Emerald Hill Zone, Sonic's world
The next morning
The local fauna of Emerald Hill was socializing with an odd species: small horse-like creatures with wings that spoke a strange alien-like dialect. They looked and sounded confused, glancing at both the animals and the grassy hills around them. From a nearby pathway, Sonic and Tails observed the creatures, the Miles Electric in the latter's hands.
"Anything, Tails?"
"Nuh-uh. Ugh, and modifying this into a translator for Wisps was hard enough. The last thing I want is for these creatures' words to come out all jumbled."
Sonic squinted at some of the creatures. "Sheesh. It's like someone decided to mash together a horse and a butterfly. Or maybe a moth?"
"And why does anything that small need such big wings?" Tails asked. "Never mind the size, I can barely make them out!"
One of the creatures turned away from the animals, catching sight of the hedgehog and the double-tailed fox. With a curious look in its eye, it flew away from its brethren and approached Sonic until it was right in front of his face.
With a nervous expression, Sonic took a step back. "Whoa, hey! Unless your body is filled with wild energy too, cut out the close-ups!"
"Mugudi saikendus?"
Sonic blinked. "Huh?"
"Adoshen papan gorn! Lun! Arshen aifok!"
Tails groaned. "Nothing. I keep getting an error message. Sorry little guy, but until we find some way to communicate, you're better off talking to your own kind."
The creature looked at Tails with unblinking eyes. "Mi fargen." It squeaked before it flew off to rejoin its kind. As soon as it left, Sonic and Tails turned to each other. "Sorry, Tails, but I don't think translating these things is gonna do us any good. We gotta focus on the bigger picture."
Tails snapped his fingers in realization. "Right! Let's not forget why we're here. I need to find a strong energy reading from those cracks and analyze it. That way we can get a hint as to what's going on."
"Okay!" Sonic gave him a thumbs-up. "Then let the energy hunt begin!" He took off running down a grassy slope, with Tails following close behind with spinning tails. The duo raced through Emerald Hill with Sonic on the ground and Tails in the air, keeping their eyes both in front of them and on the fractured sky above.
Sonic sped through loops and corkscrews, trying to position himself between any crack he could find. Tails tried to do the same, watching his handheld for any spike in mysterious energy. His readings pinged whenever he approached one of the breaches, but none of them were efficient enough for further study.
Sonic, on the other hand, had different results whenever he passed by a breach. "What the-?! WHOA!" He sidestepped out of the way at lightning speed just as a large wooden ship plummeted through a breach. With a sickening crunch, the ship crashed against some boulders and broke apart into splinters.
"A pirate ship?" Sonic asked as he sped past the wreckage. "Wait, no, it can't be. Pirate ships can't fly! And what kinda markings are those?"
"Come on, Sonic! Focus!" Tails called. "We gotta find a strong reading!"
"Easier said than done!" Sonic shouted in reply, dodging some falling rocks that poured out a newly-formed crack. He jumped from boulder to boulder, spinning clean through one too large to navigate around. "Lemme guess, the more stuff coming out of it, the better?"
"Dunno!" Tails answered. "But there's gotta be… wait! Here's one!" The fox flew towards a crack hovering over a lake, slightly larger than all the rest. Sonic briefly slowed at the sight before jumping off the path and speeding towards it with Tails in tow.
"Right! Because anything big is definitely important! Are you sure your handheld can handle that thing's energy levels?"
"I'm sure! Let's get in there, but be careful! There's no telling what may come outta-"
"Tails, LOOK OUT!"
The air in front of the duo cracked and split open, revealing another breach right in their path. Sonic instinctively dug his heels into the dirt, but he was moving too fast to slow down quickly. He and Tails cried out… before both of them collided with the breach.
Sonic's world went white as soon as he hit the breach with full force. The hedgehog's consciousness- now departed from his body- saw only a void. And his thoughts echoed in the vast space.
Ugh…. anyone get the number of that truck…? Wait… where am I? Tails? Tails, where are you?
White turned to black. Black filled with shining spots of white. And from the darkness, color appeared in the form of seven floating gems.
What the heck? Are those the… Chaos Emeralds?
The gems floated through space, drifting aimlessly until six more jewels floated into view. Unlike the Emeralds, these had their own unique shape: a balloon, an apple, a star, a butterfly, a diamond, and a lightning bolt.
Whoa… Sonic's mind realized. I'm feeling… something from those gems. Whatever it is, it's certainly not chaos energy. But it's powerful. It's strong. But what are they?
