Faith and Loyalty: Sonic and Rainbow Dash: Ch. 2

Chapter 2: ...New Beginnings

11:33 A.M. Equestria

As Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo took their rest on a hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres, they both noticed something strange; something that wouldn’t be too uncommon of a sight to see in Equestria, but still strange nonetheless.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash?”

“Huh?” questioned Dash as she lifted a pair of sunglasses off her eyes.

“What is that?” pointed out Scootaloo.

Dash looked up at the sky and saw a strange purple vortex, puzzling her as she observed it.

“Hmm..... that’s weird. I thought we weren’t supposed to test out those multi-colored clouds until next Tuesday.”

“Uh, I don’t think that's a cloud.”

The vortex then appeared to grow bigger and bigger with bolts of lightning flashing out of it. Then in a matter of minutes, the vortex just faded away as if nothing happened.

“Whoa. Now that's something you don't see every day….” said Rainbow Dash. “Right, Scoots? Scootaloo?”

After witnessing what had just occurred, Scootaloo frantically put on her helmet and got on her scooter.

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash! Gotta hurry and tell Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle what just happened! See ya later!”

“Okay, catcha later, squirt! But still what was that exactly?” she thought to herself. “Was it some kind of….. magic spell or something? Hmm…. magic spell….. maybe Twi might know something about this! Whatever it was, I gotta let somepony know ASAP!”

Dash flexed her wings up and down, breathed deeply, and immediately took off at blistering speed.

-Meanwhile-

Dizzy, light-headed, and with a harsh ringing sound now going through his ears, Sonic awoke to the bright yet comforting light of Celestia’s sun; albeit in a daze after landing face-first into the ground, something he was unfortunately accustomed to.

“Ugh, man… what happened?” he asked as he got up from the floor. “And jeez, how come every time I get warped somewhere, I always land face-first on the floor?! Seriously, this kind of thing needs to stop and-! Whoa……”

Pausing his ranting, Sonic now took notice of the area around him. Besides the dirt road beneath his feet, he saw a peaceful-looking grass field, coupled with trees, flowers, and a bright, blue sky as its backdrop. Where is he, and what is this place, he wondered. Thoughts were racing his mind as fast as he was on his own two feet, but nonetheless, Sonic felt nothing but comfort and even a sense of safety as he gazed at the scenery around him.

“*whistle* Dang, now this is a beautiful place if I ever saw one! Huh, looks like Tails’ device actually worked.”

But that comfort and safety would only last for a brief moment, as Sonic’s eyes immediately widened.

“Wait a minute……. Tails’. Device. Actually. W-worked?!?!….. NO WAY! W-we actually warped somewhere!” he panicked. “Tails?! Knuckles?! W-where are you guys?!?!”

Now shocked at his new surroundings, Sonic frantically scanned the area before finding his fox friend laying just a few feet away from him.

Sonic immediately ran over. “Tails? Tails?”

But Tails was unconscious. Fearing for his friend’s life, Sonic put his ear over Tails’ chest and thankfully, he had a heartbeat.

“*sigh* Thank goodness. Now c'mon. Wake up, buddy. Tails? Tails….”

“Ugh…. my head. Sonic? Sonic, what happened?”

“Well, to be blunt, exactly what we wanted to happen.”

“Huh?”

“Your machine-thingy got all messed up and sent us all here.”

“Oh…. okay.”

Tails’ eyes immediately widened as well. “Y-you mean…… it worked? It actually worked?!?! The MEDHPD worked?!?! Aah…… AAAHHHH! Oh man, where the heck are we?!”

“I dunno, but something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore….”

“Yeah, you're right.” replied Tails as he further observed their surroundings. “Can't say I'm all too familiar with this place.”

“Though ya gotta admit, despite the shell shock of being in a new place, so far, this place checks out A-okay in my book!”

“Yeah, you’re right. Looks peaceful, harmless even! Definitely doesn’t look like we warped to anywhere hostile, so that’s a good sign already. Here, let me try to use the MEDHPD to analyze the area. See exactly what we're dealing with.”

