Sonic and Tails paced about in the spacious commanding headquarters (the bridge) of Celestia's ship. It has been a stressful half hour since Celestia passed out thanks to extreme fatigue and emotional distress. The couldn't just leave this vessel here to float aimlessly, so in the meantime Tails looked for any information about the ship and how to fly such a vessel. While Sonic on the other hand walked around aimlessly looking at the royal banners and the old technology.

There was nothing but silence and the steady, rhythmic creaking of the ship as it gently swayed. Sonic continued to walk around and fiddle with different equipment until he came across an unfamiliar emblem the back wall that bore a bright gold Pegasus with its massive wings outstretched and hooves pointing upwards, the elegant insignia was finished with a vivid, golden sun peeking from behind it. Sonic looked at the emblem with awe and his interest in the insignia bored it's beautiful vistage into Sonic's soul. Curiosity became king as he reached out a gloved hand and touched it. Upon contact the sun brightened and the wings of the emblem began to flap slowly until Sonic took his fingers off of it. Excitement and bewilderment shone brightly in his emerald green eyes. After a couple of minutes of staring he finally returned to Tails to see if he had found what he had been searching for... for the last half hour.

"Aha!" Exclaimed Tails, "I found an owner's manual!"

"Alright, Tails!" Sonic cheered, "Where was it?"

"In the glove box"

They looked at each other silently, hinting at the joke. Sonic shook his head slowly while grimacing at the writer's cheesy joke.

"Ahem... Anyways, the ship is the Loyal Trans-universal Galley constructed and disenthralled in Manehattan-" Tails started.

"You mean Manhattan?" Sonic interrupted, narrowing his eyes at the pronunciation.

"Nnnnope, it says it right here, Manehattan." Tails showed him the book. "See?"

Tails flipped through the voluminous book to find out how to return this massive vessel back home. Perhaps there was an autopilot option. Or at least a way for him to drive it, because obviously leaving these beings on this ship drifting in space alone just didn't seem ethical. Tails found the page that depicts how to operate the Galley, and to Tails's disappointment, it concluded the kitsune's fears.

"Huh…" Tails sighed and scratched his head, "Seems like the loyal galleon can only be powered by magic..." Tails trailed off. "And we don't know a lick of magic, and anyone who do is either dead or still unconscious." Tails sat the book down and leaned against the control module contemplating their current predicament. I am a man of science, am I seriously acknowledging that magic is real? Pfft!

"Well, there is one thing we could do..." Sonic said as his emerald eyes glinted in interest as he spied the F10 Tornado. He nodded towards the plane and initiated off a mischievous smirk.

Tails whimpered.

Meanwhile

"You sure it's secure?!" Tails yelled worriedly out to Sonic over the Super Tornado's powerful engines.

"For the THOUSANDTH TIME TAILS, I DID!" Sonic shouted back at him, more out of irritation of having to repeat himself than actually making himself audible over the Quaker engines.

Tails, who's ignoring his friend's tone, started pressing a few buttons to increase the power output, then slowly started to rev the throttle to increase thrust as he towed the HUGE galley behind him via a thick steel rope connecting the F10 to the Galley. The engines roared and the thrusters bellowed! Hot, long tongues of orange-red fire lapped around wildly. The rope made weird warping sounds when it was under tension, but it soon slowly eased as Tails got some momentum going.

"Off to Equestria..." Tails muttered unenthusiastically. He feared for his latest creation, under such stress was sure to kill his plane.

/ Break /

Vibrant, long and luscious rainbow colored hair whipped sharply in the wind as a magenta eyed woman flew in loops and barrels. She could hear the faint sounds of cheering through the loud, screaming wind that slapped against her face and funneled into her ears. She smiled and started to flap her strong, cyan wings harder and harder as she ascended like a missile into the air. She took a quick glance behind her at her audience on the ground. She relished the feeling of being so high up, her friends looked as though they were merely the tiniest specks of dust from this height.

