed it off as a common accident, "Oh, heh. We've got to stop bumping into each other like this."
Twilight appeared to be freaking out as she knelt down to pick up her spilled cup. Unbeknownst to her, Flash did the very same thing, resulting in their hands briefly touching each other. With an awkward look exchanged to each other, they both showed an embarrassed smile as Twilight pulled her hand away to let Flash pick up the cup.
Twilight was quick to stand up straight, extracting whatever words she could out of her awkwardness as she pulled her hair, "You know me. Always trying to make a big splash around here. Cuz my drink kinda splashed… on the ground."
Though Twilight let out a nervous laughter as a small blush formed on her cheeks, Flash simply gave her a warming smile. After a moment of playing with her fingers, she pointed behind her with her thumb, "I'm gonna go over there now."
Twilight ended up walking backwards into the counter, causing her to quickly turn and walk forward to her table with an awkward toothy smile. Again, Flash only gave her a warm smile as he playfully shook his head before he reached to grab a roll of paper towel to clean the mess. Twilight sat on the left arm of the couch next to Rarity, her blush still remaining as she played with her hair.
Seeing Twilight's blush towards Flash was apparently not something Rarity approved of, "Don't even think about it! You're already trying to get her crown. Who knows what Sunset Shimmer would do if you ended up getting her ex-boyfriend too?"
Twilight, feeling embarrassed, stammered in confusion as she stood from the couch and went behind Pinkie's chair, "I'm not trying to. I don't even know… We just accidentally…"
The last thing Rarity said before swiftly came to Twilight's mind, "Ex-boyfriend?"
The group watched Flash get the change for his drink and Sonic's orange soda while Fluttershy explained the abridged backstory, "Flash Sentry broke up with her a few weeks ago. I can't believe she hasn't done something awful to him yet."
The girls all quickly looked away, acting casual and hoping not to get any awkward attention with Rainbow and Fluttershy sipping their drinks while Rarity patted the sleepy Spike on her lap. As Flash walked past the group, he looked over his shoulder at Twilight with that warm smile of his. He didn't forget to give Sonic his soda as he tossed the can over, to which the Mobian caught with ease. They both gave a salute to each other before Flash went out the exit.
Once Flash was out of sight and the doors closed, Twilight stood up from behind Pinkie's chair, "Maybe she's just waiting until she has the power to do something really awful."
Applejack stood up from her chair, knowing it was time to form a plan for the Fall Formal, "Alright, everyone. Dance is tomorrow night and we still don't know how we're gonna get Twilight the votes she needs to be named Princess. Right now, folks only know the Twilight from the videos Sunset Shimmer posted online."
Applejack approached Twilight and placed her hands over her friends' shoulders, "We need to help 'em see her differently."
Everyone in their seats gave remarks of agreement as they pondered what to do. To everyone's surprise, it didn't take long for Rarity to come up with an idea as she stood up from the couch letting out an excited screech, "I'VE GOT IT!"
Spike was startled awake by Rarity's screech while quite literally everyone inside the diner all looked over with awe-like stares and expressions. Embarrassed, Rarity showed a big toothy smile as her eyes darted around and her cheeks burned pink from said embarrassment. To fix this, she chose a much calmer tone of voice as she cleared her throat, "I mean, um… perhaps I have a solution."
Rarity turned herself to grab her bag of accessories from the side of the couch on the floor. She rested it on the arm and unzipped the zipper to reach in and find what she was looking for, "Now this may be an absolutely preposterous idea, but…"
It was revealed that what Rarity had found were two accessories; a bright blue headband with yellow pony-like ears and a belt rope with a bright blue and yellow tail attached to the back, "What if we all wore these as a sign of unity?"
So far, the only response from the group was a quizzical look. Rarity explained her idea as she tied the rope on and put the headband over her head, "Freshman year, they were very, very popular. A way for everyone to show their school spirit. You know? 'Go, Canterlot Wondercolts'! …I haven't sold any in ages."
Rarity continued her speech as she picked up more headbands and passed them to the rest of the girls, "I mean, the five of us are obviously different, but deep down, we're all Canterlot Wondercolts.
Each of the girls began feeling confident in Rarity's idea as they put their headbands on while Rarity herself went on, "Sunset Shimmer is the one who divided us, Twilight Sparkle with the help of Sonic the Hedgehog is the one who united us. And we're going to let everyone know it!"
After Rarity put one last headband on Twilight, which caused her to smile, she asked the rest for their opinion, "What do you think?"
All of the girls gave a smile in response, telling their answer yes. Spike himself mostly stared at Rarity with hearts in his eyes. Twilight couldn't help giggling happily at this as she smiled at her friend. Rarity herself then raised her finger, "Oh! I almost forgot!"
Rarity then approached her bag once more and pulled out one more headband, only this time the ears were slightly bigger and there seemed to be holes underneath them. She turned her attention straight to Sonic, "This one I made just for you, Sonic. You should hopefully be able to cover your ears with it. That way, you won't have to worry about wearing the hood so much anymore."
