Author's notes

Greetings… I bet that most of you have seen the new Equestia Girls movie, right?

Yea, it's slightly better than the first and the music is good enough to make a little girl squeal… But… I don't know. I was disappointed. It didn't make any things better when Flash made his debut. There were people saying that he's developed and more liked, but I can't stand his character! I was ready to throw something at the screen when the two were semi-embracing towards the end. Good thing Trixie cock-blocked the bastard; that girl deserves a medal.

I would have not cared about it, but when Flash appeared, I still found myself hating the EQG series.

I swear, if he gets anywhere near the ponies during the main series…

Shoutouts:

Tails3456: Well, Sonic was trying to find a needle in a very large hay stack. Even though he was traveling at the speed of light, he still had to look for a somewhat concealed base on an unknown planet.

The Missing Sense has been canceled some time ago. There was no interest in it, so there was no point in writing it. I am writing a new fanfiction just for fun, though. More details at the end.

Back to the story.

---

So much has happened to Equestia in so little time during the previous months; from invasions of monsters made from steel, to the ever growing crises of food shortage due to the lack of sun. The current generation of ponies have never dealt with a crises like this, not since the Canterlot Wedding. That only seemed like a very bad day to them, but with a series of events they were facing, it will forever make an impact on them.

They have always been sheltered by Celestia's ever watchful eyes. Weather was always being under control, royal guards made sure that their lives were well protected from any outside forces, and the luxury they had could only be provided by their home capital. With their security suddenly taken away from them, everything became unsure.

After a full week has passed, however; everything seemed to be settling down. When word was spreading that Princess Celestia was going to make an attempt to raise the sun again, normality seem to be possible again.

Everypony that could make time gathered around the capital for her to make an appearance on stage. There were polls as tall as most of the buildings set up on each side, with two guards standing beneath each one with a massive Equestrian flag resting on their backs. The skies, even though cleared of clouds, were still dull and grey. One could even see stars if observed closely.

For Sonic and Tails, they had the best spot they could hope for. They were on top of a nearby house, just high enough to be out of sight of the snobby nobles that were below, and has a great view of the podium.

"I don't know why Knuckles and Amy wouldn't take a spot on a roof," Tails pondered, "Climbing a building is a lot easier than fighting that crowd."

They saw the two squeezing and twisting their way through the disgusted ponies. They were earning a lot of sneers while fighting to the front.

"Guess they want an excuse to smack a noble pony," Sonic chuckled, "I mean, who wouldn't want to smack a noble pony?"

Tails shrugged and moved his sight back to the podium. They were expecting for the princess to make an appearance any minute by now, and excitement only grew for each passing minute. Sonic felt a smile when he saw the ponies below being lifted in spirit, "I hope Twilight isn't giving Shining Armor a hard time back at the library," He mused.

"I hope not," Tails sighed, "It was a miracle that he's able to walk again with all of his functions intact," He shook his head with a disappointed frown, "We could not get that chip off his head. I managed to deactivate it and disable every function it could have, but we would have caused brain damage if we tried to cut it out."

"So it's now a part of him. Huh?"

"Sadly so," Tails paused for a moment to think back of the brain surgery. Luna was right, they know next to nothing when it came to the brain; they were only able to cut out a section of the skull before Tails had to somewhat guide them the rest of the way. If it wasn't for him, Shining Armor would have surely been dead.

The fox smiled, trying to lighten the mood, "But he's better now, in fact; I've heard rumors of the captain resuming duty after a month of rest."

"I've heard it'll be sooner than that, actually," Sonic said.

A series of royal horns suddenly erupted from below. A hush swept over the crowd, every tongue ceased as guards began to take position in front of the stand; standing on the sides of the aisle as Celestia began to make her grand appearance. She was wearing her full get up, from her golden crown, to the large neckless that was strapped around her chest. Her wings were shot out, showing their full glory as she stood behind the podium to make her speech. Sonic noticed that she buckled just a bit when her legs were out of view from the crowd.

