Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Shadows of Harmony Redux! No reviews this time, but I still appreciate the support! With that said, let's continue!

Chapter 3: Moonlit Fears

"Apologies for the sudden call, but my guards has found something recently in the nearby mountain."

The princess of the sun was conversing with Sonic and Shadow in the throne room, with the latter wanting to keep it on topic:

"Is it someone from our world?"

"No, it's a rather peculiar object we found." Celestia answers before levitating a familiar shape, "I've had my scholars search through all the artifact books we had, but none of them can find anything even mentioning this. I can only assume this might be from your world."

The hedgehogs were curious as it looked like a ring from their world, but colored like one of the emeralds. The one she held was purple, appearing to be made into its shape by natural means. Sonic eventually recognizes the ring from a previous adventure:

"Oh, that is from our world! Knuckles and the Chaotix used those to stop Robotnik from using some 'Dark Ring' for his scheme. That is one of the six 'Chaos Rings', as they called them."

Celestia actually showed a nervous face upon hearing that, "Chaos? Do you have a God of Chaos too?"

"It's a common misconception." Shadow clarifies, "We have artifacts with the word Chaos in their name, but such a name only fits when used in the wrong hands. The most famous artifacts we have are called the 'Chaos Emeralds', but they're more like 'Miracle Gems'."

"Their power is capable of granting the user's wish, kinda like a genie's lamp." Sonic comments, "Honestly we just call them 'Chaos Emeralds' since it rolls off the tongue better."

Celestia took a moment to process the info before speaking, "I see. Your world sounds quite fascinating."

Sonic then notices something about the purple ring, "Huh. It's not glowing."

Shadow can confirm that, as the energy it had was faint. It was energy not like the Chaos Emeralds, but similar to the Master Emerald. Makes him more curious about their history and why they were made, but that's for another time as he speculates:

"Could be possible that their power only responds when needed. Then again, shouldn't you know since Knuckles told you about it?"

"Honestly, I don't think even he knows." The blue blur admits, "Plus if one of them is here, it's likely that the rest are who knows where in this world."

"If so, I'll have my guards search the land for anymore of them." Celestia offers.

Shadow actually declines the idea, "The presence of the guards would make the civilians worry. It's best that Sonic goes."

Sonic was honestly surprised, "Really?"

"Yes. You prefer traveling anyways. I'll stay with the girls for now, in case anything or anyone from our world seeps in through wherever those rings came from."

"Fine with me." Sonic then holds his hand out to Celestia, "Best that I hold onto that. It might help out as a radar for the rest."

Celestia gives him the ring before speaking, "Thank you, you two. We'll keep our eyes out for anything else out of the ordinary. Though I might see you again in three days, as I have planned an event with representatives from Saddle Arabia in Ponyville. Mostly a way for Twilight to show her progress with her magic."

"A magic show? Sounds fun!" Sonic compliments, "We'll see you soon then!"

With that said, their meeting ends as the hedgehogs headed out back to Ponyville. Though, Shadow couldn't help but get a gut feeling for some reason...

That night...

"Where... am I?"

A hedgehog wakes up to find himself in the middle of a forest, the tall trees casting shadows down around him. He was perplexed by this scenery, as the last thing he remembers is...

"I figure that out later. Better find shelter first."

Standing around isn't gonna answer his questions, so he gets moving to find civilization. The sky was cloudy with sunlight shining through the branches, giving him enough light to see the path ahead. Despite this, it wasn't easy.

The main obstacle he faced was a large canyon with a rushing river down below. The only way he saw to get across was a fallen tree trunk, so he takes the path. It was rather unsafe, the constant cracking of the wood not helping to ease his worries. Upon reaching halfway, the trunk starts to break apart as he hurries to the other side, narrowly avoiding falling into the water with it.

Other than that, his walk was uneventful as the sun sets over the horizon, giving way to the night. A full moon shines down when he reaches a large cave, where he sees a campfire placed at the entrance. However, it was those sitting around the fire that caught his eye:

They weren't bipedal like him, but quadrupeds. Specifically ponies, though more colorful than he imagined.