The glowing blue Chaos Emerald clinked against the illuminated red lightning bolt. The instant they did, a spark went off. A spark of chaos energy mixed with this strange energy the gems held. One by one, the rest of the Chaos Emeralds bumped against the shaped jewels, each spark they gave off intensifying with each touch. Soon, each jewel both familiar and alien to Sonic began to light up with color and ethereal lightning. Circling around each other, the Emeralds and the other jewels started to spin around and around, picking up speed as lightning traced off their forms.
And then came a blast so powerful it shook the stars themselves. Sonic's soul vibrated as he felt himself getting launched away as well…
...and his eyes shot open.
"Gah!" He sat up and brought a hand to his forehead. "Wha- what in the name of Chaos was that?! Tails, did you-"
He looked to his side… but saw his companion wasn't there. The fox had vanished from sight, as did the breach that had ripped open right in Sonic's face. "Tails? Tails!" Sonic leapt to his feet and turned his head all around him in complete confusion.
The sky rumbled and a crack similar to thunder tore across the land. More cracks were opening up by the second, allowing more alien and strange lifeforms and landscapes to enter Sonic's world. And the sight of them made Sonic's heart sink with dread.
Instinctively, he took off running at near-sonic speed. He shot down Emerald Hill's grassland and natural formations, his mind racing as quick as his feet.
What do the Chaos Emeralds have to do with this?! The last time I saw them, me, myself, and I just scrambled two Eggmen and blew that Time Eater out of history!
And now I have even more questions than answers. What were those jewels that the Emeralds touched? Where did they come from? And what kind of energy did they have?
And Tails… wherever you are, I hope you're okay.
…
The skies above Equestria
"Dang, a breaking-apart sky really tends to mess up the weather, doesn't it?"
"You don't need to tell us twice!"
Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Spike flew across the open air, which wasn't the same clear and blue sky Rainbow was used to. Angry storm clouds added to the tension already delivered by the bright cracks and openings in the atmosphere. Any normal pegasus would be greatly intimidated by weather like this… but Rainbow Dash saw only a challenge.
But there was one thing she didn't count on: the rain. And by rain, she meant the rain of foreign objects falling out of the holes and plummeting to the ground below. She had to use her extreme agility skills to evade pieces of buildings, chunks of checkerboard-style grass, and large bodies of metal that looked freakishly tough.
Rainbow zoomed away from another groaning hunk of metal falling from the sky. This one looked like a real monster, with many eyes on its body, two wings, and a drill for a hand! At least the last one didn't look quite as ugly; the only things revolting about it was its weird, round face, two blue eyes, and those two big sprouts of hair beneath its nose.
"Is it just me, or are things getting stranger by the second?" Rainbow asked over the sound of straining metal. "I've never seen monsters quite like these!"
"All the more reason to find out what's happening so we can stop it!" Twilight answered. "We have enough of these odd contraptions running around as it is. If these things decide to attack towns, all of Equestria would be in big trouble!"
Spike looked toward the ground, letting his eyes rest on the scrapped heaps of metal that had just hit the hills below with a force hard enough to break them- as well as parts of the earth- apart. "Well, it doesn't look like these ones aren't getting up anytime soon." He turned his gaze back to the sky. "But I have this feeling that something worse is- AAAAH!"
"Spike? What is-GAH!" Twilight, Spike, and Rainbow suddenly brought themselves to a halt… just as an enormous metallic blimp roared through the air with flames and smoke protruding from its form. It zoomed past the ponies with enough backdraft to send them both rearing. When Rainbow opened her eyes again, she saw the heavily-armed aircraft smash into the ground with a cloud of orange and black. The whole area seemed to tremble and quake at the impact and birds scattered into the sky to flee. From the air above, the pegasus, alicorn, and dragon all gawked at the newly-formed wreckage in shock.
"Wh-what the hey was THAT?!" Rainbow cried. "Some kind of… airship?"
"That was too close for comfort…" Twilight gasped. "Let's keep moving. We need to find out what kind of magic these things are made of."
"How do you even know if they're magic at all?" Rainbow asked quizzically. At her words, Twilight paused. "I… I don't. But if this isn't magic, what else could this possibly be?"
"Yeah, fair point," Rainbow answered as they took off flying again. "Nothing in the world is as powerful as magic, including ours! It's just got to be magic-related! So whaddya think? Misuse of an ancient artifact? Summoning spell gone horribly wrong? Side effects of an evil potion?"
