Sorry this chap took so long. Thanks to the people who liked the first couple chapters, you guys rock XD!

I wanted this to be the chapter where Sonic and RD meet, but it wound up being too long, so I had to cut out their scenes and move them to the next chapter. Sorry, but looks like things are gonna have to wait another chapter before becoming exciting, again... ^^'

Still, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, anyways! So, without further ado, let's begin!

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I still don't own Sonic or MLP... If only...

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SONIC: CHAOS AND HARMONY

Chapter 3: Out of Place

"Well, what do you think, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

In front of Twilight, a white unicorn stared through a magnifying glass at the glowing, green gem she'd found the night before. She stood up, brushing her long, purple curls to the side. "Well, Twilight, darling," the pony said in a very sophisticated accent, "as much as I was looking forward to sleeping in today, I'm glad you woke me up."

Twilight had to admit that, even in her sleep, it seemed like Rarity always had fashion on the brain. While she was no expert on the subject, Twilight could see that Rarity's nightgown had to be made of some very expensive fabric. How else would it look like real silver, yet still manage to fit her body like silk? Spike sure seemed to like it, that much was clear. Twilight was beginning to wonder if he'd even blinked since they walked in the door.

"I'm guessing that means you found something?"

Spike hopped up from his seat, finally deciding to stop gawking. "Is it valuable?"

"Quite the opposite, actually." Rarity said, putting her hands on her hips. "I couldn't find ANYTHING at all!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Rarity then picked the emerald up off the table and began explaining her findings. "I mean that I know everything about every kind of gemstone on the planet; opals, rubies, amethyst, lapis, and even quarts, but this little rock is just one mystery after another!" Her words then started to become even more rushed and frantic, "Its mineral structure's unlike anything I've ever seen before, and although it doesn't appear to be cut, I've never seen a gem with this natural shape before, not to mention it must have some kind of special properties, because I can't use my magic to lift it up - something you yourself noted, Twilight - oh, and then there's the fact that - I'm not sure if you noticed, but -" she shoved it in Twilight's face for emphasis, "IT'S GLOWING!"

Twilight's head felt like it was spinning. The new information wasn't that staggering, but Rarity had spoken like she was in an auction house, so a lot of it went over the purple unicorn's head.

Spike, on the other hand, was just plain confused. "So I can't eat it?"

Twilight glared at him. "Spiiiike."

Rarity just smiled towards the young dragon and patted his head. "Believe me Spikey, dear, if I wasn't so sure eating this thing could kill you, I'd serve it to you with some rubies on the side." Spike beamed up at her at the mention of rubies. "Well, alright, maybe I wouldn't. But my point is, it could kill you, so don't try it." Spike frowned. Rarity turned her attention back to Twilight. "As for whether or not it's magical, I really can't say. Although that does seem like the most likely explanation."

"Or aliens!" Spike piped up.

"Um... yes, that too. Where did you say this came from again, Twilight?"

"From a bright flash in the Everfree Forest last night," the purple Unicorn answered. "It just came flying through the window, like it was launched from a catapult!"

"I see..." Rarity said, still staring intently the emerald, "... There's one last thing I noticed." She then grabbed Twilight's hand, placing it on the the gem. "Do you feel that?"

Twilight nodded as she felt a strange, warm feeling move through her body. "Yeah, I noticed that, too."

"Let me feel!" Spike piped up, stretching his arm as much as he could to feel the emerald from below. Just from touching it with the tip of his finger, Spike immediately felt as if a wave of static electricity had passed through his body, instantly becoming a warm tingling. He withdrew his hand, and the feeling quickly vanished. "Whoa!" He said, lightly clutching his claw, "How are you two not more freaked out by that?"

"Because we're used to it, darling." Rarity answered.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Huh?..."

"It's the same feeling we get when we use the Elements of Harmony," Twilight explained, "but at the same time, it feels... Different."

Spike reached up, pulling Rarity's hand down to where he could get a better look at it. "Sure doesn't look like an Element to me."

Rarity pulled her arm back up, cupping the gem with both hands. "Which is why I'd like to hold on to it for a little longer, if the both of you don't mind. I confess myself quite intrigued with it, and I'd like to see what I can find out. Not to mention, it's simply gorgeous!" Rarity was practically drooling at the mouth as she said that last statement.

Twilight nodded. "Sure, Rarity. Nopony knows gems better than you! Spike and I needed to go check on Fluttershy, anyways."

"Yeah," Spike mentioned with a sarcastic smirk, "somepony's gotta go ply her off of her off of her ceiling boards after last night's light show."

"Oh dear," Rarity said, "I hadn't considered poor Fluttershy. Do give her my regards, would you?"

"Of course." Twilight said. "C'mon, Spike." The two then said their goodbyes (Spike adding an overly-dramatic "Until we meet again, my fair lady!") and walked out of Rarity's boutique down the path to Fluttershy's house.