She pushed on for a few hundred yards more before smirking, then turning around, and then allowing herself to freefall. She angled her wings so she could spin like a top. She aimed for clouds as she fell and she appreciated the moisture it provided to her hot body. After dropping for a while she launched downwards like a bolt with a powerful flap of her wings. She pumped her strong wings harder to increase speed as she descended. Her vision then then became blurry as tears streamed from her big, sparkling eyes from how furiously fast she was going. But it felt wonderful, and within a second she could see the familiar shape of compressed air forming around her in a cone- the ground was coming up fast, but she continued to press on, until...

BOOOM-CRACK

She breaks the sound barrier with her body which blessed the sky with a marvelous corona of the light spectrum. The light spectrum seemingly divided and flowed out of her as she soared away. She quickly pulled up at a sharp 90 degree angle and then rockets out above her audience with the rainbow trail chasing her like it was her shadow… and in a way, it was.

After a quick series of elegant loop-de-loops to decrease her kinetic energy, she lands amongst a group of girls who was clapping their hands and cheering for her speedy friend.

"That was wonderful!"

"Ah-mazing!"

"That was just perfect darling!"

"You still got it Rainbow Dash"

"OMGOMGYOUWASLIKESHOOOOSHANDTHENLIKEWHOOOOOSHANDAN DTHENYOUWASALLLIKEBOOOOOOM!"

Cheered verbosely by Twilight, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie respectfully.

"Awe geez, I only was doing it since I was a kid." Rainbow Dash boasted, "Thanks though!" she put up her thumb and smiled graciously.

/Later/

An earth looking planet soon came up to view and Tails switched off the intergalactic voyage system that was loaded with the coordinates to get to the planet that contained Princess Celestia's world. Tails flipped a couple of switches and the blurred vestiges of stars slowed as the Tail's ship showed down (basically the warp drive technology) Though they were going faster than light, it still took over a boring three hours to get there.

Sonic was fast asleep in an awkward position in the cockpit behind Tails. The kitsune knew he had to wake him up to inform him that they were now about to enter the strange planet's gravity pull and soon. Tails looked sleep deprived as bags shown under his eyes, but he shook his head sharply and tried to shake the sleepiness out of his head for he have a plane,...and ship to land...

Somehow...

Tails maneuvered the jet and ship in tow with finesse over and under the planet's rings. He observed with interest at the simple, old technology satellites that orbited the planet. Tails could discern a couple of radio satellites, some communication and navigational satellites, and even a reconnaissance satellite… but oddly enough not a single weather satellite. Back on Mobius there would at least be a dozen in a single ring of orbit- 50 others in the surrounding orbital rings- Tails knows this because half of them are his own.

Tails' plane made diagnostic after diagnostic tests as soon as they gotten close enough. Tails was absolutely astonished at the type of energy that surrounded the planet. It was like the energy he was accustomed to, electrons in movement, but this energy was different like a huge basin of energy made up the center, and the electrons were being manipulated to do all types of things unnaturally, but yet not in a specifically malevolent way either.

Eventually the plane reached the edge of the atmosphere and the tug of the gravity began to coax them in. The plane heated up monumentally as the metal surface blasted through the layers of the atmosphere. Tails expertly kept the plane steady despite the wings wanting to bend this way and that. As soon as the ground was in view Tails maneuvered the jet it as if it were a spaceship; nose up and landing gear ready...

But the one thing that Tails haven't compensated for, surprisingly, was the ship in tow.

In a few seconds the gravity coupled with the higher momentum of the heavier ship took over of the much larger and heavier ship behind the F10 that had no thrusters to slow the declension rate. With all the bumping and shaking the Super Tornado did Sonic woke up to a surprise; the interior of the cockpit was painted red due to the red hot metal panels and the glowing glass above their heads.

"See, I told you that you could do it buddy!" Sonic said proudly as he kicked back and laid his head on top of his hands.

Slowly a large shadow was cast over the cockpit of the Super Tornado like a lunar eclipse. Sonic's sharp eyes noticed it first since Tails was too busy looking for a safe place to land or at hopefully an airport, if this world even have one.

"Umm Tails..."

"Not now Sonic, kind of busy."

The sounds of the thick steel braided rope warping as the rope began to stretch further than it was suppose to be permeated the cabin of the plane.

"Tails..." a tiny hint of desperation was now present in his voice.

poingggg-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP

The sounds of the smaller parts of the rope snapping scared Sonic even more.