"She surely looks better," Tails quietly commented, "Those bruises were as clear as day when we first saw her; you can't even notice them now.

"She looks tired, though," Sonic added, "They could have given her at least another full day before trying to raise the sun again."

Tails shook his head, "Crops can't handle another day without sunlight. Luna had to go and appease foreign countries with extra food so they wouldn't try to invade this place. Equestia is the biggest producer of vegetables and grain, in fact; it's the biggest export."

Sonic nodded in understanding. Celestia began to make her prepared speech, speaking of the things that have taken place before and after her own death. The crowd intensely listened, hanging onto every word that came out of her mouth.

"Are they still planning on sentencing Eggman tomorrow?" Sonic asked.

Tails nodded, "Yep. Celestia is going to raise this sun, fix some loose ends what Luna left behind, sleep, and sentence him first thing in the morning."

"Terrific," Sonic sighed, "After all the pain this man has caused for so long, he's finally going to be put down. No more world dominations, no more robots, and no more fighting; our world will be so much safer with him gone."

The fox cringed just slightly, giving his friend a very unsure look, "Sonic… Don't get your hopes up about Eggman being executed."

Sonic glanced at him uncertainly.

"He's going to pay for everything he's done, I can assure you," Tails quickly stated, "But, from what I've heard, he's most likely going to be sentence to life in the dungeons. He'll never see the light of day."

A wave of disappointment and anger rushed through him when the thought of a man who has corrupted, tarnished, and killed so many souls will be spared his own life. He imagined himself stomping into Celestia's throne and screaming at her in rage of why she would even thought of letting this monster live.

However, when a reason struck him, his emotions quickly recited.

"Did you get a chance to see Eggman when he awoke from unconscious?"

Tails shook his head.

"I and a few guards were taking him to a holding place. When he woke up, he was staring right at me with wide and gleaming eyes… I didn't see any sorrow, regret, or any kind of emotion. It was like I was staring into an empty shell; completely hollow of any soul that once inhabited him."

"He tried to kill himself when I got to him," Sonic continued, observing Celestia as a small cheer erupted from the crowd, although the speech wasn't finished, "He still had that stale, blank stare when he woke up. Even when Celestia managed to make a little time to see him, he didn't show any kind of emotion," He stretched just enough to pop a few joints, not enough to give away his position, "It's a good thing he'll rot in a cell; death would be merciful."

Tails didn't really have a comment on that. He didn't want an opinion on whether someone as bad as Eggman deserves to be killed in return or to contain that individual in a cell. He was just happy that the problem was dealt with, "So," He sighed with relief, "No more Eggman."

"And to think it would even cross Pinkie's mind to try to convert this man."

"I haven't seen her since you came back," Tails said, "In fact, she's been cooped up in that bakery. The only pony that has seen her since is Rainbow Dash."

"You think I did the right thing not telling anyone what she offered him?" Sonic looked over his shoulder towards him.

Tails shook his head, "That I do not know… But I would suggest that you would try to talk to her-"

"Oh no," Sonic quickly answered with a hint of fear in his eyes, "If anybody is going to talk to her, it's going to be one of her mare friends. They'll be more of a comfort to her than me."

"Sonic," Tails sighed, "You've handled situations like that before; none of her friends have… I know you have this weird 'fear' of her, but put that aside so you can help her."

The hedgehog blankly stared at him for a second, "Did you see the base after Pinkie escaped? She did a kind of damage that all five of us put together can do… With a couple of Chaos Emeralds."

Tails rolled his eyes, "You're over exaggerating."

"I don't care if you and no one else will believe me," Sonic deadpanned.

Celestia began to say the last lines of her speech; boasting of Equestria's strength and power, and how it will move on after the tragedies that took place.

"Forget it then," Tails sighed, disappointingly changing the subject, "I'm stopping by Twilight's when she's through. I bet she'll be happy to see me now that I have free time; gathering scraps from Eggman's Robotnik bird is a chore."