"OH!" Rarity shouted at them as they left, "AND IF YOU FIND ANY MORE GEMS LIKE THIS, DON'T HESITATE TO BRING THEM TO ME!"

"WILL-DO." Twilight called back. She then turned to Spike as they continued walking. "Actually, I hadn't considered what else could've come from that flash in the woods last night. If that little green gem found its way all the way to our tree, I wonder what could've possibly wound up at Fluttershy's cabin?"

"Maybe she found a LIVE ALIEN!" Spike shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

Twilight let out a groan. "Spike, for the last time, there are NO-"

"Did somepony say LIVE ALIEN?!"

Twilight screamed and jumped back at the appearance of a young mare before them. "Pinkie Pie?!" Twilight asked, "Where did you come from?"

True to her name, Pinkie was pink from head to toe, from her bright pink body, to her soft, incredibly curly mane. Aside from that, she even wore pink-and-white striped armbands and socks. Her one-piece, yellow blouse/skirt with short, puffy sleeves was the only thing on her person that added any color variation at all. Well, that and the jean-shorts she wore underneath. The other thing that was clear to see just from looking at her was that she was brimming full with energy, as her eyes were almost bursting with excitement.

"Silly Twilight," Pinkie answered, "I always know when there's something exciting going on in Ponyville! Why just yesterday, I busted the mystery of the Breakfast Baked Goods Burglar!... It was me! They were SOOOO yummy!"

"Right..." Twilight said as she stood and began to dust herself off. It only took a moment for what Pinkie said to catch up with her. "Wait, you stole baked goods?"

"Nah," Pinkie waved the question away, "I just forgot to pay for them. And don't worry, I paid for every last one once I caught me." So many questions. "But enough boring stuff; did somepony, or did somepony not, say something about aliens?"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but Spike interrupted, "There might be one at Fluttershy's house!"

"I KNEW IT!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she started bouncing up and down, "IKNEWITKNEWITKNEWIT!" She then grabbed Twilight and looked her in the eye, getting a little too close for comfort in the studious unicorn's opinion, "It's always been my dream to meet a real life alien! Well, that and to eat my entire body weight in sweets! But I did that yesterday; Baked Goods Burglar, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Twilight sighed, pulling her hyperactive friend's hands off her shoulders, "but Pinkie-"

"OH-OH-OH! Wouldn't it be awesome if he spoke the same language as us?! Oh, we would have SO MUCH to talk about! I bet we'd have a lot in common!"

"Well that much we can agree on, but Pinkie, I was just telling Spike that-"

"NO BUTS ABOUT IT!" Pinkie then jumped behind Twilight and pointed straight ahead dramatically, "Lead the way, Miss Sparkle! Route all power to rear-thrusters and FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Spike proclaimed, "Aliens and Pinkie Pie! Now it's a PARTY!"

Twilight face-palmed. "Ugh... Fine," she groaned, "but I'm only going along with this to prove you both wrong. There's no such thing as aliens!"

-o-o-o-

"It's an alien, I tells ya!" Said a small, but loud voice.

"Dang-nabbit, Apple Bloom, there ain't no such thing as aliens!" came a louder voice, "It's probably just one'a Fluttershy's critters that got loose, that's all. Now quit findin' excuses and get back to helpin' us fix the barn!" Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise, accompanied by splintering wood. "You okay in there, Big Mac?"

"Eyup!"

What the heck is going on? Knuckles thought. His head was pounding, and he couldn't see anything around him. Who was talking? Why couldn't he see? Oh, right, he thought, my eyes are closed. Well, one mystery solved. He opened his eyes to a blur of colors. It was an improvement, but not by much. Slowly, though, shapes started to form.

"I ain't never seen a critter that looked like this'n before!" The small voice protested, "And what's it doin' on our farm, anyhow? And right after our barn got totalled, fer that matter?"

Knuckles could now tell that he was laying face-up on the ground. The blurry green shapes he'd seen, he could now identify as apple trees, judging by the juicy, red fruits that dangled from their limbs.

"I ain't sure," the older-sounding voice answered the little one, "but right now, we got our hands full, so we can't worry about-is that critter movin'?"

Knuckles groaned as he pushed himself up. His limbs were sore, and his head was throbbing, but he wasn't sure which hurt worse. He held his large, gloved hand to his head, but it did little to stop the jolts of pain pounding at his skull.

"He's hurt!"

"APPLE BLOOM!"

Knuckles cracked his eyes open to look towards the sound of the voices. He saw two figures before him, both clearly female. One was small, yellow body and bright red hair, tied up in a big, pink bow. She appeared to be wearing denim overalls over a sleeveless, white tee-shirt. Behind her, he could see a long tail of red hair similar to that which was on her head, similarly tied in a bow. The larger being was orange in color, her sandy-blonde locks mostly being covered by a large cowboy hat. She wore a similar white tee to the smaller one, but instead of overalls, she wore a sandy brown jacket with matching pants, tied by a black belt around her waist. Knuckles took in the two females' appearances, the shape of their faces, their hoof-like feet, and their tails of hair falling behind them, and came to one conclusion: Ponies?...