Knuckles had now awoken. “Ugh…… hey guys? Wha-what the heck happened? And…. why does South Island look different?”

“That's 'cause we're not in South Island….” replied Sonic. “Tails' device malfunctioned and sent us all here.”

“Oh alright….. wait a minute….. YOU ACTUALLY MEAN WE'RE-?!”

Sonic quickly put his hand over Knuckles' mouth. “Yeah, we're in another world, we get that! And dude, relax! Tails is just analyzing the area right now and right after he's done, I'm sure we'll go home! Right, Tails?”

However, Tails lowered the MEDHPD and sheepishly turned towards Sonic

“Uh, Tails?” inquired Sonic once more.

“Erm, well, I've got good news and bad news. Good news, the MEDHPD survived its test run! Eh, sorta….”

“Sorta? Whaddya mean, “sorta?!””

“Well, that's where the bad news comes in. While all other functions remain operational, sadly its main function, the dimension-hopping, is…. well, let's just say….. out of commission for the time being.”

“Meaning?” asked Knuckles.

“It's busted.”

“WHAT?!?!” screamed Sonic and Knuckles in unison.

“You mean we're trapped in the middle of who-knows-where and we can't go back?!” yelled Sonic in a panic.

“Pfft…. and you're telling me to calm down….” retorted Knuckles.

“Hold on, you guys! I have one more piece of good news! While the dimension-hopping function may be damaged, it's not beyond repair. And I should be able to fix it, with proper equipment of course, but luckily I've just scanned the area and it shows that there's sentient life in this world!”

“Sentient life?” questioned Sonic.

“Yeah! Maybe the inhabitants of this world may have some technology that I can use to repair the MEDHPD and send us all back home!”

“Hmm…. well it looks like we have no other choice. And it doesn't hurt to look around.”

“But where should we start?” questioned Knuckles.

“Well according to the tracker,” continued Tails. “it shows that we've transported into the land of Equestria.”

“Equestria?” questioned Sonic.

“What the heck is an Equestria?” asked Knuckles.

“Equestria is a country ruled by a monarchy run by two sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in its capital city of Canterlot. According to legend, they’ve ruled for well over a thousand years! And are still ruling to this day!”

“A thousand years?!” asked a surprised Sonic. “Man, surprised to see they haven’t burnt out.”

“Well, does it say anything about the inhabitants you mentioned earlier?” inquired Knuckles.

“Hmm…. It says that its primary inhabitants are….. equines?”

“Eq-what?”

“Horses, or ponies as they’re called around here. Look, here's some pictures.”

The three all gathered around to see, but their overall response seemed…. mixed. From looking at a picture of a red unicorn practicing magic, to a white pegasus mare flying in the wind, and to a blue earth pony hauling a carriage, their bright, cheery, colorful and downright girlish appearances, as they thought, were enough to throw them off.

“Oh…. well, isn't that…. something, huh? Heh heh….” chuckled Sonic sheepishly.

“Oh for the love of- ponies?!” groaned Knuckles. “Seriously? Of all the places we could get warped to, it had to be a place that only little girls would be excited about warping to?”

“Oh c'mon, Knux.” said Tails. “They seem nice and harmless…. right? Heh heh.”

“Well anyway…. Tails?” continued Sonic. “Any cities, towns, or landmarks that we can go to? Just so that maybe some of the locals can help us familiarize?”

“Hahaha! Are you crazy?” Knuckles mockingly chortled. “You actually want to interact with these candy-colored horses?”

“Look, if we don't seek out any help, we're just gonna end up running around like headless chickens!”

“That's what you do on a regular basis!”

“*sigh* You know what I mean! Besides, maybe they're not like what you think. Maybe they're something else. Maybe there’s more to them than meets the eye. We shouldn’t exactly judge a book by its cover. We should see what they’re like first before we say anything, just to be fair.”

Tails stepped up in agreement. “You know what? Sonic's right. And besides, how will we know if we don't check? Now, I'm gonna use the tracker to see where we could go.”