"You still collect from that thing?" Sonic asked.

"There are so many parts," Tails groaned, "It's the most advance machinery I have ever seen. There's technology stuffed in that thing that I didn't know Eggman was capable off," Tails began to stretch his fluffy tails, getting ready to take off, "I'm going to have to study it once everything is collected too. I'll need some of those parts to make a dimension portal back home."

The two became awkwardly silent when the word 'home' echoed between them. That silence remained until Celestia finished her speech. She lit up her horn and spread out her wings, looking over the horizon with purpose in her eyes. A glow of orange and yellow slowly began to dimly shine behind her, and when she suddenly kicked herself off the ground and flew up, the sun immediately rose with her. It shinned brilliantly, covering the planet with its rays of golden sunlight. There was a roar of cheers as she slowly hovered back to the ground. She winced when she touched ground, but her lips curled to a smile as she gazed upon her subjects. Sonic and Tails felt a smile crept on their lips as they saw her.

"Let this be a new chapter of our history," Celestia proudly shouted, "Let us not forget the heroes that have made this victory possible. They shall be held to the highest honor, and I, personally, shall make sure that there title is forever marked for their service of this kingdom."

Tails glanced at Sonic for a second, "What is she talking about?"

"It has also came to my remembrance that I promised a certain pony knight hood for her service; where she has successfully captured the fastest thing that has ever stepped foot in our boarders… Even though we have wrongfully accused Sonic for stealing the Element of Harmony, she has proved herself worthy of the title when she absolutely refused to back down from the task. I will hold a ceremony a week from today, to knight that brave pegasus and the heroes who have spared this kingdom."

Sonic and Tails felt their ears and eyes shoot open with surprise as clops of applause thundered below.

"I completely forgot that Rainbow Dash was supposed to be Knighted for capturing me," Sonic chuckled, "But us too?"

"Caught me off guard," Tails added, looking to his friend with a roll in his eyes, but proudly smiling nonetheless, "Ready to be honored by another leader?"

Sonic simply shrugged, "Eh, one more title wouldn't hurt anything."

---

It was only a little time later since the sun has been raised, and the party decided to part and tend to their own business. Tails has flew back to the library to tend to Armor, Knuckles sprinted to the farm to help with the harvest, Amy jogged to Fluttershy's to help with the animals. The others may have just took notice, but she's surprisingly helpful with furry creatures. Surprised Sonic most of all, who would have know that someone with her… 'personality' could be so caring.

As for Sonic, who has found himself with absolutely nothing to do, decided to take a seat on a high branch near the park. This would be where Rainbow Dash would usually do her stunts and take her pet turtle out. He figured he might as well have a 'secrete' admirer to observe her while trying to catch a nap. This would be the few times that he can catch her in her daily routine, doing aerobatic stunts while sometimes crashing to the unforgiving ground.

If asked, he would say that she's just too amusing to not watch; he would never admit that he completely admired how she flies. She is a beautiful and graceful pegasus; from her colorful main and tail to her slender and built body, she was simply built from birth to take to the skies.

He blushed slightly when she made a turn that let him get a good look at her flank.

Ah, lust, he thought, How long as it been since we've seen each other? Years?

The hedgehog was quick to brush any secular thoughts that threatened to pop up… But what's another kiss from the adorable mare? Things have settled down just enough for them to enjoy another day together, surely she wouldn't mind.

He hopped off the limb and jogged to the opening, flailing his arms wildly to catch her attention. It only took her a second to spot him from below, and she quickly flew towards him. She was hovering just a couple of feet away from her.

"Hey, Dashie," He greeted with a warm smile, taking a couple of steps closer, "Don't mind if we do a couple of laps around Ponyville? We could find somewhere secluded afterwards." He added with a flirtatious tone, "The winner gets a kiss."

Rainbow simply crossed her hooves and gave him a very stern stare, "You're going to march right over to Sugercube Corner and talk to Pinkie!"