Twilight shot her a look. "Neither of those sound even close, Rainbow."
"Well, you can't blame a pony for trying," she answered. "I mean, look at this! This could be beyond any of those things! Something this huge, something this dastardly, something this chaotic, even… uh, don't tell Discord I said that."
"Noted."
"My point is, something this large on the scale is bound to spell all kinds of doom for Equestria! I know you're the expert on magic, Twilight, but if we can't find a counter spell or a trinket or anything, everything we know is probably gonna be-"
"Guys!" cried Spike. "LOOK OUT!"
Twilight and Rainbow looked ahead of them… and could only scream before both of them flew right into the crackling breach. Rainbow Dash felt something ethereal and otherworldly strike her entire body before she blacked out.
She came to almost instantly, completely lost and confused. She felt different, as if her wings were plucked from her form. As if the color had been drained out of her. Her thoughts were no longer constricted to her mind. Speaking of, her mind felt just about everywhere.
What's happening? Where am I?
She saw a void. A blank space filled with the light of distant stars. There was nothing in sight for miles… until Rainbow noticed six gleaming jewels floating through the vastness.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Are… are those the Elements of Harmony? But- but that can't be! Sombra smashed them to pieces! Plus, my friends and I are supposed to have all the magic they did!
Rainbow watched the Elements move slowly through space, all while continuing to question their presence. Her gaze traced over the Element of Loyalty; the concept of friendship she possessed well. The red lightning bolt symbol stood before her consciousness with barely a crack on it.
Several glints caught the pegasus' attention. She directed her attention towards them; towards the objects the Elements of Harmony were drawing near. If she could do so, her magenta eyes would widen and her mouth would fall open in a brilliant gasp.
Seven beautiful diamonds floated towards the Elements, each one having its own unique color. It was like looking at the rainbow in crystal form… even though Rainbow noticed hues different from those on her flowing mane.
Whoa… what Rarity wouldn't give to use these in her latest line. As Rainbow's attention fully focused on them, she felt a ping of familiarization echo through her soul. A force too powerful and awesome for even her to describe settled in her consciousness.
This… this power… this doesn't feel like magic, but it's so… cool. I can't find the words for it, but it feels almost like the Elements. What are these things?
The Element of Loyalty flew towards the blue diamond, which floated towards it as if they were magnets attracting each other. A bright glow shone from them both… and with a tiny clink of crystal-upon-crystal contact, a spark ignited. The rest of the Elements touched each of the gems, allowing their magical properties to become infused with this strange, foreign power held by the diamonds.
Both energies sparked off the thirteen gems as they began to glow out of control. Rainbow could feel the entire space around her shiver as the gems circled each other. They aligned and spun as fast as a tornado, building up more of their combined energy and feeding each other their magic and unfamiliar power.
And then came a blast of bright light that was like her first sonic rainboom. Rainbow felt her consciousness flying back, away from the explosion…
And her eyes snapped open to the sensation of wind rushing against her form. But not in the way she was used to.
"AH!" Acting on sheer instinct, Rainbow Dash flung herself around and spread her feathered wings wide, catching an updraft that saved her from becoming a blue stain on the ground below. The pegasus swooped back into the air, her hooves skimming blades of grass. As soon as she was at a safe altitude, she caught her breath and blinked her eyes.
What was that? What were those diamonds? And why were the Elements there? Wait a second… could they be the cause of this?
Her mind suddenly remembered something critical. "Twilight! Spike!" she rushed across the sky, calling the names of her two friends. Unfortunately, no answer came. And the breach she had flown right into was long gone. Rainbow peeked around clouds and stared out at the horizon, but saw only more cracks and holes opening up in the beautiful blue sky that matched the color of her fur.
"Oh, man… this is bad! This is really, really bad! I gotta get outta here before things get any worse!"
Rainbow spun around and took off, leaving a colored trail in her wake. As she flew over the land at rocket speed, her worried eyes turned to the sky again. I'm sorry, Twilight. I promise I'll find you and Spike- wherever you are- but for now I need to see if everypony else is okay!
…
Meanwhile
Twilight Sparkle moaned and cracked open her eyes. "Oh, my aching head… What just happened?" the alicorn rose to her hooves and slowly walked a short distance ahead. "Spike? Rainbow Dash?" she called out. "Is anypony out-"
Twilight stopped at the base of a cliff that had some bits crumbled off. And what she saw beyond it took the rest of her breath away. "...there…"
It was… gorgeous. A lush field of green grass swaying in the gentle breeze, a bright blue sky with numerous clouds overhead, and calm, tranquil lakes. Totem poles of unknown origin looked out over the wondrous paradise before her. Any exposed soil Twilight could see was checkered brown, small animals romped about near pointed sunflowers, and waterfalls poured into the lakes and ocean.
