“No Twilight, I don't want any more gems...but it couldn't hurt to..." Spike felt himself stir when the sounds of something began to fade into his ears. It continued on and on, loud and constant until Spike finally felt himself sitting up to silence it. "Twilight, I thought you said you were done studying the different types of horn--" A bright light made it's way into his eyes making him stumble back in an object. "What in Equestria was that light?" Spike waited a few seconds, letting his eyes adjust to the light, however, when he could finally see, his attention was drawn all over the place. "M-metal, there's metal everywhere!?" He turned over and over again, letting his shock glide over every inch of the new landscape before. "There are lights everywhere." He gasped again as he turned to view the object he had fallen upon earlier. "T-this carriage is flying, how is that even possible?"

“Hey man, I got 20 minutes to get downtown, get you your butt out of the road!" The monkey said from the driver's seat.

The monkey continued to honk obnoxiously making Spike cover his ears in response. "I d-didn't mean to get in your way but...where exactly am I?"

"In the middle of the freaking road making me late, now get out of the way, you're holding up everyone!”

"S-sorry," Spike uttered quickly retreating to a sidewalk. "Where in Celestia's name am I?" By the looks of it, that technology stuff we started finding out about is way more advanced here. It's not like magic at all so how are they powering these floating carriages and these lights, this is ins--That fucking tower is floating in the air! Without magic, how advanced do you have to be to get a building that size in the air?! Where is Twilight when you need her, she knows more about this crap than I do.

Spike sighed as he leaned one hand against a metallic wall, unsure of what exactly to do until he glanced at his arm. His arm was much longer and bulkier than he remembered, not just that, but he was standing a lot taller than the usual 3 or 4 feet. "W-wait a minute, this isn't--" he examined various parts of his body, moving his tail back and forth and flexing his claws and toes. It was then that he finally viewed himself in the reflection of the wall.

"I'm...older?" he questioned listening to the drop in his usual pitch. "No way, I'm older...what kind of interdimensional bullcrap is this?" Once again a sigh left his mouth as he began to walk alongside the road onto a bridge, resting his body on the guard rail. Below were different kinds of animals much to Spike's surprise, canines, felines, monkeys, insects, all his size or more and walking on two legs no less like it was natural. "This isn't my dimension is it?"

"Heads up!" A voice desperately called out making Spike turn his head. Within seconds, he was face to face with another animal, sliding way too close to him on some kind of weird board. Spike threw himself back in fear of getting hit but tumbled like a plank over the railing. "Crap crap grab him!" the voice quickly uttered as 2 or 3 three hands reached out to catch him but it was too late. Spike peered downward as the ground seemed to close in slow motion, flailing his body and hoping this wouldn't hurt as he closed his eyes. However, when no pain came, he opened to the sight of dozens of these strange animals peering at him in concern. "Oh thank god you caught him!" the voice uttered from atop the bridge.

"No problem, but you gotta be more careful next time, he could've been hurt."

"S-sorry blue blur sir, we're just learning how to ride.

Blue Blur? Spike thought as he finally turned to see who caught him. "Almost bit the dust there buddy, try not to fall off anything anymore, bad publicity you know." He set the dragon on his feet before turning around and waving goodbye. "Next time you need help, just call out Sonic and I'll be there in a sonic second."

"S-sonic?"

"Yep, the blue blur himself," Sonic said kicking up his board and continuing to walk off.

"H-hey wait a minute. Sonic was it, where am I?"

"Oh no, you didn't actually hit your head did you?"

"N-no, I...I'm kinda lost."

"Bad sense of direction huh? No worries, just tell me where you live?"

"Um...in another dimension..."

The blue figure dropped his board as his eyes went wide with shock, he stared back at Spike who was now nervously smiling and scratching his head. "Oh boy, not another one..."

"Thanks a bunch, I'll come and babysit like I promised after the event is over." Sonic happily said as he took the two wrapped up burgers from the server. He carefully crossed the street to a bench where Spike sat exploring the cityscape with his eyes. "Here," he said offering one to him.