His ears instantly dropped, "But-"

"I don't want to hear it!" She shouted, "You're going to go over and try to comfort her! She's been doing nothing but moping around in her bedroom since she came back, and she refuses to talk to me or any of my friends about it!"

He shot his mouth open to retort, but only a mere squeak came out, "I-I'm not as close to her as the mares are. What makes you think I can comfort her?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Listen, Sonic. I have no idea why you're so scared of her. Sure, she's hyper, she's wild, she's unpredictable, but she's the most friendliest ponies out of most of us. She wouldn't hurt a fly."

"If only you saw what happened at the base," Sonic deadpanned.

"Quit your lying," Rainbow snorted, "You destroyed that base; there's no way she can take out the entire robotic army. She got lucky and managed to evade until you got there… No one is buying your crap."

It astonishes him that not a single soul will believe his story.

"I'm sorry; was it Pinkie that chased you down when you tried to hide a surprise party from her? Did you try to hide in the clouds and she somehow caught up to you?"

"That's beside the point," She said, "She's harmless; now go talk to her… When you come back, I'll think about hanging out with you."

Sonic flinged his arms in the air and began to walk away.

"Don't even think about dodging her!" She called him, "I saw what you did when Pinkie popped from that screen. I'll go everyone that Pinkie scared you in your super form if you try anything!"

The hedgehog sighed.

"And don't think I didn't see you checking out my flank earlier!"

He turned around and saw Dash giving him a snarky grin. She gave him a quick wink before he sped off.

The Cakes didn't know whether to be surprised, or to expect for Sonic to walk through their doors. They knew that the hedgehog was… Very uncomfortable around Pinkie Pie, but after this long of him living in Ponyville, they knew him to be loyal to his own friends. They predicted that he would come by at some point, but at one point, they thought that he wouldn't come by at all to see her when she came back.

She didn't say a word to them when she did come back; she dragged herself straight to her room while her hair dangled loosely around her head. They could have sworn that she was a lighter color before she was kidnapped. As much as they tried, they could not get a word out of her; she would lay almost motionlessly on the bed while snuggling her baby alligator as they try to at least see what was wrong with her.

When Pinkie moved in, the Cakes slowly grew more and more attached to her always cheerful and childish personality… What they saw in her when she walked in almost shattered their hearts as well.

Sonic did make small talk with them, asking if they figured out anything since she got back. The Cakes could sense much hesitation from him; it was clear that he didn't want to go up there.

"She just refuses to talk to anyone, including us!" Mr. Cake stated, "Sonic, just what did happen back there? Did she see something she wasn't ready for?"

"Something like that," Sonic answered. He pondered on whether or not he should tell them that she offered to try to 'convert' Eggman. As much as it would put their concerns at ease, he didn't want to risk of them thinking any different of the Pink mare, "Can I go up?"

"Oh yes, please!" They ushered.

The hedgehog waved them off and slowly walked up the stairs to Pinkie's bed room. The door, surprisingly, wasn't locked, so he went ahead and helped himself in.

He immediately saw Pinkie curled up in her bed with her back facing him. Even when she heard the door close with a click, she didn't move a muscle. It was so quite that his very footsteps sounded like a hammer slamming a nail. Her mane and tail wasn't poofy and curled as it should, instead; it was completely flat, pooling around the back of her head and her flack in a dark pink. Sonic could have sworn that her fur was a lighter color. Normally, there will be this 'presence' around her, a very energetic and wild energy that would radiate from her. That presence always spooked the hedgehog. Maybe it was because of the unpredictability, he didn't know.

He felt heavy approaching her, as if the air was thickening by each he took towards her. It was very unnatural, even for her standards.

"Pinkie?" Sonic softly called out.

He saw her ears twitch, but made no motion to give him attention.

"Are you okay?" He tried again, now standing at the side of the bed.

Again, she made no sudden movements. Her hooves shifted slightly to bring the covers closer to her head. Sonic took in a deep breath, acting as if to brace himself, and sat right beside her. He put on the most cheerful smile he could and put a hand on her side.