"Heavens to Celestia…" Twilight breathed in sheer awe. "This place is amazing! Where in all Equestria am I?"
Twilight suddenly felt the ground beneath her hooves shake and rumble. "Huh?" Just as soon as she realized it, the entire cliff gave way beneath her, making her fall a short distance to the lower ground levels below.
"WAAAH! OOF!" She hit the ground with a hard thud, her hooves spread out from her body. "Ow…" Twilight moaned as she slowly stood up on shaky legs. She shook her head to relieve herself from the impact…
...and when she opened her eyes, she saw mechanized creatures glaring at her with narrowed eyes. Ladybugs with wheels made some sort of growling sound, bees pointed their stingers at the princess, crabs snapped their pincers, and a large caterpillar burst from the ground. Behind them, orange mechanical beings spun their heads towards her with an alarmed beep.
Twilight nervously swallowed. "Um… greetings. I am Twilight Sparkle, princess of-"
The wheeled ladybugs took off at full speed, barreling right for the alicorn. With a yelp, Twilight lowered her head and pointed her glowing horn at the approaching beings. One blast of magical energy was enough to blow them off the ground and onto their sides, where they remained helpless. The creatures proceeded to spin around on their metallic shells in an attempt to right themselves.
Another blast obliterated one of the crab contraptions in one shot, blowing it to pieces. An eyestalk landed near the unfazed caterpillar-like creature, who simply let out a mechanized roar at the alicorn. The blue bee beings flew into formation and fired off energy blasts from their stingers, barraging the princess with a volley of lasers.
Twilight summoned a magical shield to protect herself from the barrage. The caterpillar-like contraption snarled again before retreating underground, tunneling underneath its brethren… and the alicorn.
The creature burst out of the ground, taking Twilight with it. The princess cried out as she was flung into the air, prompting the bee-like beings to shoot at her once again. The alicorn's wings snapped open and she flew around the beings in a desperate effort to avoid their shots.
Missiles fired from the crab machine's claws, streaking towards the airborne Twilight. By the time she noticed them, it was too late for her to act. "AGH!" Two explosions rocked her form and she crashed to the ground, leaving the crab contraption to fall over in laughter at its accomplishment.
The machines surrounded Twilight from all sides. With a pained grunt, she tried to stand back up… but an unseen force landed on her torso, preventing her from recovering. Something shimmered in the air and revealed itself to the alicorn: a camouflaged chameleon-like machine that stared at her with artificial eyes. Twilight narrowed her own, ready to blast it with magic.
A mechanical foot stomped down on her horn, making her cry out in pain. Her violet eyes darted upward, where one of the orange beings with blue eyes, a pointy nose, and an ever-present grin looked down on her without blinking. Raising its foot from Twilight's horn, the machine thrust it down on Twilight's face, making her world go black.
The machines backed away, leaving the orange machines to bend over and pick up the unconscious alicorn with buzzing and whirring sounds. Turning their heads in unison, they proceeded to march along the path with their new prisoner.
...
Everfree Forest, Equestria
"Come along now, my pretties," cooed Fluttershy as calmly as she could. "You need to get somewhere safe before something bad happens to you." At the pegasus' words, a pack of small animals trotted towards her. While she recognized some of them, others were completely different than the rest.
But Fluttershy was kind to all kinds of critters, so there was no way she would leave them out here. "Oh, don't be scared. You'll be safe with me, little ones." The unfamiliar animals squealed and ran after the rest of the pack. "That's it, run along now. You'll be nice and cozy at my cottage."
"Chao chao!"
"Huh?" Fluttershy turned around and noticed more odd creatures near the treeline investigating some of her animal friends. These were blue with wings and teardrop-shaped heads, flying around with curious expressions.
"Oh, my," Fluttershy spoke quietly. "Well, you're fascinating creatures."
They looked at her with wondrous stares. "Chao chao? Chao!"
"Hee hee! And you're actually kind of cute! I've never seen a creature like you before? What shall I call you?"
One of the creatures flew up to her. "Chao chao chao!"
Fluttershy giggled. "You can, ahem, 'chow' down on something at my home. Follow me, I can get you some- eep!"