He approaches them as casually as possible, not wanting to frighten them off. Though it looks like one of the ponies is already scaring them:

"And they were never heard from, ever again!"

One of the fillies gasps, "Never ever?"

"Never!"

CRACKLE!

"AAAHHH!"

Two of the fillies scream at the sound of the fire crackling, which actually made Nat scream as he didn't expect that. The ponies were now alerted to his presence, but were confused as he had fallen on his butt, breathing heavily from the shock:

"...Sorry... if I scared you..."

They were a bit more confused as the pony with the hat spoke up, "No, the fire crackling is what made them jump."

"Oh...OK..."

The rainbow-haired pegasus approaches him with concern, "It seems more like they scared you."

The hedgehog catches his breath before getting up on his feet, "Honestly, they did."

"Sorry about that, I was just telling a spooky tale."

The fancy unicorn couldn't help but ask, "I apologize if this sounds odd, but... are you related to someone named Sonic?"

She isn't wrong in assuming as his species alone certainly gives off that impression. However, there are clear differences between him and the blue blur:

His fur and quills was a forest green, his skin a simple peach tone, and nice orange eyes. He wore a pair of white gloves, orange custom shoes, and a brown scarf around his neck with both ends flowing behind him. There are subtler differences, such as his arms and legs being very slightly bulkier, to even being an inch or two taller than Sonic.

"Sorry, I don't know anyone by that name." He admits before introducing himself, "My name is Naturo, Nat for short."

After a short exchange of introductions, the group was going into the cave to sleep the night away. All except Scootaloo, who was strangely hesitant to do so as she suggests activities like hide-and-seek. The others understandably weren't in the mood as Applejack asked her what they were thinking:

"Seems like you don't want to go to sleep. Is there some reason why?"

"Of course not!" Scootaloo answers, "I just love camping and hanging out with Rainbow Dash so much! I don't want to waste a single minute, even on sleep."

Despite her words, she lets out a big yawn right after. They weren't buying it of course.

"That's cool and all, Scoot." Rainbow said, "But this pony needs her shut-eye and she needs it now."

The only ones left awake was Scootaloo and Nat, the latter sitting down near the lantern on a spare blanket they had:

"What are you afraid of?"

"H-Huh?" She was perplexed by the sudden question, "N-Nothing, obviously!"

"Everyone has something to fear. Do you not like the dark or the night?"

Scootaloo didn't want to admit it, so she gives him a false answer. "I-I might be a tiny bit scared of the dark..."

Nat actually brought it as he assures her, "Don't worry, we have this light and you're surrounded by your friends here. Though if it makes you feel better, I'll keep watch."

"Wait, you're not sleeping?"

"Not yet. I'm a bit of a night owl. Go, get some rest."

She was still a bit hesitant, but relents as she finally goes to sleep. Nat wasn't sure where he was yet, but he didn't mind his stay so far as this was the most social he's been in years. Hearing the howling wind outside, he looks out to the moonlit woods... and remembers something very important.

Meanwhile, in a dream...

Scootaloo finds herself wandering a forest, one filled with dead trees that has empty branches as she steps past fallen leaves. Though what confused her was the sound of hooves, but not from her...

She stops for a moment and still heard them, looking around for the source. She then sees a figure through the thick foliage, one that became faster as evident by the hooves picking up pace. She quickly runs to try and escape it, hearing the hooves become louder and faster as she goes. Speeding up to the maximum still wasn't enough as the sounds kept increasing!

"If the headless horse catches me, I'll never be heard from... and I want to be heard from!"

She then trips on a tree root sticking out, making her fall down a small cliff to the ground below. The sounds soon stop, but she knew why as she turns back to the top of the cliff. A shadowy silhouette missing its head stood there, dropping down towards her as she backs away into a rocky wall. Try as she might, she saw no way out and closes her eyes...

"A warm welcome to you, Scootaloo." A soft voice spoke in her ears, yet she didn't see who it was.