The large one was currently holding the younger one by her arm, as if forbidding her from moving forward. "But Applejack," the small equine whined, "Fluttershy says you should always help a hurt critter in need. No matter what!"

The tall one, Applejack, gave an annoyed look. "Remind me to talk to her about that. And anyways, Apple Bloom, we don't know what this thing is! Fer all we know, it could eat fillies like you fer dinner!"

"Now yer just bein' silly, Sis!"

"Applejack," "Apple Bloom," apple trees, what's with all the apples? Knuckles pushed himself up from the ground, only for a sudden pain in his leg to force him back down with a yelp. As he fell, he felt quite a lot of dirt fall off of his body. Curiously, he looked up at the ground in front of him to see that he was in a rather deep ditch, as if he'd landed after being launched from a giant sling-shot. That would certainly explain a few things.

After a moment of trying to stand, he heard the elder sister sigh. "Alright, you win." Before he knew it, he felt himself being lifted up from his left side by a pair of powerful arms. He looked towards his aid to see Applejack hoisting him up. "We'll gett'em back to the house and see what we can do in ways'a patchin'em up, then it's right back to work, okay?"

"Thanks, Sis!" Apple Bloom cheered.

Knuckles looked at the older sister helping him up, only to see her shooting him a glare. "You'd better not be a filly-eater, or so help me..." She warned.

The red echidna couldn't help but chuckle a little at the pony's warning, though it came out as more of a cough. His chest was now beginning to hurt, just enough so to keep him from making a joking retort. Still, he appreciated the farm-pony's kindness, and actually found himself admiring her protectiveness of her little sister. Wherever he was, he was glad to have wound up somewhere as hospitable as this. Straining against what was possibly a broken rib, the injured guardian managed to force out a "Thank you."

Suddenly, Applejack stopped. Without warning, she jumped back and let go of Knuckles with a scream, making him buckle on his sore leg once more. He fell to his side, his head bumping firmly against a protruding tree root. And with that, his world went black once more. Dammit...

-o-o-o-

Sonic pushed himself upright as he opened his eyes. He could tell he was lying in the dirt, but why? At first, he could see nothing but grey blurs, but then his sight began to return. He then began to focus on his surroundings. All around him, he saw large, stone walls, littered with boulders and an occasional cave. If the hedgehog had to guess, he'd say he was in some kind of gorge. But how did he get here? The last thing he could remember...

Wait, what was the last thing he remembered? Sonic began to think hard, trying to recall what he'd been doing before blacking out. Was it something to do with Eggman? he thought. Suddenly, something clicked. "That's right!" He recalled aloud, "Me, Tails, and Knuckles were on Eggman's new battleship. What was it called? Whatever, not important." He then began to think harder, "I need to remember what happened before-"

Suddenly, a low growl from Sonic's right caught his attention. Turning towards the sound, Sonic stared at the entrance to a large cavern, as a foul-smelling wind erupted from its depths. Just then, he heard something moving within its depths, followed by the sound of scales scraping against stone.

"OH, BOY!" Sonic shouted, as he zipped out of the way, just as a large, red serpent erupted from its den to snap at him. Sonic braked a few feet away, turning to look at the creature that had nearly made a meal out of him. "Whoa... Heh-heh! Sorry, snakey, but you're too-WHOA!" He only had a second to react, launching himself into the air just as a second eel-like beast lashed out of its cavern to snap at him. "Too close!..." Sonic landed on the second creature's head, just long enough to launch himself off and use his powerful legs to start running up the canyon wall. "I gotta get out of this place!" the speedy hedgehog said as he defied gravity, "And it looks like the best route is up!"

However, Sonic barely made it a half-way up the wall before another red serpent erupted from its hole a few feet ahead. Startled by the creature's sudden appearance, Sonic quickly swerved out of the way, which was about twice as hard to do when fighting against gravity. Just as he thought he was in the clear, though, another serpent burst from its hole. He didn't have time to dodge this one, so he slammed on the brakes, hoping gravity would do the rest. It worked, and he began to fall backwards... Straight into the maw of another eel!

"Oh, COME ON!" he shouted. He reoriented himself to slide against the canyon wall, slowing his descent and giving him the leverage he needed to launch himself to the side. He landed on a narrow, stone outcropping that seemed to run along the canyon, before deciding to not take any chances and just run! As if on cue, eels started bursting out of their holes left and right, until it eventually looked like Sonic was outrunning a horizontal tidal wave of red.

"You've gotta be KIDDING!" he shouted, "WHERE THE HECK AM I?!"

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Well, there you have it! I'm still not sure I got Rarity and Pinkie quite right, but the Apples were fun to write for.

Again, sorry for the wait, guys. And I promise to get the next chapter out a lot sooner!