A blazing blue trail could be seen streaking from one hilltop to the next.

Above, another blue figure was watching that one.

This guy is fast. Maybe even faster than me.

The thought crossed over her mind before she even realised what she had been thinking. Indignantly she shook her head; she was the fastest! The fastest, the coolest; end of story… and yet she held a certain amount of respect and, okay, admiration to the Wonder Bolts. Granted, ever since that incident (the one which she dubbed "The Coolest Day in My Entire LIFE"), they had lost some of her respect, but the fact still stood that she still wanted to be one.

She also decided that she felt a bit of admiration for whomever it was streaking across Ponyville. Not many pegasi could fly that quickly; for most, the simple task of beating ones' wings quickly enough to attain such speeds was a challenge. Rainbow Dash had a natural talent, per say.

Intrigued, and curious, and perhaps even a little bit jealous, Rainbow Dash decided to follow the blue. For a while, she could keep up, but as soon as she would dip down to the earth to confront the fellow, it would dart away, something that both shocked and frustrated her. In fact, it left her far, far behind.

Sonic the Hedgehog was enjoying his run.

Zipping and dashing from hilltop to hilltop with the wind roaring wildly in his ears—the rush of adrenaline—it made him feel so free! There was nothing quite like it, and he was happy for whenever he could experience it, because freedom was unfortunately not something he had much of.

Sonic also had the odd feeling that he was being watched; followed, perhaps. He couldn't see, hear, or smell anyone, though, and his senses were naturally sharp (made even sharper by years of Freedom Fighting, as he called it), so he shrugged the feeling off.

Sonic's ears pricked; now he knew he was being watched. A female voice rang throughout the hilly clearing. Slightly apprehensive, the hedgehog skidded to a stop; dirt flew from his sides. His green eyes travelled to what seemed like the source of the sound.

"Whoa."
In front of him was a wildly-coloured pony with wings. It (she?) had a rainbow lightning bolt mark on its side. Sonic wondered what the symbol could possibly mean—Twilight had mentioned earlier that things called "Cutie Marks" on a pony's flank symbolized his or her talent.

Rainbow Dash?

"I finally caught up to you!" the pegasus pony panted triumphantly, lowering herself to the ground. She squinted at Sonic, and then took a startled leap backwards. "What the—what are you!?"

Expecting this question, Sonic answered, "A hedgehog… or—to be more accurate—Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive!"

This didn't have the expected, but dreaded effect.

No applause could be heard. No respect or even admiration could be seen. Instead, the pegasus flared angrily. In all honesty, Sonic was thankful—he loved attention, but he needed to find his friends.
The pegasus thrust her face at Sonic's, so that they were meeting eye-to-eye. Vehemence poisoned her every word. "I think you've got that wrong. I'm the fastest and coolest flier in all of Equestria!"

Sonic shrugged coolly, letting his arms fall limply to his sides. (The sheer nonchalance this guy was showing! thought Rainbow vehemently.)

"…and another thing!" continued Rainbow Dash after an uncomfortable silence. "There is no way you can be a hedgehog—you look nothing like one! Even I know that much! What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

This pony's got anger issues worse than Knuckles… actually, never mind.

Sonic interrupted, "Sheesh! Calm down…" Abruptly the pony subsided, although she still looked quite irate. "Look, I didn't mean to offend you. I say that to everyone; it's kinda my catchphrase… a pretty awesome one, if you ask me heh… anyways, are you Rainbow Dash?" He held out a hand.

The pony looked stunned for a moment, and then said slowly with suspicion lacing her words, "How do you know my name?"

Sonic winked. "I've heard of you before." He noticed Rainbow Dash smirk somewhat conceitedly as he shook her hoof.

"I still don't believe that you're a hedgehog, but I guess you're all right (for a weirdo)," said the pegasus, and then her steely gaze returned. "But I'm the fastest thing alive, got that?"
Her heart was pounding. She was the fastest one, right? The best! Yep, that was her. Concrete… but then again, he outran her. Wait, what?

"Well, there's only one way to find out, I guess. I'm kinda busy at the moment though." Sonic frowned, and tapped his foot. "I think we'd better go to your friend Twilight…"

"Uh, sure," Rainbow Dash said, only later realising the fact that this so-called hedgehog should not have known that she was friends with the princess. She began to sweat.

It was not often that Princess Celestia slept soundly. Moonlight from an open window at the top of the castle showered onto her sleeping form. The elder of the two princesses was sprawled out on a velvety red pillow, breathing sweet dreams.

Luna cautiously entered the room. She disliked waking her sister up, but it would be necessary. Her horn lit up and a feather danced around Celestia's nose.

Celestia shot straight up. "Achoo!" Rubbing her nose, she noticed her sister walking towards her with worry in her eyes, and said, "What is it, dear sister?"

Luna deposited a previously-read letter at the other pony's hooves. Her sister scanned the paper, and both their faces turned grim.

"I, too, saw this comet explode into ten pieces and flash green. I believe we are fortunate that it was only Miss Sparkle who spectacled this." Luna paused, evaluating her sister's reaction. "We must talk to her. Now would perhaps be the best time."

Celestia nodded, quickly grasping the urgency of the situation. "We leave at once." Calling the guards, she and Luna left the castle and made their way to Ponyville.

They really shouldn't have been racing. Sonic would never admit it.

"Hey, what's the big hold-up?" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings idly and smirked. "Am I too much?"

"No… I think I can hear someone…" Sonic trailed. His eyes widened once he recognised the voice. "Tails… and Scourge?"

Rarity sighed. It had to be over two hours since she had come upstairs, and she still hadn't found the urge to go and sleep in her warm, cosy bed… in her lovingly-sewn quilt… and dream of marriage…

Yes, Rarity, she urged herself. Go and think of the wonderful things that sleep brings. Stop staring up at the ceiling and tossing your head every so often. And for goodness' sake, quit talking to yourself!

Irately, she got up and threw off her quilt, with her normally beautifully-curled mane all frizzy. It was clear that she wasn't going to have any dreams tonight, so she decided that she may as well take a walk.

A walk… outside…

Rarity whimpered; her make-up was all messed up! It took ages alone to fix up her hair. To think her friends wondered why she took so much time taking care of herself. She ran to her vanity and began to fix up her hair. A lady had to keep up her good appearance at all times.

Waa! Sorry for the over-a-month-long wait… I tend to get sidetracked a lot… and I really wanted to make this chapter longer, but I can't think of ways to do that without taking from chapter four. It probably doesn't help that I can't think of anything to do with Rarity, and I'm scared that I wrote the speedy duo OOC.

Free reign to hate me…