Spike took it and stared at it confusingly. "You guys have hayburgers too?"

"Who would eat hay? No no, this is a hamburger."

"A hamburger?"

"Yea meat, you do eat meat don't you?"

"M-meat?!" he yelled backing away from his burger in shock."

"Yea just unwrap it like this and chow down," Sonic said demonstrating. "Now you."

Do these guys actually eat animals I mean...It's sick...it's cannibalism to even consider it...but it smells so good, maybe I'll just take a nibble...no no, what would the others think if they found out I was eating something like this... Spike continued to fight this internally, his head his nearing the burger only to retreat in disgust. For a second, Sonic seemed a bit concerned about his new companion until the dragon desperately dug into the burger with a huge bite. His eyes closed for a second before he pulled back and began chewing. Oh god, I'm actually doing it, ugh...oh god it's a disgust to all pony kind it's...not bad. Spike opened his eyes as he stared back at the burger. It's freaking delicious!

"See, I knew you'd like it," Sonic said with a chuckle as Spike began to ravage the burger, taking that strange board and placing it inside a boxed off area. Two prongs slowly slid out of the ground beside the board and clipped on to the side of it lowering it into an imprint. An electric field formed around the board for a few moments before the prongs released their grip. Sonic kicked the board up and leaned it against the bench before sitting down to enjoy his own burger. "So Spike was it, you said you came from another dimension right?"

"Y-yes sir." He pushed out after just swallowing a bite."

"Ditch the tags kid, just call me Sonic."

Spike once again scratched his head in nervousness. "Sorry, si--I mean Sonic."

Sonic motioned him to tell him something but Spike couldn't tell exactly what. "Come on man, tell me where you came from. Another Dimension like Blaze, the future like Silver, a completely other reality like other versions of myself, give me the details?"

"W-wait you're not like freaked out about this?"

"Oh no way, we get visitors from this kind of thing almost every week, it's nothing new. Blaze is like an alternate me from another dimension and she's not the only one."

"Y-you're kidding, your world is the site of that many dimensional disturbances?"

"Like a magnet." He said with a smile

"O-oh well then, I'm from Equestria."

"Another dimension? The future? Which one?"

"I'm not even sure how I got here so whether it's a past version, future version, or alternate reality of this world, I couldn't tell you."

"Oh dang? That'll make you getting you back a bit tricky, won't it? Well even so, what can you tell me about it, maybe something will make sense to this world's ways."

"I could but...it's a bit lengthy."

"Hey I saved your butt, didn't I? Least I can do is hear you out until we figure something out."

"Well Sonic, that was your only warning and I'm not responsible for any brain damage you may suffer."

"Hit me with everything you got."

Spike sighed, getting into a comfortable position himself. "So it all started with two sisters who were in charge of the rising of the sun and the moon..." About an hour and a half passed as Spike told of how the how Celestia imprisoned Luna in the moon, of how she escaped and brought darkness to the world, of how the mane 6 banded together and used the elements of harmony to stop her and every threat afterward until their return to the tree, and especially of their adventures with creation of the school and the new friends he made, like Smolder and Ember. "The last thing I remember is going to sleep that night and boom, I'm here."

Sonic's eyes spun like hypnotizing pinwheels as he attempted to cage all the information he just received, shaking his head and taking a deep breath."I didn't take your warning seriously and I am very sorry about that." He said with head hung low.

"That warning isn't for nothing you know, but you got through it all and that's pretty awesome."

"And here I thought I moved too fast to be weighed down like that. Unfortunately, my story is just as long and it's pretty much night time."

"Oh s-sorry for holding you up so long, It was just nice to have someone to talk to you, I'll see--"

"Where do you think you're going?" Sonic asked stopping him with a tug on his arm.

"I was gonna...actually I have no idea what to do first to get home."

