The sun slowly sinks beyond the horizon, dying the sky a bright orange and red. A stillness hangs in the air as the gentle breeze is quieted. Cicadas and a variety of birds can be heard in the distance, combining with the low light and long shadows to create an eerie atmosphere.

The Mane Six, plus one unconscious hedgehog, have retired to Fluttershy's house for the evening after doing what they could to clean up the disaster that occurred a short while ago. Most of the 6 were against sheltering there once attacker. However, after a bit of convincing, Twilight made them willing enough to at least hear the perpetrator out before passing a final judgment.

Muffled sounds, whispering voices, and the sensation of something pulling his right arm awaken the hedgehog from his slumber. Forcing his eyes open, the blue hedgehog exposes his emerald green eyes to the world. He glances around the room, trying to figure out where he is. Following the pulling sensation on this arm, he turns to see a yellow pegasus wrapping a bandage around his now glove-less hand and wrist. The pony cringes as she notices his gaze and turns her head upward.

"Twilight, he's waking up." The pony's voice sounds incredibly soothing, almost sending him back into dreamland. However, the abrupt galloping of an incoming lavender pony shakes the sensation away and jostles the hedgehog to be more wakeful. Skidding to a stop a few inches away from the bed, the lavender pony juts her head downward to observe the mysterious new hedgehong.

The lavender pony peers down at the hedgehog with a set of burning violet eyes. "Who are you and why did you attack my friends?" The blue hedgehog chuckles at this question. "What's so funny?" Twilight snaps, not amused by the creature’s actions.

"Sorry, but I must have hit my head harder than I thought," the hedgehog finally says as he raises his left arm, with his now finger-less glove and stops his hand a few inches away from the unicorns face.

"Why do you say that?" Twilight asks, rising an eyebrow at the question.

"Well, because I seem to be speaking to a talking purple pony," the hedgehog responds as his hand makes contact with the right side of the pony's face. Twilight gasps at this action and places her hoof over the hedgehog's hand. "You are talking to a 'lavender unicorn', thank you very much," the pony says, sliding the hedgehog’s hand off her face. "And what are you, exactly?"

"He's a hedgehog," the yellow Pegasus says as she returns with a small pail of water and a dozen or so wash cloths, causing the two talking to jump at her sudden arrival. Twilight squeaks and jumps back, while the hedgehog abruptly sits up and cuts through the air with his hands.

"Ninja!" he says in a low, gravelly voice while striking a pose with his hands, causing the two ponies to giggle at this action.

"No, she's just real quiet," Twilight states with a smile as she turns towards the yellow pegasus, causing Fluttershy to blush slightly. The blue hedgehog rests his back on the headboard of the bed and glances between the two ponies in front of him.

"So… talking ponies. Not the strangest thing I've seen, but it's up there," he says, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Says the blue..." the lavender unicorn is trails off when the hedgehog abruptly leans towards her, a sour expression on his face. "What...what is it?" she asks, slight concern in her voice. Suddenly, he grabs a damp wash cloth from the bucket and places it on the unicorn's face, causing her to let out a yelp.

"What the hay’re ya doin’?" an angry voice demands from a distance. After a few heavy swipes, the hedgehog pulls the wash cloth away and holds it towards the voice, revealing it heavenly soaked in blood.

"She had something on her face," he says with a snort. The two ponies look in horror at the now red wash cloth. "I take it this is mine, right?" The lavender pony nods. "Well, miss Violet, what-"

"It's Twilight," the unicorn says, cutting off the hedgehog.

"What?" He says blinking at the interruption. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is Fluttershy…" the pony says, motioning towards the yellow pegasus.

"Um, hi," the pegasus says meekly.

"…and that's Applejack," the unicorn says as she points to a wheat earth pony sitting on a bench, glaring at the hedgehog.

"Howdy," she says, tipping her Stetson.

"The name’s Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. Maybe you could explain to me what exactly is going on here?"

The lavender unicorn rears her head back. "You mean you don't remember?"

The hedgehog lets out a nervous laugh and scratches the back of his head. "Not at all. Last thing I remember is waking up with a head-ache and..." Sonic grabs his head as if trying to remember something. "What did I do? I can't remember."

"Really? Nothing at all?" the lavender unicorn asks, leaning towards the hedgehog.

"Well, ain't that convenient," a voice dripping in sarcasm says from across the room. The wheat earth pony stalks towards the two, still glaring at Sonic. "You blow a gasket and attack me ’n mah friends, when, Ah might add," Applejack says as she leans closer to the hedgehog, "we were jus’ tryin’ to see if ya’ll were hurt!"

------

Sonic scratches his head in bewilderment. "So they've been corrupted that much already?"

"Whatchu talking about, spiky?" the wheat pony chimes in, breaking the hedgehog's train of thought.

"Never mind, but I swear that wasn't me… well, it was me, but it wasn’t me at the same time. It was my body, but something else was in control of it," Sonic says, holding up his hands defensively.

"A likely story. If Twi didn't try ta stop me, Ah'd knock you upside the..." the wheat pony trails herself as she glances at something in the distance.