"Hold up..."Tails replied stressfully through his gritted teeth. The ground and its geographical features were clearly visible now and he slowed the jet down even more.

Bad move.

The gigantic ship that have been free falling behind the Super Tornado finally caught up and passed over the decelerating F10. The occupants of the Super Tornado were lurched sharply out of their seats as the Celestial Galleon blundered ahead of them, now dragging them along like a stubborn fish. The plane's A.I began to alert the occupants of the imminent crash.

The F10 was flat upside down underneath the bottom hull of the Celestial Galleon. To their indefatigable demise they witnessed firsthand that the unforgiving ground was coming up fast. Tails and Sonic hollered in panic and consternation as they became horrified to the point of almost soiling themselves because they saw no way out of their predicament. Tails struggled to get back in his seat to detach the steel cables connecting the ship to the F10. The main computer kept running diagnostics and was keeping up with the deceleration rate of the jet and started to warn Tails that if they didn't slow down , they'll hit the ground with the force of over 1,200,000 newton's of force; a fancy saying meaning that they will be utterly crushed.

* Impact in 8 *

Tails, now sweating salty bullets and shaking like a freezing puppy, frantically reached for the lever underneath the dashboard that disconnected the cables, but to no avail. Tails strained against the merciless g-forces and gritted his teeth as he reached for the lever again.

*Impact in 7*

Sonic curled up in a ball and spun with all his might to cut through Tails's highly resilient glass windows on the cockpit. "Dang it!" spat Sonic as he unhardened his quills from spinning. Sonic charged up his light speed attack, but due to the uneven shakiness of the ship, and the lack of concentration, Sonic merely bounced from his seat to the cockpit windows like a ping-pong ball before coming to a painful rest on the seat in the scorpion position. Sonic groaned in agony.

*Impact in 3*

Tails made a final desperate attempt to grasp his goal and he finally reached the lever and pulled it hard, hurting his arm in the process, but disconnecting the lines finally. Immediately he punched a big red emergency button with his fist. Mechanical clicking sounds were heard as the exhaust nozzles opened up all the way which was then followed by a loud bang erupting from the back of the jet as the afterburners kicked in all it had, which propelled the F10, and its occupants, from certain doom.

/Break/

The six friends walked into Sugarcube Corner (and patio) to have lunch and spend time with each other on this fine, sunny afternoon. They conversed about mornings and what they had planned later. They talked for an hour full of Twilight's princess duties, Applejack's farm duties, Pinkie Pie rambled on about a rowdy customer that came in this morning that she had to chase out by a rain of spicy cupcakes (surely the most outlandish of the news shared). Rarity on the other hand expounded on her new role as venue planner for the next Gala, while Fluttershy talked about her new business on adopting pets. Rainbow Dash, however, was bored of it. All of it. Except maybe the cupcake artillery under the aegis of Pinkie Pie. Everything is the same just about every day. And there wasn't really anything different about the passing days, and she was getting blasé.

A muffled sound pierced Rainbow Dash's ears as she sat there fiddling with her cellphone. What was that…? A muffled roaring sound? She concluded in her head. "A sound of air rushing out of the way of something really big falling out of the sky..." she hypothesized silently.

AHA.

"What was that Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

"Celestia must be back from her expedition!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Wha-?" Twilight says looking at Rainbow Dash in confusion, "The princesses aren't due back for another day or two…"

"OOH, maybe she wanted to SUUURRPRISE us!" Pinkie enthusiastically proclaimed.

They got quiet for a second, too hearing something falling out the sky, and ridiculously fast. They looked at each other in worry before getting up and briskly walked outside to feed their curiosity.

There it was, in plain sight as a sore thumb, or an elephant at the movies, or a try hard, Celestia's magnificent, royal galleon was blundering straight towards the ground. The huge galleon blocked out the sun briefly before it continued its fall, soaring straight over Ponyville. But something wasn't right, obviously, and that fact is the ship wasn't slowing down at all. Anyone with a brain would have known that they were too close to the ground to be going this fast. Whoever that was brave enough to watch a giant fall observed the event apprehensively awaiting the colossal impact. Hundreds of onlookers screamed in panic as they saw the vessel that was held as a symbol of Equestria and Beyond fall to it's doom.