"Exactly, and since you've become accidentally homeless, I'm not gonna let you stay out here. Come on, we're going to my place."

"Y-your place?"

"Yep," Sonic said pointing to the giant tower in the distance Spike had noted earlier.

"W-wait you live in the giant floating tower?"

"Yea, we gotta little area up there to chill in."

"That thing's gigantic, how do you even get in there."

"I'll show ya when we get there," Sonic said taking his board and placing it under his feet. "Get on."

"What is that thing?" Spike asked.

"You never heard of EX-Gear?"

"EX?"

"EX, short for Extreme Gear?"

"I didn't know things could float without magic until just today, I have no idea what that is."

"Oh boy, have we got a lot to teach you before you go back to your world." Sonic motioned him on the back of it but as he placed one foot upon the floating contraption, a billboard sitting on the base of a rather large building lit up with words "Important announcement." Sonic along with two other mobians flashed on the screen. Sonic took his foot off the board and chuckled. "Oh yea!" Sonic exclaimed in excitement. "The commercial finally got approved, nice work Tails."

"A commercial?"

The picture shifted to a blue robotic creature, with an unusually disturbing smile on it's little face.
"Hello, I'm Omochao, your robotic Ex announcer and welcome to the EX News. For all you racers out there, we have an especially interesting opportunity to put your name at the top of the leaderboards this year. I have here the blue blur himself to present you guys this spectacular event!"

"Is it on Tails?" Sonic's voice asked to someone behind the camera.

"Yep, you can start now, and make sure to start it how--"

"Don't worry I got it, I got it." He said clearing his throat as the yellow fox and a red Echidna joined him on screen. "Thanks Omochao, Team Sonic here to give you the full scoop, say hi guys."

"Hey everyone, I'm Tails."

Knuckles just sat there and huffed at the camera. "Knuckles, we're live," Sonic whispered.

"Now?" he replied.

"Yes now." Tails added."

"Oh um," he said clearing his throat and looking at the camera. "And I'm Knuckles the great Echidna, protector of the Master Emerald and defeater of the great--"

Sonic mushed a hand into Knuckles' face cutting him off and making him struggle to get it off." "Right, and that's knuckles. Anyway, thanks to my good old buddy Tails, Team Sonic was able to finally fund our passion project, so without further ado, to all you veteran racers, and of course, you new guys out there looking to get into your first Grand Prix, we'd like to announce your next chance at stardom, the EX 4 Ever World Grand Prix! Why is this one special you might ask? Because if you beat out the competition, then you get a dance with yours truly, at our very own custom track. Sound like the big time to you, then you are invited to the Mobius tower to sign up. Any details Tails?"

"Well," the fox began. "The teams must consist of a maximum of 3 racers and one mechanic. Each extra member after that, racer or mechanic will require a 50 ring fee to be considered. That's about it."

"Thanks Tails, and we'll see you all at the starting line."

The screen returned to its usual advertising as Spike put his other foot on the board. "Racing what tho?"

Sonic smiled as the board began to move slowly onto the road, suddenly taking off in a burst of speed. Spike held onto Sonic for dear life as his legs floated helplessly in the wind. "We race these bad boys of course."

"Any chance we could slow down so I could, you know, put my feet back on the ground."

"Come on, this speed is nothing, you can handle it." Sonic chuckled as he made turn after turn, even jumping off a wall with the board to cut a quick turn. "EX-Gear is more than just transportation, although I'm sure you've noticed."

"Oh yea, not like terrifying isn't an emotion people feel, what even is this EX 4 Ever Grand Prix?"

"Well--hold up," Sonic said cutting a sharp turn around a car. "Well like the commercial said, there a lot more mobians out there that love a good competition, so we tune our gear and test our skills on the race tracks."

"These things are death traps if you ask me."

"Well don't you have some form of racing in your world."

"Yea, but only the ones who have wings honestly, the fastest one so far has been Rainbow Dash."

Sonic let out a hearty laugh. "Faster than the fastest thing alive?" he said pointing to himself.