“Well, we got ya there, pal.” answered Sonic.

Knuckles grumbled. “Yeah, yeah, whatever….”

“Hey look!” exclaimed Tails. “I've managed to track our location and it's showing some nearby towns.”

“Alright, let's have a look.” said Sonic. “Hmm…. Canterlot…. and Ponyville. Hey, didn't you say that Canterlot was the capital of this place? So maybe we should head there.”

“I did, but it says Ponyville is closer to our location. In fact, it says it's just dead ahead.”

“Please, as if distance is a problem for us.” replied Knuckles.

“Well, seeing as how again, Canterlot is the capital as well as being of royalty, I don’t think they’d take too kindly to outsiders.” said Tails “Especially considering the fact that people like us probably aren’t seen here often.”

“C’mon, Tails. They look harmless! They probably wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

Tails shrugged. “I mean, ya never know.”

“Hmm…. guess Ponyville it is then! Alright, let's go!” exclaimed Sonic as he sped off.

“H-hey! Wait up!” cried Tails and Knuckles in unison.

Now finally on the move, Team Sonic zoomed off to Ponyville in search of a way to get back home.

“So, whaddya guys think will happen when we get there?” asked Knuckles. “I mean, we don’t even know if they speak our language.”

“Uh, Knux?” said Tails. “Don’t forget the MEDHPD still has a translator.”

However, as Sonic began to pick up more speed, something would catch him off guard.

“Look out!” cried a voice from afar.

“Huh?! Whoa!”

Sonic promptly took note of whose voice cried out, and it happened to be a blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail flying at a rapid pace. Racing just inches away from each other, both their eyes met with wonder and awe before the pegasus took off with a rainbow-colored trail following her. It all happened in a flash, but Sonic felt as if everything just slowed down for him in that moment. With confusion clouding his mind, Sonic quickly put both his feet before him and braked harshly, trying to gather his thoughts, while the pegasus did the same by swiftly putting her wings in front of her. She turned around and after the cloud of dust settled between them, there they stood, face-to-face. With looks of confusion mixed with wonder on their faces, both hedgehog and pegasus stared each other down, their eyes fiercely locked on to each other like magnets. However, it didn’t take too long before the pegasus quickly sped off, reminded of her current course, leaving Sonic all the more puzzled.

“H-hey! Wait!” the hedgehog called out as he reached out his hand. “Dang…. just what the heck was that?!”

“Sonic, you okay?” asked Tails.

“I’m fine. It’s just….. who was that pony?”

“What? Are ya sure you saw a pony?” inquired Knuckles.

“Positive! She had wings and everything!”

“Well, if it was….” continued Tails. “Looks like we got our first taste of the inhabitants of this world.”

“Yeah, and whoever she was…. she’s fast! Even I gotta admit that.”

“Heh, faster than you?” retorted Knuckles.

“Ooookay, Knucklehead. Let’s not get carried away.”

“Just sayin’…..” shrugged the echidna.

“C’mon, Sonic.” said Tails. “We all know you’re the fastest thing alive! And if past experiences taught us anything, people may have come close, but nowhere near as fast as you!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right! Alright then, let’s go!” the hedgehog exclaimed as sped off.

“Way to stroke his ego even more, Tails.” snickered Knuckles.

“Look, I just want all of us focused on the current task at hand, alright? Now let’s get moving!”

12:00 P.M. Golden Oaks Library

“Twilight!” called out Spike. “I’ve organized your complete set of Eccentric Creatures and Where Exactly to Locate Them like you asked!”

“Ah, excellent, my ever-faithful assistant!” Twilight replied as she magically grabbed the book collection. “Now all we have to do is place them on the shelf over there and our head start on our summer cleaning will be complete!”

As Twilight slowly eased the books’ positioning onto the shelf, sweat dripping from her brow as she did, without warning, Rainbow Dash barged in with blazing speed and crashed into one of the shelves with a force so great, it put the entire library into disarray.

“TWILIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!” Rainbow yelled as she charged in. “*crash* Ow….”

“Rainbow?” inquired Twilight.

Rainbow Dash immediately got together her bearings and promptly stood up. “Twilight! Thank Celestia I found you! Oh, and hey, Spike.”

“Hey.” replied the dragon.

“So, whaddya doin’ Twi? A little pre-summer cleaning?”

“Well, we were….”

“Uh, heh heh, yeah…..” Dash sheepishly laughed. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“*sigh* Well, you obviously forced yourself into my library for a reason, so, what’s up?”

“Well, the strangest thing just happened today!”

“You mean you had that dream again where you and Pinkie-?”

“-Okay!” cut off Dash. “Make that the second strangest thing that happened! *blush*”

“What happened with you and Pinkie?” inquired Spike.

“Don’t worry about it, Spike! Anyway, after taking my morning flight like I usually do, Scootaloo met up with me and we chillaxed for a bit. While on said chillaxing, we both saw a strange purple vortex in the sky! Scoots ran off to tell Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle right after, and then well, here I am now!”

“Hold on just a minute…. did you say, “strange purple vortex”?”

“Yeah! I was thinking since it seemed so magical and all, maybe you had something to do with it or maybe you’d know something about it.”

“Hmm…. well, I was just here at the library with Spike all morning and I haven’t stepped out since. Plus, I haven’t casted any big spells today, especially those of the “strange purple vortex” type, so it couldn’t have been me.”

“Are ya sure?”

“Would I lie when it comes to magic?” stated Twilight as she went back to organizing her books. “Look, I’m sure it was just nothing.”

Dash grinned. “Oh, I know for a fact it wasn’t just nothing. On my way over here, I had a little run-in with….. someone.”

“Who?” asked Twilight as she sharply turned her head towards Rainbow.

“Well I didn’t get his name, but he looked like a blue hedgehog and get this: he was going as fast as I was!”

“Blue hedgehog? As fast as you?”

“Yep!”

“Hmm, possibly even faster than you?” Twilight playfully answered.

“Ooookay, my egghead friend, let’s get real here. No one’s faster than yours truly!”

“Right, so you were saying?”

“Well, judging from your collection of Eccentric Creatures and Where Exactly to Locate Them books, I’m sure this is something you’d be interested in. And also judging from the fact that there aren’t any speedy blue hedgehogs anywhere in Equestria, I’m thinking he may have something to do with the vortex.”

“Well, if what you’re saying is true, where’d you see that vortex again?”

“Follow me!” Rainbow replied as she zoomed off.

“Hey, wait a minute!” called out Spike. “You mean I gotta clean this up all by myself? *sigh* Forget this, I think I’m just gonna nap. Heh, that always solves my problems.”

Within a matter of minutes, Rainbow and Twilight soon found themselves in town square, where Rainbow immediately pointed her hoof towards the sky.

“See, right there!”

“Uh, Rainbow? There’s nothing there.”

“Duh, obviously, but I’m telling you it was right there like twenty minutes ago!”

“Look, Rainbow Dash? I think I’ve humored you for long enough, plus I’m on a very tight schedule for today, where one thing on the list you pretty much…. messed up, but I’m sure Spike and I can take care of it. So, I think I’ll be heading home now.”

“Wait! Ugh, look, I think the hedgehog was heading towards Ponyville. So, if we just wait by the entrance, maybe we’ll see him!”

“*sigh* Alright, fine. Lead the way. But I’m only waiting five more minutes!”

12:09 P.M. Ponyville Entrance

“Well, looks like we’re here!” said Tails.

“Right.” replied Knuckles. “*deep breath*”

“Uh, Knux?” asked Sonic. “What’s with the deep breathing?”

“What?”

“*sigh* Knuckles, it’s not like we’re going for a dentist’s appointment! And besides, if we wanna get home, we better ask around for more information on this land we’re in.”

To Be Continued…

Find out what happens next in…

Faith & Loyalty