Without warning, and just before the ship hit the ground a smaller object under the ship exploded out from under it with intense force. Like a comet it soared away.

PEWWWW-FFFFFFFFFFFF!

CRASSHHHHHHHHBOOOOMM

As soon as the Celestial Galleon hit the ground everything in a twenty mile radius felt the colossal collision. The Celestial ship had hit the ground. Hard. Very hard. Rainbow Dash's own thoughts screamed around in her head. Why didn't the Royal Galley slow down? Where are the Princesses? Why did this happen? Rainbow Dash's ponderous mind spun a million miles per hour. She then thought back to that smaller plane like machine that sprang off of it like a flea. What was that tinier ship's role in this catastrophe? Was that tinier ship the reason? Her eyes started to narrow further as anger started to boil. As she thought more on the subject, the perpetrators of hijacking and crashing the Celestial Galley was the occupants of that tinier ship. Perhaps they were still on that ship… and if they get away there wouldn't ever be a chance for those hooligans to be tried and then committed for national offense.

With a golden mission in her heart, she spread her wings wide and flaps them powerfully, blasting off in a pulse of speed towards the smaller of the downed vessels.

/Break/

The F10 shot almost five miles away from the Celestial Galleon, though they were out of trouble of being obliterated, it didn't help that they soared upside down for the whole while. Tails tried his hardest to flip the plane right-side up, but the fins didn't budge. So they were stuck and had to face impact… Sonic and Tails curled up and braced for the unforgiving collision with the ground.

The F10 hit the callus ground with tremendous force, whiplashing the formal Freedom Fighters mercilessly and giving them a run for their money. Following the initial hit upon the ground the F10 bounced and tumbled along the ground like a car would if it were hit by a whale. The bright green carpet in the plane's wake was torn up and mulched into soggy mud. For a solid minute the jet tumbled like dice before it slowed and skidded among the soft grass until the grass transitioned to gravel, and then hard rocks.

When the harsh tumbling thankfully seized to a halt, Sonic and Tails picked their raggled bodies off the cockpit window. Tails thanked Sonic for protecting him during the relentless tussle by rolling into a ball with him. Sonic looked down at the ground through the compound glass of the cockpit. Relief washed over him as he assumed that nothing, not even that crazy tumble at over 400 mph, could ever shatter the glass of the cockpit. But that relief didn't last long at all as he could see tiny cracks forming in the glass. They became larger as they slid harshly on the sharp rocks.

Sonic's mind could only spell death as scenario after scenario of what would happen if the glass would shatter right then and now… Sonic stared in fearful abhorrence and tried desperately to get up on something to avoid the evident bloody accident that could happen if the glass were to give way on the heartless, grey rocks while he and Tails fumbled around on it. Especially since the damaged plane was still going at breakneck speeds.

Finally the F10 came to an ungracious stop against a massive, grey boulder. The hard impact sloshed the duo with an angry force, knocking them around the cockpit as though they were ragdolls. Sonic and Tails, in terrible pain, but alive, let out a loud sigh of relief. With the initial danger of death out of the way, Tails had more time to rest and think. Tails opened up his toolbox from under the control manifold and retrieved an electric wrench to remove some of the panels in the floor. After about 20 bolts dropped onto the glass below, they used their strong legs to kick the floor outwards so they can escape the death trap.

Once out of the Super Tornado they dusted themselves off. Their clothes all tattered and torn from the current day's predicaments.

Sonic staggered around on the hard rocks. He held held his abdomen tenderly in pain, his head was still spinning like a top, and his body was aching like all Hell. The setting sun blazed gently in his eyes as he lifted a gloved hand to shield its warm rays. Nice… this is a mighty mess we're in. He then turn back to his best friend Tails who was bent down, face twisted and whatnot, looking in distraught at his prized creation, the Super Tornado F10.

The prestigious jetplane was now tattered and bent out of shape in some places. The chassis was bent in an awkward position, warped from the mishap of towing of the mighty Celestial Ship. The cockpit windows and windshield was a tragic, cracked and chipped mess, three months of hardening and making that glass almost invulnerable, in the trash. The engine was making a weird popping sound from being overstressed and it was leaking dark oil like blood. "...blown gaskets and blown out pistons..." Sonic could hear Tails moan in woe.