Next thing she knew, the headless figure was dispersed in a beam of light as a certain princess flies from the moon to her.

"Princess Luna?" The young filly addresses, "I-I thought I saw the headless horse."

"You were mistaken, but I hope not disappointed." The princess of the night playfully said to ease her worries.

"Oh no, you're much better. But, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Canterlot?"

"I am the princess of the night, thus is my duty to come into your dreams."

Scootaloo connected the dots from there, "Oh yeah... wait, this is just a dream? But it feels so real."

Princess Luna simply smiles at this, "I assure you that you are asleep. But when you wake, the thing that frightens you most will still exist."

"Eh... the headless horse?" Scootaloo guessed, though she knew what she meant.

The princess drops the smile, yet keeps her words from being too stern. "Hmm... is the headless horse really what frightens you the most?"

Realizing what she has to say, Scootaloo finally admits her fear. "I-I'm afraid that Rainbow Dash will find out that I'm not as tough as she thinks I am."

"Everypony has fears, Scootaloo. They have to face them in their own way, but they must be faced. Or the nightmares will continue."

The dreamscape around them started to give way as Scootaloo hears those words. Princess Luna finds herself being pulled back to the moon, calling out her advice once more:

"Face your fears!"

Right after hearing that, Scootaloo wakes up...

Back in the waking world...

"Princess Luna?"

Scootaloo utters out, but no response came. This made her sigh in relief, "It was just a dream..."

Despite her dream, she then finds herself falling back into fear as she doubles down on the spooky story:

"But the headless horse isn't. Rainbow Dash said that it lives in these very woods."

NEIGH!

A loud neighing sound was suddenly heard in the cave, echoing through as she freaks out. "I-I-It's REAL!"

She puts on her helmet, hops on her scooter and was gone. As she speeds through the forest, she tries to rationalize it as best she could, only to be distracted by incoming obstacles like branches. Unfortunately, one of them was a rock that one of her wheels bump off of.

This made her lose control, falling off her scooter and slide towards a large canyon. She was quick to grab a tree branch on a nearby tree trunk, now hanging off of it as her scooter rolls off into the water below.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" She calls out, hopefully to get help. "Anyone!?"

Her hope was soon dashed as the tree branch begins to snap, eventually breaking off and making her fall. By some miracle, she was grabbed right before hitting the water by something. She took a moment to process what happened as her rescuer was now climbing the rocky wall to safety.

She didn't feel in danger, as his grip was firm and kept her close to his rather warm pelt. Whoever or whatever this is, why was it-

"Scoot!? Scoot!?" She hears a familiar voice up above, it was Rainbow!

"Down here!" She calls out.

Rainbow heard her call and came flying down, perplexed by the sight before something unexpected happens:

"Here."

The rescuer hands Scootaloo out to Rainbow, which the pegasus accepted immediately. Though that wasn't the strange part, it was the fact that he didn't even turned his head to look at her.

"Uh, thanks." Rainbow said as he quickly climbs the cliff.

Upon seeing his silhouette appearing in the moonlight, she recognizes certain details on Scoot's rescuer. Like quills, and a scarf...

She connects the dots as she held Scootaloo tight and gives chase, "Hey! Wait!"

She flies right up as their friend runs on all fours into the woods. She was fast enough to catch up and cut him off at the path, which he stops and raises his hands to hide his face. Putting Scootaloo down safety, she looks a bit closer before recognizing who it was:

"...Nat?"

Scootaloo realizes that it was the hedgehog, as he had the same scarf and shoes. Well the same-colored shoes, as it now has spikes on the soles. He then relents and moves his arms away, revealing his altered appearance:

As she noticed earlier, his fur was now thicker that made it more of a pelt. His orange eyes had slit pupils and his skin was a grayish-brown, more evident by his bulkier arms and exposed hands that have sharp nails.

"What happened to you?" Rainbow asked, partly curious and partly concerned.

"...This is my curse." He answers, "Every night since I was born, I become this... beast. I didn't want you to see me like this, not until we knew each other better at least."