"Chao chao chao! Chao chao!" One of the creatures- this one wearing a red bowtie- had yanked on her tail and was speaking in a frightened tone. "What's the matter?" she asked nervously. The creature just turned and pointed down the path, urging Fluttershy to follow by pulling on her tail. "Chao chao! Chao chao!"
"Okay, I'm coming," she replied quietly. "There's no need to rush." she trotted down the path, with the creature flying close by. "Chao chao chao! Chao chao!"
"It's alright, there's no need for panic," Fluttershy told the creature calmly. "Are you scared one of your friends would get left behind?"
"Chao chao!"
"You don't need to worry. I don't leave any animal behind. And I don't want anything bad to happen to them…" Fluttershy paused. "...like getting stuffed inside something scary and made of metal."
"Chao chao?"
The pegasus shook her head. "I'm- I'm quite alright. Now, what is it that has you all startled?"The creature pointed to her right. "Chao chao!" Fluttershy turned around… and gasped with wide eyes. "Oh my goodness!"
In a small clearing of Everfree Forest was a creature she had seemingly missed when she was gathering up animals: something orange and furry with hints of white. It was lying unconscious in the middle of the clearing with- strangely- a pair of gloves on its hands and shoes on its feet. Fluttershy trotted up to it, her mouth open in astonishment.
"Oh, my! What kind of creature is this?! Some sort of fox? Why is it so big? Why is it wearing those?" Her cyan eyes darted over the fox's form. "Yeep! And why does it have two tails?!"
The creature hovered over the creature's form and made a pleading face, placing together its hands in a begging manner. "Chao! Chao chao chao chaoooo!"
Fluttershy looked at the winged creature to the one that appeared to be a fox. "Is… this your friend?"
"Chao chao!" the creature nodded.
"And do you want me to help him?"
"Chao chao chao!" it nodded again, faster this time.
"Well… I did say I would leave no animal behind," Fluttershy whispered. "You follow everyone else to my cottage. I'll bring him back myself."
"Chao chao!" the creature nodded and flew off. Just as it left, Fluttershy used her head to scoop up the unconscious creature and lift him onto her back. She let out an exhausted sigh and struggled to hold him upright.
"Oof… don't you worry- ngh- strange woodland creature… I'll- mmf- make sure you're safe and- rgh- sound…"
…
"Ugh… Twilight, what happened? Why do I feel so tingly…?"
Spike sat up and shook his head in a dazed manner. The last thing he remembered was flying through the skies of Equestria with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Then, he saw that hole in the sky open up right in front of them. And then…
"Twilight? Twilight!" Spike immediately leaped to his feet and looked all around him. "Where are you?!" No answer came. All the little dragon could see were trees, bushes, and lush vegetation. Plus, he could hear birdsong and the distant rushing of waterfalls nearby.
"More importantly," Spike wondered aloud. "Where am I? The Everfree Forest? White Tail Woods? Or maybe..." he froze in place and gulped. "The F-Forbidden Jungle…?"
Squeak!
"AAH!" Spike yelped in terror and flailed his arms, his eyes darting to the source of the noise: a small rabbit.
"Oh, phew! Thank the heavens!" Spike sighed, wiping his brow in relief. "For a second, I thought-" he stopped, noticing the little animal was staring at him with curiosity and confusion. "Hey, what's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a dragon before?"
The critter bounced away into the bushes in reply. Now alone, Spike let out a sigh. "Guess not. Okay, first order of business: find out where I am. Second order of business: find Twilight."
The little dragon walked through the foliage, brushing aside leaves that barred his path. He hopped across stones to cross rivers, flew through some odd-looking pieces of ground that resembled loop-de-loops, and encountered small groups of animals that curiously stared at him when he passed by.
"Whew!" Spike gasped as he pushed aside a large leaf. "This is one heckuva jungle! If only I could teleport back like Twilight does…" Spike looked up to the sky and held a hand up to his face to shield himself from sunlight. Just then, something glinted out of the corner of his eye.
"Huh? What's over there?" Spike wondered. "It better be good as long as it gets me out of this jungle…" He walked in the direction of the glint, swatting aside more leaves as he went. "Agh… stupid bushes. Stupid trees."
Spike emerged from a bush, wiping twigs off his scaly head. "I'd know how to get around this place if I knew where it was," the dragon muttered. "Hmm… maybe I can get a look at this place from the air. That oughta-"
Spike was cut short when his eyes landed on the landmark before him. His body froze in place and all breath left him in a silent gasp of awe. In the distance was a strange ruin surrounded by seven columns. A large staircase led to the top of a double-layered circular altar.