The Blue Blur decided to let him have some alone time while the blue hedgehog thought about where they could find civilization. Sonic then turned away and decided to walk around to get a better view of where they were. Rolling, majestic green hills painted the land around him. Further into the distance a mountainous mountain sat grand against the sky. And on that mountain, if Sonic's eyes were not playing tricks on him, "A castle maybe?" Sonic asked himself pondering.

"Great... Royalty…" Sonic muttered sarcastically.

The Blue Blur jogged to a nearby hill and looked out to the sea to his left and then to the miles and miles of rolling green hills to the right. The afternoon sky was lit with blazing orange and the clouds above had orange and indigo dancing in it's surface. Sonic relished the cool, salty breeze that flew in from over the sea. "Well, besides all the killing, the crashing, and the pain, today seems to be turning out in our favor for once." Sonic smiled as he took a deep breath of the cool air. "Matter fact, if I weren't so sore, I would explore this land while enjoying a nice ole run." Those on the Celestial Galleon! "Oh right, darn, I totally forgot!"

Sonic jogged down the hill and then ventured back to where he last seen Tails. Wait… Where was he?

Tails was no longer sulking beside his masterpiece, but what was even more bemusing was that there was no sign of his furry friend anywhere. "Tails?!" The Blue blur yelled out worriedly for his buddy. Sonic jogged quicker towards the wreckage and looked into the twisted cabin of metal. Sonic stumbled a bit, clearly his body was starting to grow weary of exhaustion. His head felt dizzy, his body ached, and fatigue started to take over.

Then out of seemingly nowhere Sonic catches a familiar screech on the wind.

"RUN SONIC!" Tails high pitched alarm rang out in Sonic's ears. Sonic didn't immediately take heed to his warning just yet. He balled up his fist and looked up questionably. The sound had came from above me, but now it seems as though it's been lost... Sonic focused and pricked his ears to pick up the softest sound… For a couple of seconds he heard nothing but the soft breeze in his ears, then finally he heard it. A soft flapping sound resonated in his ears and he turn his head sharply to the source of the sound. And there it was. In shock Sonic shot off in his trademark boost and ran, as fast as he could, away from his pursuer.

/Break/

Rainbow Dash pumped her cyan wings harder until she reached the destination of the downed plane. The cyan pegasus flew until she came up to a wide, and long river of mud that must've been churned up by something big sliding on it. She frowned at the dirty mud and how the beautiful landscape have been tarnished by the alien's presence. She looked down the path of destruction before blasting off towards the downed plane.

She flew what felt like forever down the muddy pathway before finally spotting the wreckage of metal. There it was, resting against a large, scraggly boulder among the rocky expansion of the meadows on the edge of Equestria. She almost dived towards the plane, but before she could RD observed two figures stumbling out of the metallic contraption and walking around clumsily for a few moments.

"These must be Celestia's attackers..." She assumed silently to herself. She thought about what her next action should be.

Rainbow Dash thought up an ingenious plan as she flew above the low hanging afternoon clouds, rolling in from the ocean, heavy with rain water, ready to drop its soaking load.

She maneuvered in closer as the blue guy started to walk away from the shorter orange furred kid as the latter stayed crouched over the destroyed craft. She thought quickly hmmm, maybe I can catch these no good evil-doers myself, and then bring them to Canterlot Court to be executed for their crimes. She smiled heroically to herself thinking she's doing the right thing.

The "Orange Furred" kid with the big ears seemed to be muttering something to himself about his plane with his eyes cast down. Perfect. She then waited for the blue guy to walk well away from his companion as he processed the land around him. It's like they want my plan to work!

"Here's my chance." Rainbow Dash dived in quietly and quickly snatching Big-Eared kid up like a rag doll. She covered his mouth tightly to prevent any sound that dared to come from him as his eyes stared up at her utterly flabbergasted. He screamed in her hand. His big, baby-blue, pleading eyes were begging to be released. "Keep still vermin!" After a bout of struggling he finally managed to loosen her strong grip on his mouth just enough to quickly bite her with his sharp incisors, in turn giving him the clear opportunity to shout out someone's name. And he did.