"Now Pinkie, how can you make anyone smile with you sulking in this room?" He asked playfully.

Yet again, she gave no answer. Sonic cautiously loomed over her shoulder in an attempt to see her face. There was a large damp spot where he head rest, with dry tears dripping from the mare's cheek… To think that she's been like this for days. He decided to begin with a simple question, to at least try to get her to say something.

"What's wrong, Pinkie?"

He waited patiently for an answer, waiting for a full five minutes for her to speak. The silence that hummed around the two was simply unbearable; any crack or squeak from anywhere almost made the hedgehog jump out of his skin.

Finally, she spoke. When her voice carried out, he felt such sadness and despair stringing against his chest unlike anything from anyone.

"What happened to him?"

That was a response he didn't expect. He knew exactly why she was broken, but he had absolutely no idea what to say to her. He knew that her mare friends would have been perfect comforts to her; to have five very close friends to embrace her in a hug to let her cry her sorrows away… Sonic didn't know this mare as well as the other ponies did, and it's a shame that the others were too busy trying to recover from the aftermaths of everything that took place. Fluttershy is busy with her animals, Rarity couldn't be of any help, and Applejack is trying to not let her family's acre die out. Although Twilight did make a little time to see her, Pinkie would not say a single word to her, no matter what the unicorn said. Rainbow Dash was the only one who managed to get some words from her, but even then, she wouldn't directly answer what was wrong.

Sonic suddenly felt very guilty for not coming up here sooner. He realized at that moment that he was the only one who can really help her. He didn't know what exactly he was going to say to her, but he was going to try his best.

"Pride," He simply answered, "… Vengeance, anger, and hate; that was exactly what happened to him. Every time I interfere with his delusion of a perfect world, those things eventually grew until he was consumed."

Pinkie suddenly rolled to her back, and Sonic felt a pin strike against his heart when she stared at him with wide-glossy eyes.

"He must have been a very good person at one point," She said, "No one is born like that, no one."

"Don't ponder on things like that," Sonic sighed.

"I can't," She choked, "Every life is so precious, Sonic… Every life is so unique, so different, so vast, not one person is born the same. You only live that life once, and once you live it, you never live it again; no one will ever see it again. What kind of darkness must have consumed him to drive him like that, to even think of simply throwing it away? Everyone gets angry, become vengeful, and everyone must have hated someone at one point… Even I'm guilty of pride."

Sonic listened to her intensely.

"I guess some people do let their emotions get to the better of them," She continued, "Even so, even if Eggman were to have lost himself at one point of his life, he's still an individual." She looked to him with tearful eyes, "No one is perfect; everyone makes mistakes. He doesn't have to be condemned for the rest of his life for those mistakes."

He shook his head, "I know that you and most ponies believe that everyone is capable is being redeemed, but Eggman… Eggman was far beyond from changing."

"Everyone can change," She softly, but quickly retorted, "Everyone has at least a little good in their hearts. Luna has done terrible things before she was sent to the moon. What do you have to say about her?"

"The only thing she simply wanted was affection from her subjects," He answered, "Eggman didn't want affection; he wanted perfection. That one dream of a perfect world drove him way beyond reasoning."

She became quite for a moment. She cast her eyes away from him and blankly stared at the wall behind him; her innocent mind still trying to make some kind of sense.

"I could have helped him, Sonic. I would have kept him with me while I remind him what life would be like to live carefree; to show him what it meant to be really happy… How can I live knowing that there's someone locked in a dungeon that will never smile again?"

Sonic shook his head and answered her in a sympathetic and disarming tone, "Take my word, Pinkie. There are people that have buried themselves so deep that can never climb back out. As much you want to change this man, you simply can't. They have decided for themselves what they are, and no one can persway them… That innocent Eggman I never knew is long gone, and he's not coming back."

She looked at him uncertainty, with her body still slumped in a wreck.