Sonic stood a moment and blinked in confusion asking the questions most would have on their minds, "How'd you make that so fast?"
Applejack chuckled as she patted the Mobian's shoulder, "You probably don't wanna bother askin'."
Rarity held out the headband to Rainbow Dash, "Want to do the honours, darling?"
Rainbow's expression went flat; it was quite clear that Rarity, as well as the rest of the girls, was really enjoying the idea of her and Sonic together. It was probably not going to go away anytime soon. But then again… could they be right? Could it truly be that she liked Sonic in this way? It was strange for her as this wasn't a part of her character; she wasn't interested in relationships.
With a sigh of defeat yet smiling, Rainbow took the headband and turned to put it onto Sonic's head. Sonic pulled his hood off his head just enough so that Rainbow could put the headband on and over his ears. Once it was carefully put on, Sonic let his hood drop down for the girls to see that his ears were completely covered by the pony ears.
Sonic waited a moment to let himself feel the headband covering his ears, and it was quick to get comfortable. He held his hands out as he looked to his friends, "How do I look?"
All of the girls gave a smile of approval with thumbs up and joyful claps. Rainbow smiled warmly as she rested her arm on Sonic's shoulder, "Like a Canterlot Wondercolt."
At that sudden moment, a flash of light went off, causing both Sonic and Rainbow to jump in surprise. The source of the flash was none other than Pinkie Pie taking a photo with her phone. With a giggle, she passed her phone to Rainbow for her and Sonic to see the photo, "Best photo of 'Favourite Couple' for the yearbook!"
Rainbow and Sonic took a look at the photo on Pinkie's phone. It was a shot of when both of them had their pony headbands on while smiling at each other warmly with Rainbow resting her arm on Sonic's shoulder. They both had to admit… It was a nice photo of them. One they couldn't help smiling about.
As everything felt like there was nothing else to worry about on this day, Sonic noticed something out the window from the corner of his eye. He turned to see what at first looked like a cloud of smoke building up from far away over one of the buildings across the street. But as he squinted his eyes to look sharper, alarm suddenly flashed in his mind as he realized what it actually was; missiles! Coming straight at the diner!
"AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS!" Sonic shouted and grabbed Rainbow Dash as he and everyone following his sudden shout lept off their feet and away from the windows right before the missiles came down and blasted the entire wall apart.
Gasps and screams out of fright were let out following the sudden destruction done to the diner by the missiles. The wall was completely obliterated with debris hanging from the broken ends and sparks of electricity flickering from the damaged wires. Glass from the windows were spread around on the floor in the diner and on the sidewalk outside.
Civilians outside of the diner started panicking as they fled the scene as quickly as possible. Parents grabbed their children and carried them to safety while others got into their cars and drove off without any thought whatsoever for the speed limits.
Sonic groaned as he pushed a piece of debris off of him and Rainbow, who was covered thanks to his protection. The rest of the girls all groaned as they pushed themselves off the floor.
Applejack pulled her hat out from under the knocked-over table, barely able to process the sudden incident, "What in tarnation just happened?!"
For a brief moment, Pinkie rubbed her head as she moaned in pain and dizziness. Then, as she opened her eyes and turned her head to the right, she suddenly found herself face-to-face with something admitting a bright red light right in her face. She let out a startled yelp as she jumped backwards into Fluttershy and Rarity.
A swarm of Eggman's flying badniks began hovering down from out of nowhere; drones and Buzz Bombers aiming their guns and lazer sights at the group, armed and ready to fire upon any sudden movements. Sonic and the girls all stood up on their feet with the badniks all aiming their weapons at them. Fluttershy and Pinkie shivered in fear as Applejack held her arms in front of them to protect them.
Rarity almost screeched in shock, "What's going on here?! What are these things?!"
Sonic held his ground, keeping his arms around Rainbow to protect her, "He's here."
Following Sonic's answer, there was the sound of something large approaching the scene. The group took a few steps forward towards the damaged wall to see the Eggpod slowly coming down towards them; its red glowing in its hover wings shining bright from its power. Once it was a certain height over the ground, the windshield let out small bits of steam hissing out as it slowly opened backwards to reveal none other than Dr. Eggman himself who slowly stood up from his seat.
Tension was high in the air as the girls and Spike all observed the doctor; his sudden arrival, deadly armed drones and most certainly the destruction he just caused made a chill of fear crawl up their spines. Eggman smirked as he looked down directly at his archenemy and brushed his mustache with one hand while the other was behind his back, "Good afternoon and welcome to Canterlot City, Sonic. Are you enjoying the quiet life here? I do have to say, that new look suits you quite well. And I see you've made some friends. And in a short time too. I'm impressed."
Fluttershy shivered out of fright behind Applejack both from the doctor's presence and the armed badniks aimed at her and her friends. Rainbow asked quietly, "Sonic… is that–?"