"RUN SONIC!" He screams to the top of his lungs, his voice cracking rather cutesy, but Rainbow Dash didn't have time to think about that now.

Rainbow snorted in frustration as he alerted his companion, ruining her stealthy capture. She then sucker punched him hard on the side of his head by the temple thus knocking him out. Tails hung in her arms limply as she trailed lower to the ground and dropped him. "I'm coming back for you later punk." Rainbow Dash growled in anger while shaking her hand friskily. The bite mark was rather deep, and it hurts to flex her hand now.

Now for the next one.

She flew quickly back to the jet and saw the spiky-, quilled-, furred-, blue guy looking around, clearly at high alert. RD moved her position behind him and took her chance. With a great burst of speed Rainbow Dash blasted through the clouds, sending a flurry of water droplets to chase her. The blue furred rodent looking thing looked dead at her with causing the blue character to look straight at her. His eyes grew wide and his demeanor changed from cautious to apprehensive, and fatigue obviously forgotten as he then turned on a dime and took off like a missile.

And the chase commences.

/Break/

Celestia's light magenta eyes lazily fluttered open. She felt as though she had just awoken from a deep sleep. She blinks a couple of times as her eyes cruised over the familiar faces and scenery and she remembers where she is. She pulled her arm up to look her hand through half-lidded, tired eyes. What in the world happened… She spied tubes of liquid being pumped into her on her arm and various wires being connected as she tried to think about what was going on.

Princess Celestia and her sister was laid side by side as the most talented nurses and doctors channeled their magic and dripped medicines into from IV's into the Sisters of Royalty, sustaining them as they recover from the catastrophic episodes of today's story. Celestia closed her eyes again and covered her face with her hands as she reviewed the recent happenings.

Reminisce.

Celestia's ears started to pop as soon as she regains consciousness and opened her eyes. Terror instantly took her as she lifted her head up and was instantly pushed back down by the extreme forces of the howling wind pushing her down. "WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON!?" she screamed in her head. The vast, dark space above her started to disappear as it became filled in with a dark blue, then a lighter blue, and then later a much lighter blue. In that very terrifying moment she realized that she, the ship and her crewmates, was falling.

Celestia struggled over to her sister trying desperately to wake her up, but the Princess of the Moon remained unconscious. With an exasperated huff of irritation and anxiety she moved clumsily to the bulwarks and peered over portside to find something that amazed her: the two creatures she met before that had saved her crewmates, her sister, and herself from Doctor Eggman were towing her Mighty Celestial Galley behind their plane. Suddenly their jet began to slow down and soon she could no longer see the jet, and so she started to worry for boys. Celestia charged magic around her horn and was just about to use her magic to teleport them out from under the Celestial Galleon, but she then looked back at her crew.

The ground was coming up terribly fast and she had a choice to make and quickly: save the saviors that saved her and your crew, or save the trustworthy, fellow shipmates who're also the citizens of her Republic. She flinched as she made up her mind. Sorrow hit her heart as she thought about the danger the two may be in under the ship, but she couldn't just leave her crewmates and sister. So she looked around at her crew and summoned as much magic as she could from her already fatigued state. She mustered all she could before embellishing her whole crew and herself in her magical, majestic, light-gold embrace, and then teleported them all with a magical 'pop' just as she heard a mighty explosion from under her ship.

Farewell, you goodhearted boys. I promise that my great land of Equestria would hear of your good deeds. Forever shall you both be in our storybooks.

That's the last thing she remembered leading up to now. She slowly removed her hands off her face and held out a hand indicating dismissal for the doctors to leave her be. Celestia then remembered the two boys that risked their very lives, and then gave it [their lives] to save her crew, her sister, and herself.

"I thank you Sonic the Hedgehog, and Tails. Thank you."