"Think of it this way," He continued, "For this one man to be locked up, imagine the smiles that would come for the justice being done. They're going to be happy knowing that someone has put this manic in his place."

She gave him a disgusted look that made Sonic almost rear back.

"You are no greater than him; the only difference that is between you and him is the choices you two made."

Sonic suddenly found himself shocked by her statement.

"But I know he can choose to redeem himself. He may be in a dark place, but I have the rest of his life to prove to him that he can change."

"Why do you care for him?" Sonic retorted angrily, "He hurt your friends! He killed so many ponies since he arrived here! I laid my life down so many times because of this man! How can you that that I'm not better than him!?"

"Because no one is any better than what he is," She quickly answered, "Everyone has darkness in their hearts, and everyone is just as capable of being evil like Eggman has been. Do you remember when you went to that dark place when those mobsters hurt Twilight and Tails? Your emotions got to the better of you and you tried to straight out kill them than bringing them to justice."

That struck a chord. Memories of that incident came flooding back to him, and he felt his body constricting as he bottled those emotions from sufficing, "You… You didn't have to mention that. That was different; I was under the influence of the Chaos Emeralds."

"But think back of what you felt before those Emeralds took over," Pinkie continued, "You wanted to hurt them, you wanted to take vengeance for causing your friends pain. The Emeralds didn't make you think that."

Sonic suddenly found himself scratching the back of his head, and soon; he was lowering his head in shame… He finally realized the point that Pinkie was making, and it was slowly sinking to his skull until he couldn't help but feel such guilt.

"Then," He struggled to finish his sentence, "Then I'm no better than Eggman."

Pinkie slowly nodded as she slowly sat up on her bed, "The only difference between anyone is the choices they made. Can you imagine embracing that feeling of anger and hate? At least you had your friends to bring you out of it." Pinkie slumped over, "Eggman probably didn't have that."

He hated it, but her point was driving in deeper and deeper, and he couldn't think of any argument to make. Sonic, taking in a deep breath, stood from the bed and hunched over in defeat.

"I know that this man caused you so much trouble, Sonic," Pinkie continued, "But I want to change that. I want to show him what it's like to have someone to lean on, what rest and happiness really means."

He still couldn't think of an argument to make against her. After a solid minute, he looked at her with a sincere and defeated stare.

"I'll ask Celestia if she would let you visit him, but he can't come out of his cell. Understand?"

Her mane and tail remained flat and dull, but a small smile creped on her face as a small glimmer of light sparked in her, "Thank you."

With nothing else to say or do, Sonic began to make his way to the door. Just before he closed the door behind him, he quickly glanced back and gave her a smile of his own.

"Just be sure to catch some fresh air; everyone is worried about you."

---

Author's notes

I know; not much of a chapter. I just had the battery for this computer replaced and I was just able to get it in today… Please stick with me, I'm going to try to get back into schedule.

Deadline: These words don't hold much weight anymore, eh? Still, I'll say two weeks. You can bet your bottom dollar that it'll be late.

One last thing, I'm doing another Sonic/MLP fanfiction called Crossing Stupid… It's just stupid fun and crap that pops to my head. If you want some laughs, go check it out. It won't interfere with this fan fiction.

I'm not scared to make racial jokes, however. For those who are self-conscience about their own race, gender, or religion may want to skip it…

…

You know what? Go ahead and read it anyways. It wouldn't hurt to laugh at your own ethnicity. People hold it on a pedestal higher than their own and other's well-being, and that's not a good thing… That's the very last thing we need to do, especially in this country. We live in this country to be free from persecution of our own faith and race; not to be divided by it.

But we're human; we can't help but notice the differences. As a human; however, we have a choice to simply ignore these differences… And crap, even laugh at it. I believe poking a little fun at them will remind us that we'll all human beings. Not black, nor a Jew, nor a man or woman, nor straight or gay (or anything else in between), but a human being.

While embracing you with salutations.

Harry

No verse today. I'll have something next time, though