Sonic answered without looking away from the mad doctor, "Yeah, it's Dr. Eggman; the psycho I told you about who's been trying to get rid of me for years."
At that second, both Orbot and Cubot popped out from their locks on the control panel. They both held their hands out towards Eggman as Orbot went off speaking in a medieval tone of voice, "Citizens of this world, bend your knees and bow your heads to the mighty and all powerful Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"
Orbot gave different types of jazz-hands with his own monologue, "Resistance is futile! You have nothing that can surpass the greatness of the greatest genius in all of Mobius! Swear that you will serve your rightful leader without question, or be destroyed!"
There was only silence in the air other than the noise of the Eggpod and badniks hovering in the air. All of the girls and Spike behind Sonic arched an eyebrow and tilted their heads to the left for the two bots' odd behavior. Eggman cleared his throat and composed, "My apologies for those two. I'd shut them up, but I can't find the off switch."
Sonic scoffed as he pointed to the doctor, "As I said, he's the wacko who's always trying to get rid of me. Unsuccessfully, I might add!"
Eggman frowned at Sonic's mock of him, "Come now, is that any way to introduce someone to your friends? After all, we've only just met for the first time. Let's take a chance to get to know each other."
Finally finding a spark of courage and breaking her silence, Applejack took a step forward and called out to the doctor, "Ah don't know who ya think you are, pal, but you do realize what you've done, right? You just caused property damage to a public location for the residents that work and live here!"
Eggman only huffed scornfully at Applejack's statement, "A hillbilly as inferior and basic as you has no right to speak to their superior about what they can or cannot do."
The girls all cringed at the doctor's choice of words as Applejack's eyes were widened with sudden anger; one harsh sentence towards her and she was already having an immense dislike for him. But Eggman was only beginning to insult them as he continued to condescend his tone, "Do each of you have names or should we just call you delinquents? Or perhaps collateral damage?"
Whatever fear they may have had before was somewhat cleansed as all the girls frowned at the doctor. Rainbow in particular wouldn't have it as she pounded her fist in her palm, "Hey, watch your mouth, baldy! Unless you want a good punch to the jaw?"
Eggman only shook his head, unphased by Rainbow's threat. He only had his hands behind his back as he spoke with disdain, "How cute. You know, one of the only other humans who ever punched me in the face was the school bully. He hit me in the cafeteria, causing a blunt force contusion to the soft tissue surrounding my orbital bone. Humiliated me in front of the entire school! …And do you know what I did in response?"
Rainbow, now having lost a degree of her anger, didn't answer immediately. Fluttershy, though mostly afraid to know the answer, somehow found the courage to speak, "Umm… y-you reported him straight to the principal's office? Because you know bullying at school is really unacceptable. Especially using violence."
"A very well-educated guess, child," Eggman chuckled in amusement before he answered in a dark tone, "But no. I examined the inefficiency of a world where brawn trumped the brain and I used technology to resolve that inefficiency. The idiot ate his meals through a straw for a year!"
This response made Fluttershy and the rest of the girls frown in silent fear; the doctor's tone made it crystal clear that he was not playing around. But he still had more to say as he pointed directly at Sonic, "And ever since then, I had never lost a fight again. That is, right up until he showed up and others came to resist me."
Rarity looked rather oddly disgusted, eyeing Eggman's choice of clothes as she pointed, "I don't mean any disrespect, sir, but… just what are you wearing?"
Eggman looked over his outfit before he answered Rarity's question with his teeth gritted, "For your information, nitwit, it's a flight suit. Designed to modulate my body temperature and reduce drag."
Rarity let out a gasp as she felt insulted by what Eggman just called her, "How dare you! I'm a lady!"
In response, Eggman snapped his fingers and all of the badniks started aiming their lasers directly at their target's heads. The girls all gasped in horror, knowing all too well that they were cornered with no way out. Sonic snarled as he held his arms out in front of his friends, "Leave them out of this, Eggman! If it's me you want, I'm right here! Let them go!"
"That depends, hedgehog," Eggman responded coldly, "You have two options; either hand over the Chaos Emeralds in your possession and I will leave them and the rest of this city untouched– well, except this small diner here, or resist… and they all get a bullet in their heads."
Sonic didn't respond immediately as the tension only grew in the air. His new friends were all in danger and wouldn't stand a chance against Eggman's badniks. One mistake and it would be the end of their lives; something he would never forgive himself for. He had to think of a way to get them to safety before facing the doctor himself, and he had to think fast.
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.
REFERENCES
Sonic's stories about Crazy Carl are reminiscent of the character of the same name in Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe films.
Rainbow Dash putting Sonic's Wondercolt ears on him is similar to the ending of CW's Arrow - Season 2 - Episode 9: Three Ghosts.
Eggman telling his story about his revenge against his school bully is reminiscent of Dr. Robotnik telling Tom Wachowski the same story in Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe films.
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.
