Disclaimer: None of the authors own Mass Effect or Sonic the Hedgehog.
This snip is written by the wonderful Masterweaver! Please keep in mind that it is NOT canon, as indicated by the Apocrypha label.
APOCRYPHA: "Down the rabbit hole?" – by Masterweaver
"I'm sorry," Vilmis held up a hand, "Rabbit hole? Did that translate correctly? Is Cream's species famous for long diatribes?"
Cream giggled a bit. "No, mister Vilmis, not Bright rabbits! Mister Sonic is talking about ordinary rabbits, the animals-they dig holes and tunnels to live and sleep in. Bright rabbits live in houses, like everybody else!"
"Actually, the term 'rabbit hole' may have originated from Brights," Tails pointed out. "The saying 'falling down the rabbit hole' orginates as a reference to the famous children's story 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'."
Vilmis blinked. "A children's story?"
"And an exercise in nonsense. Summarizing the plot, the young human girl Alice is frustrated over how confusing adults can be, when she witnesses a rabbit-a seemingly ordinary rabbit, mind you, not a Bright-running along with a pocket watch and saying he's very late for an important meeting. Curious as to why a rabbit would need a pocketwatch, she follows him down a rabbithole and winds up in the eponymous Wonderland, an evershifting environment which is populated by talking animals and strange characters who all follow their own inscrutable rules of society, spout poetry quite a bit, and grow very offended at Alice for not picking up on unstated social cues. Eventually Alice realizes she's dreaming and wakes up."
"That sounds very strange for a story," Vilmis admitted. "And you're sure these... 'talking animals' weren't Brights?"
"Now that is a subject of scholarly debate," Tails admitted. "The story was published before most human countries would officially announce first contact with us, but it was only a few decades beforehand. Lewis Carol, the author, claimed to have written the story to entertain a real world 'Alice', but some people believe the real Alice actually stumbled into a Bright village and relayed her experiences to mister Carol on return. Unfortunately, there's no hard evidence either way, but if that's the case..."
Cream hummed thoughtfully, considering that revelation. "I don't think Bright rabbits would have lived in holes back then."
"Yeah, but it took humans a while to figure out that we weren't just big animals," Sonic explained. "So this Carol guy probably threw in 'Alice falling down the rabbit hole' because that's where all the rabbits he knew about lived."
"...Your culture is going to be a tangled mess to examine, isn't it," Vilmis deadpanned.
Amy giggled. "Wait till you hear about kitsunes!"
"AAAAAMYYYYY!" Tails huffed.