"Makes sense. This isn't something you just bring up in conversation."

Nat chuckles at that before asking out of curiosity, "Are you scared of this? Or at least unsettled?"

Rainbow smirks as she spoke with confidence, "Don't worry, me and my friends faced much worse. Plus, you saved Scoot here from falling into that river. That makes you cool in my book."

He smiles upon hearing that, showing his more prominent fangs. "Thanks. Speaking of..."

His attention then shifts to Scootaloo, "Why were you out here, Scootaloo?"

"He's right. Why were you out here?"

Nat was more concerned while Rainbow was ready to be stern, making the filly nervous to answer and even having tears start to appear. However that stops upon seeing a shimmer on the moon shining behind them, seeing a face faintly on its surface:

"It's time for you to face your real fears, Scootaloo." Princess Luna's voice echoes in her mind.

With that push of encouragement, the filly steels herself before finally telling the truth:

"I'm so so sorry, Rainbow Dash. I just wanted you to hang out with me and see how cool I was, so that you can take me under your wing and teach me everything you know like my big sister. But then you started telling those spooky stories and I got scared! I thought I heard the headless horse, so I ran out here by myself and-"

She then pulls off her helmet with a sniffle, "Y-You know the rest."

Nat listened intently as Rainbow was a bit taken aback, but knows where she's coming from. The rainbow pegasus sat down with her before saying her piece:

"Hey. I'm gonna tell you something, but if you ever tell anypony else, I'm going to deny it. First time I heard those stories, I was scared too."

Scootaloo sniffs again before speaking, "You were?"

"Sure. I mean, I got over it cause if there was a thing like a headless horse, I can totally take it on."

"Not hard to outsmart someone with no head..." Nat mutters, mainly as a little joke.

Scootaloo was starting to feel better thanks to their talk. Rainbow then reiterates what the filly said earlier:

"So, you're looking for somepony to take you under their wing?"

"Hm-hm." The former answers.

"Yeah, I might be up for something like that." She adds to this by actually taking Scootaloo under her wing.

"Really?"

"As long as you don't go off alone in the middle of the night."

"It's a deal."

Nat couldn't help but smile at their bonding moment, keeping quiet until they started heading back to the cave. However, he made sure to clarify something:

"Can you two keep this a secret? A-At least until I tell the others myself, of course."

"Sure dude." Rainbow assures him, "But just to let you know, you have more than just us to tell."

Nat simply nods at that, "I'll keep that in mind."

The next day...

Naturo, now reverted back to normal, marvels at the sight before him. Rainbow-colored waterfalls fell from the clouds above as the others got excited:

"I call sister teams!" Sweetie Belle calls out, "Last one to make it to the falls is a moldy carrot!"

"Ugh, if you insist..." Rarity groans, but her movement soon proved otherwise as she got giddy. "Hehe, it is so on!"

Applejack and Apple Bloom soon gives chase after them, but Rainbow wasn't worried:

"They think they can beat the two of us?"

Scootaloo was ready as the two flew off up to the falls. Well one flew, as the filly was carried by her big sister. Nat smiles at the family bonding they were having, soon finding himself looking back at his own in his memories:

"I understand why, but I couldn't stay hidden. I would have never seen such sights like this..."

He then realizes how far behind he was and runs to try catching up with them.

And done! So, some things to go over:

1. Our first OC in this story. Returning from Land of Harmony, Naturo was pretty well received from the readers. There are some differences here, mainly on his backstory and how his forms work. This chapter is mainly to have him debut, as his role in the story will be bigger than last time.

2. I chose 'Sleepless in Ponyville' as the episode this time, as it has a lesson that will be relevant later on. It's also a solid episode on its own and it allowed space for Nat to slide in.

3. I know what you're thinking from that first scene. Yes, I'm including a rather obscure set of magical rings this go around. I wanted to not use the Chaos Emeralds again, much less more known artifacts. Plus since it doesn't have much lore behind them, it allows me more flexibility on their possible powers and functionality.

With all of that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!