And resting on the altar was the most gorgeous, beautiful thing Spike had ever seen in his life. A giant, gleaming emerald that shone in the sunlight, standing proud atop the altar like a king on his throne, gazing down on all its loyal subjects.
The light of the enormous gemstone reflected in Spike's jade eyes. "S...sweet Celestia…" he squeaked under his breath. None of the gems he had seen compared in brilliance to this one. It was so lovely… so shiny… and so-
Grrr!
Spike snapped out of his trance and glanced at his stomach. A pang of realization coursed through his mind: when was the last time he had eaten? No wonder that big, scrumptious emerald seemed so alluring…
Spike snapped himself out of it again, realizing he had slowly made a few steps towards the altar. Okay… a little snack break won't hurt before I find out where I-
He stopped himself a third time, now realizing a different scenario could be played out here. No! Just focus and look at it, Spike! That emerald is HUGE! Maybe you could give it to Rarity! Oh, she would be so happy…
Spike's mind drifted off into a fantasy; one where he imagined himself yanking a tarp off the beautiful gemstone in front of an astonished Rarity. He imagined the unicorn's eyes wide in amazement and her mouth open in a cheerful squeal. Then, she would scoop Spike up in an adoring hug and kiss him on the cheek while excitedly spewing out thanks to the little dragon.
"Aah…" Spike sighed in a lovestruck tone, his cheeks flushing red. His eyes turned back to the gigantic gemstone, prompting a rushing sensation of determination to flood his body.
Spike took up a proud stance. He spread his wings and flew off towards the altar, laughing happily all the way. "Oh, thank Celestia!" he cried. "I just hit the motherload! Ha ha ha!"
The dragon touched down on top of the emerald belly-first, spreading out his limbs as if trying to hug the enormous emerald. "Oh, Rarity, when you see this baby, you are so gonna thank me!"
Spike rolled around atop the emerald, his childish laughter slowly dying down. He laid flat on his back, looking up at the bright blue sky. "Ah… okay, now how do I get this thing out?"
Spike stood up with a thoughtful expression, tapping a foot on the emerald's surface. "Maybe a little fire can do the trick? There's no way I can push something this big around. Or maybe-"
Spike paused. He was feeling weird all of a sudden. Really weird. A strange, warm feeling was flowing through his form, kind of like magic. He wasn't feeling strange a few minutes ago, so this had to mean…
"Oh my goodness…" Spike breathed, kneeling and placing a hand on the gem's surface. It was so gleaming, he could see his own reflection in it. "This is no ordinary emerald… this is a magic emerald! Haha! Twilight is so gonna want to hear about this! And this could be a huge breakthrough for Rarity's fashion work!"
Spike stopped himself once again. "Wait a minute… if this is a magic emerald… does that mean…?" he looked at his stomach, then at the emerald, then back to his stomach again. If he ate this- or at least a part of it- could he gain magical abilities?
"Ah, well. What Rarity won't know won't hurt her," Spike shrugged, moving close to the edge of the emerald. Excitement filled his core; he couldn't wait to learn what this thing could give him! Spike leaned down, ready to grab a bite-sized corner of the emerald and break it off.
BAM!
Something hit Spike right in the face with the force of a boulder. Spike yelled out in surprise and panic as he tumbled through the air head-over-tail. With a loud thud, Spike slammed into one of the columns surrounding the altar face-first. He felt the stone composition of the column slide past his face as he comically descended to the ground, where he landed on his back with swirling eyes.
"Uuuh… Applejack… your apple-bucking skills are as sharp as ever…"
Spike rolled onto his hands and shook his head in agonizing pain. "Ow, ow, ow… what the heck was-"
Spike froze when two red and yellow shoes with green cuffs landed on the ground in front of him. The little dragon slowly turned his head upward, catching a view of red fur on a strange creature had never seen before.
A chill took over Spike's body when he reached the highest point of the stranger. A pair of violet eyes glared at the dragon furiously, red dreadlocks trailed down its head and two mitten-like gloves clenched into fists. Spike noticed that each one had two sharp knuckles on them, causing him to gulp nervously. The stranger's arms seemed to quake in anger and his teeth were bared with fury.
"Uh…" Spike peeped with a shaking body. "H-h-hi?"
"You just made the biggest mistake of your life, you flying freak…"