"Ooh, what is this?" a voice asks in the distance.

"Hey, get away from there!" Applejack shouts as she jumps off the edge of the room.

The hedgehog looks on in shock as he watches the earth pony disappear from sight.

"Um, it's a split level," the yellow pegasus explains shyly as she removes her forelegs from her head.

"Oh," Sonic says tilting his head.

"So you really don't remember what happened?" a white unicorn says, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The three jump at her sudden appearance with Sonic holding his hands up in the ninja pose, like before.

"There's more of you?" The white pony raises her eyebrow at this, obviously not getting the joke.

"We'll as I was saying-" The unicorn is cut short when a ruckus starts in the lower level.

"I don't see what's got you in such a stink," another voice says.

"We shouldn't be messing with things we don't understand!" the wheat pony shouts from the other side of the room.

"Oo-ow! Shiny," a third voice says from somewhere near the first one.

"Now what did Ah just tell you, Pinkie?" Applejack shouts, stomping her forelegs.

"Chill out AJ, it's just...uh oh," the first voice says as bright light starts to fill the room.

"Oh no," the blue hedgehog says as he jumps out of the bed. "DASH, GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

A blinding light erupts from where Rainbow Dash is standing, causing the others to shield their eyes in response.

"What’n tarnation is this?" the wheat earth pony shouts as she turns her head away from the light.

"Oo-ow! Pretty!" the pink pony says, still obscured from view.

As the light dissipates, a silhouette of a female Pegasus stands before the group, except something’s off. Tufts of her coat are now pulsating a shinning gold color, jutting in every direction. Her mane sits ruffled and colored various shades of yellow with an all too familiar sadistic smile and twisted red eyes.

"No way!" Pinkie Pie says as she removes her foreleg from her eyes.

"Uh Dash, you feeling alright?" a hesitant Applejack asks as she takes a few steps forward.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA~!" The glowing pegasus, lets out a distorted laugh. "This is gonna be fun," the pony adds, with a distorted voice as it prepares to take flight.

"Not on my watch!" the hedgehog shouts as he jumps off the top level, stumbling and holding his side as he lands.

"You!" the pegasus snaps, shooting a glare at the injured Sonic.

"Yeah, me. You gonna come quietly or are we gonna-" the hedgehogs words fall on deaf ears as the pegasus smashes through the second floor window and zips away. The hedgehog lets out a sigh and shakes his head. "They never want to do it the easy way." Adjusting his shoes and one remaining glove, the blue hedgehog flings open the door and prepares to chase after the possessed pegasus.

"Wait just one darn minute," the wheat earth pony shouts as she charges forward.

The hedgehog lets out an annoyed huff as he arches towards the door. "Not really a good time for questions, I-"

"What just happened to our friend, Dash?" the pony asks, ignoring the hedgehog’s statement.

"Long story short, something bad unless I do something fast!" Sonic yells as he flies out the door.

"Whaddaya mean 'bad?'!" Applejack yells as she chases after him. However, to her dismay, he's already too far ahead to catch up. Charging off in an extra burst of speed he sends a sonic boom exploding behind him. "Well Ah'll be," the wheat earth pony says in bewilderment.

"What just happened?" Rarity asks as she comes up from behind Applejack.

"Yeah, where’s Dashie?" the pink pony asks as she stick her head out from behind the others.

"Ah have no idea."

------

Following the yellow energy trail that follows the pegasus, the blue hedgehog is able to locate the possessed Rainbow Dash. "Phew, lucky it's almost dark out. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to find her." Suddenly, a colorful explosion erupts in the sky overhead. "Whoa! She's fast, but not fast enough,” the amused Sonic says as he increases his speed, cringing as he jumps over a fallen tree. "What bad timing, though.”

------

"HAHAHAH~! This is awesome!" the demented Rainbow Dash shouts as she blasts past a cluster of houses, causing some nearby windows to shatter in her wake."This is way beyond-" the pegasus cuts herself off as she spots the blue blur off in the distance. "Hmph! Him again," the pony says as she flies off.

The blue hedgehog smiles at the glowing pony in the distance. "You can run, my little pony, but you can't hide,” Sonic says as he blasts through the main street of Ponyville, Disturbing some of the residents, as well as few displays, scattering their contents in the wind.

As the pegasus attempts to lose her pursuer, she fly's towards a long gorge, slowing down to almost a hover as she loses sight of the hedgehog. "HAHAHA~! I lost him. Hm, Figures, no one is as fast as me," the pony scoffs.

"NOT likely!" a voice says in the distance.

"What?! Where is-" the pegasus is cut off midsentence as something jumps on her back.

"Peek-a-boo!" the blue hedgehog says as he lands.

"AHHHHH! GET OFF!" the pegasus shouts as she tries to shake her passenger off her back.

"No way, not till we finish this," a determined Sonic says as he adjusts his position on the pony's back. The possessed pony lets out an amused scoff.

"Your funeral." The gold colored pony takes off with a burst of speed in an attempt to shake off her unwanted passenger, twisting and turning, diving and climbing. Nothing seems to shake off the determined Sonic.