"That's quite the title to give yourself for needing gear to go fast."

"Oh ho, you're gonna be surprised, Spike."

"Well Rainbow Dash was able to perform a Sonic Rainboom, I don't think your gear can beat that honestly."

Sonic chuckled. "Who said anything about gear?" Sonic stopped his board and let Spike off as he kicked it up and put it under his arm. He extended one arm to Spike to which he extended. "See the tower in the distance?"

"Y-yea."

"How far you think it is?"

Spike paused, letting his mind wander around the visual distance of the tower. "At least a few miles, at least I think," he replied as Sonic began to stretch his legs. "Uh what are you do--Woah!" Without a second thought, Sonic took off in a burst on his two feet. Spike flailed like a lifeless body as the wind shot past them lifting his eyelids and cheeks like he was traveling the speed of sound. Sonic ran through the streets like a demon before the tower came into view, literally only a few football fields away. Sonic smiled as he peered back to Spike who was at this point, hyperventilating. "What...the...hell?"

"Believe me now?"

"Rainbow Dash...never went that fast, at least not that fast."

"I didn't get my name for my speed on EX-Gear you know."

"How are you that fast on your feet, do they not burn up from the friction? What about your shoes, how are they not on fire?"

"They did one time but I solved that by having Tails work frictionless material into just about all my shoes, so I can be halfway across the world and back without an issue."

"Rainbow Dash is gonna go insane when she hears about you."

"Only a matter of time then huh, let's get inside."

Sonic placed his board back under his feet motioning spike on and slowly taking off toward the tower. "I thought it was big from a distance but this is just...wow."

"Yep, Mobius Tower is the pride and joy of Metal City."

"Metal ci--"

"The city we're in."

"Oh."

"Took Tails and a whole army of construction workers about 2 years to complete it, and that was just the residential area honestly."

"Tails? Oh, Tails that yellow fox girl next to you in the commercial."

Sonic cringed at that obvious mistake. "Actually, he's a guy," he said nervously rubbing the back of his head.

Spike equally cringed at his own mistake. "Ooooh, sorry about that..."

"It's not all bad, he gets it all the time honestly. Anyway, we're coming up on the tower."

"How do you even get in there?"

"A gravity lift under the center of it. Although that's for the regular guest, we get up a different way."

"What do you mean?" Spike fearfully asked.

"Hold on."

"You didn't answer my questi--" Spike was cut off when Sonic tapped a button on a device strapped to his wrist. A strange small robot with a hole going through the majority of it appeared from the ground around the ower, 4 to be exact. They formed a ring in the air, holes facing horizontal as they began to revolve around their shape. Faster and faster they revolved, until finally, they shot off into the sky still revolving, a line of visible air trailing through their holes. "W-wait what are they doing?"

"Forming a turbulence trail," he replied as a long pipe of wind formed a path leading upward. "Like I said, hold on."

"W-we're not going there are we?"

"Yes we are!"

Oh, sweet Celestia... Spike thought as Sonic leaned forward into the long wind tunnel. It shot them upward like a rocket, spike closing his eyes as he felt the speed push against him. Higher and higher they went as time went on until it felt like Spike floating in the air. He opened his eyes to the sight of the tower just a mile under them, to which he cowered and hugged Sonic harder. "We are so high!" He screamed.

"Goin down!" Sonic replied as they quickly descended. The feeling of fear returned to him all too soon as they plummeted toward the tower roof. However Sonic seemed to be one step ahead as he aimed for a small opening in the roof. As he reached it, he quickly began to grind on an 85-degree rail which began to curve slowly into a 75-degree rail, then a 60, and then a horizontal 90-degree rail. As he continued to grind, two prongs popped out of the rail itself latching on to the board and beginning to slow down. "You can open your eyes now," Sonic uttered to the cowering Spike.

Spike popped one eye open, then the other. He frantically felt his body in distress but sighed when he realized he wasn't dead. "I will pay you anything to never do that again."