"It's going to take more than that to get rid of me!" the blue hedgehog shouts over the wind, still on the pony's back. She spasms slightly.

"Is that a challenge? Then how about THIS!" the pegasus shouts as she slams into a cliff side, rattling the hedgehog a bit.

"Hey what are you doing?!" a shaken Sonic asks.

"Getting rid of some unwanted baggage! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!" Rainbow Dash cackles as she slams into another cliff side.

"Nope, still here." Sonic says as he drums his fingers on the back of the pony's head.

"This is getting *twitch* ridiculous!" the pony screams as she flies towards a large quarry. An evil grin curls across her face. "Perfect."

"What are you-" The hedgehog's words are cut short as the pony dives into a section lined with numerous caves. "So you're gonna fly into one of these?" Sonic lets out a nervous laugh.

"Not quite!" the pegasus snarls with a sadistic tone to her voice as a massive eel bursts from one the caves.

"Whoa!" the hedgehog shouts as the eel flies past him. "Getting desperate, aren't we now?"

"I do whatever is..." The pony turns to finish, only to notice the unwanted passenger is no longer on her back. "Haha! Well, that was…" The Pegasus trails off as she watches the blue hedgehog somehow run along the side of the cliff-face, dodging the quarry eels with ease. "I-impossible," the possessed pony says in disbelief, providing enough of a distraction for Sonic to able to jump back onto the pony's back. She soars upward, leaving behind a yellow sonic rainboom.

"You want to do this the hard way? Fine, we'll do it the hard way!" the hedgehog shouts as he tightens his grip on the mare's back.

"Says the rodent that's about to *twitch* fall off. What is this?"

Sonic lets out a heavy sigh. "You expelled way too much energy. You're going to lose yourself to it."

------

Elsewhere in Ponyville, the 5 remaining ponies charge towards their friend's location.

"This way!" Twilight shouts as she leads the group with a determined Applejack following close behind.

"When Ah get my hooves on him, Ah'll-"

------

Bracing himself, the blue hedgehog digs his fingers into the sides of the pony, causing her to wince in pain. "W-what *twitch* are you doing?" the pegasus shouts, shaken by this sudden action.

"Saving you, from yourself," Sonic continues as light starts to emit from the spot he grabbed on to.

"No, stop *twitch* please!"

------

Stopping just before the gorge, the others look on in bewilderment as the glowing light gets dimmer as it increases altitude.

"Oh my, how far up are they?" Rarity asks with a shocked expression.

"I wish I knew Rarity, but if they get too high..." the lavender pony trails off.

"What’ll happen to ‘em?!" a concerned wheat earth pony shouts.

"They'll freeze up and drop like a rock," Pinkamena Diane Pie states, watching the climbing light.

------

Flying higher and higher, ice starts to cover the two fliers.

"Last chance to save yourself," an ice covered hedgehog says, still drawing out more power. "No, way, just a little *twitch* bit further until-" the pegasus stops midsentence, letting out blood curdling scream as the chaos energy is completely drained out of her, turning her fur back to its cyan coloring and her mane to its former multicolored streaks. The event is too much for her, and she loses conciseness. Having regained the emeralds, a now deranged Sonic lets out a menacing laugh as he raises his arms into the air in triumph, only to break off his victory laugh as he notices the cyan pony falling to the earth below.

"Uh oh!" the hedgehog says as he takes off after her.

------

Finally emerging from the gorge, the other ponies sprint to catch up, only to arrive in time to witness their friend plummeting to the ground below.

"RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight screams as she charges towards her falling friend.

"No this can't be happening!" a frightened Fluttershy screams as she follows close behind.

"No, no, no!" a distraught Applejack shouts as she follows the others.

"I can't bear to look!" Rarity says as she covers her eyes.

"Hey everypony, look!" Pinkie Pie says as she motions towards a yellow light chasing there friend.

The super charged hedgehog continues to close the gap between him and the falling pony, no longer bearing the twisted appearance, but instead donning his usual super appearance with burning red eyes that peer down at the pony below him. He explodes forward in a burst of speed that causes the air to ripple around him.

"Al…most…got it..." the glowing hedgehog says as he reaches for pony with the ground coming up fast. "This is going to be close."

------

Something strikes the ground with tremendous force, sending a shock-wave that ripples across the small town. A large crater is left behind from the impact.

"DASH!" Twilight shouts with tears streaming down her face.

"No...she's gone," Pinkamena says as she drops her head.

"T-this can't be happening, it's just can't," Applejack says, backing away from the crater.

"No, no, no, no, you can't go out like this...I WONT LET YOU!" a distraught Rarity screams.

Fluttershy drops to the ground and covers her head with her forelegs. "Rainbow Dash!"

A heavy rain begins to fall across Ponyville as the five stare at the crater in disbelief, all of their hope washing away as the rain drips down on them.

[b}Next time...

...

Author's Notes:

A grim day indeed has befallen the upon the guardians of harmony. Is this the end or the beginning of something else? Find out next time

All characters belong to there rightful owners and as always all input is welcome.