"Oh you'll be fine, it was a little wind."

"But how did you ride the wind like that, you don't have wings or a spell or something."

"I'm not that experienced in that department either, couldn't tell ya." The prongs finally released Sonic's board as it came to a stop at the end of the rail, a hatch just a few feet in front of them. "And inside we go," Sonic said opening the hatch and motioning him inside.

Spike climbed up himself as Sonic closed the hatch and leaned his board on a red couch. "Welcome to home sweet home."

Spike's eyes widened as he and Sonic appeared from a small hallway to right of a gigantic room. To the right of him was a gigantic window, the beautiful luminescent cityscape on the horizon. On his left was a gigantic living room with the red couch sonic had leaned board against atop a velvet carpet and the kitchen which lay just behind this room to left. On both sides of the couch were glass coffee tables while one wooden one lay in front of it. To the left and right of the center table were two smaller red chairs and hanging on the wall in front of all of this was a huge TV. In between the kitchen and living room were stairs leading to the obvious room of Team Sonic, blue for Sonic, yellow for Tails, and red for Knuckles. Spike let out an impressed whistle as he continued to examine the room. "Wow, Equestria's interior decorators got nothing on you guys."

Sonic let a chuckle. "Tails really like to design stuff, sometimes a bit too much, but it's always appreciated in the end. Since we were basically out all evening, you gotta be hungry again right?"

"I could eat sure, you got any gems?"

Sonic paused in confusion."Gems?"

"Yea Gems, sparkly and super pretty?"

"You eat...gems?" he said reaffirming his confusion. "That sounds like it hurts."

"No way, haven't you seen a dragon eat them before?"

"Not in this world no, that usually is not the best thing to put in your stomach."

"Right right different world I forgot."

"Well I don't own any gems but you wanna try one of my world-famous chili dogs?"

"W-wait that meat I ate earlier was a dog?!"

"No no no, not real dogs."

"I don't see how you guys can stand eating meat, isn't it like...cannibalism?"

"Well see, there are animals in this world that we use to survive in the form of cows, pigs, and chickens. The difference is that they're feral, not walking and talking like us."

"Ugh, it still doesn't sit right with me...but it did smell really good so...I guess I'll try one."

"Trust me you won't be disappointed, give me ten minutes and I'll blow your mind."

And just as Sonic said, Spike waited patiently for about ten minutes until Sonic appeared from the kitchen holding two plates with two strange concoctions on them. "I don't know how to respond to whatever these are...but once again," Spike said placing his hand of over his forehead overdramatically. "The smell is overpowering."

"That's the power of the chili dog," Sonic said returning the dramatism.

He placed one of the two plates on the coffee table next to Spike, then started chowing down himself. Spike tried to figure out what to do with this strange food, picking it up and staring at it in obviously strange ways. "Um...I...how do...just...How do I eat this thing?"

"So basically you just hold it like this long way facing you and you just get your mouth around it and take a bite simple."

"Um...this is awkward but...let's see here...um." Spike fumbled with chili dog for a second before taking one bite out of the chili dog. At first, the heat surprised him making his eyes water. "Oh Celestia, it's hot ow ow ow ow--oh, oh my..." he uttered as the taste began to set in. "That is...just downright amazing."

"Now you see why I'm such a fan of them, and that's only the ones I make. You want some real flavor then you gotta try this stand I know in Mobotropolis."

"Tastier than this?"

"Way tastier. Until then though, you want some more?"

"You have no idea," Spike uttered as he handed his plate to Sonic. Within a few hours, the front table was filled with dozens of plates containing the remains of Chili dogs. "So what do we do until tomorrow?"

"We can jam out on a couple of games."

"Like board games?" Spike asked.

"No way, video games."

"I literally have no idea what that is?"

Sonic sighed as he turned on the TV and handed Spike a strange controller. "We got a lot of work to do, first off Sonic Unleashed was my best role ever hands down."