/Break/

Sonic's custom power shoes became a red and white blur underneath him as he ran cautiously, yet swiftly over the rocky gravel beneath his feet. Sonic felt frustrated that he couldn't shake his pursuant who tailed him like a shadow, thanks to the loose soil of course. Sonic took a quick glance behind him and saw something that struck him in awe, and a little bit frustration, and also a little bit of confusion: a female with rainbow hair that billowed behind her like a flag. Her skin, or fur rather, was cyan. She had wings and,... Oh my gosh, she is going to catch me!

"Come on, come on..." Sonic muttered underneath his breath. He could feel the angry presence of the rainbow haired girl as she closed in on him. Sonic's ego felt a bit threatened as he couldn't believe she was getting this close to him. Sonic felt his balance stagger for a split second as his foot slipped on the gravel when he tried to speed up. Sonic huffed in frustration, but soon his wishes were about to come true as he saw the rocky soil begin to transition to grass, and a flat strip of land was coming up fast. The furious flapping of her wings echoed in his ears, as he felt her get even closer. (They're both busting about 150 mph)

And the rocky soil ends.

"Yes…!"

The second Sonic's shoes touched the flat, grassy land he took off like a rocket immediately. A blue blur was left in his vistage as he clocked in over 500 miles per hour. "You're too slow!" He mocked as he sped away from her, almost disappearing from her sight.

/

Rainbow Dash's mouth almost dropped as he managed to leave her in such a short amount of time. "What the hay?!" The spectra haired pegasus exclaimed in shock. "Ugh! I just almost had him too!" She then shook her head to rid it of the feelings of dissatisfaction, and instead her face washed with determination. Her magenta eyes were dipped in valor as they locked onto Sonic as if he was a delectable mouse and that she was a ravenous hawk.

Perseverance painted her face as she began to increase speed too. Her lungs heaved as she blasted after him, her wings flapping as quick as a hummingbird's would. Within a few moments she nearly caught back up to him. "Who you calling slow, Rat?!" She retorted back at him from his earlier comment. He looked back at her obviously astonished. She smirked at him, but in that split second he smirked back at her with a prideful, challenging scoff that was almost a spitting image as hers. It was weird, and yet her soul wanted to capture him and get him executed, her body wanted to see just how fast he can be- that part of her that wanted to see how fast he was treated this pursuit as though it was a race… and she kinda liked it. BUT she have already decided that he was the cause of her princess's demise.

/

Sonic refused to give her any gratification of letting her EVEN think she is anything as fast as he is.

As if it were a give from the Gods, the flat land began to slope off into a slight decline, and this geological treat brought a cocky smirk upon Sonic's face. He turned around once more, but this time all the way around so that he was facing her and running backwards. "I'd hate to leave you like this but..." He stuck his thumbs up and winked at her and whispered, "I gotta go fast…" And with those last words he pivoted back around and boosted away leaving a bright aura of blue behind him; hitting just under the speed of sound.

Wind howled like wolves in his ears as he neared the speed of sound. Sonic was determined to leave his pursuer in the dust for good, so he kicked in his figure-8 running technique and the air compressed around him in a white, puffy flurry of condensation that then evolved into a cone as he ran on the edge of the speed of sound.

BOOOOM

Sonic body shuddered in pleasure as he felt the sound barrier collapse around his body. He smiled as he looked back and saw that his pursuer couldn't keep up. Figures. Sonic felt euphoric as the wind howled to get out of his way. Sonic peeked back again and with a confused twinkle in his eye her saw the low, dark, late-afternoon clouds dispersed due to a magnificent, rainbow colored pulse. The spectrum of light spread in the sky perpendicular to the ground, and the color danced away like a gentle fire. The sight was beautiful, and to admire it Sonic unwittingly slowed down. Just as he was wondering where it came from- he then heard it.

The spectrum of light...

1 Mississippi... 2 Mississippi… 3 Mississippi… 4 Mississippi… 5 Mississippi… 6 Mississippi…

BOOOOOM

6 miles…

Sonic put two and two together and was horrified by his assumption.

"DID THAT FLYING CHICK JUST BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER?! WAS THAT HER?! "

Then it hit him. "It" being a fist.

The rainbow haired chick knocked Sonic high up into the air with a powerful uppercut. He tumbled clumsily in the air for a few utterly bewildering seconds before he righted himself. Sonic soared through the air with shock planted on his face as he planned his next move. Sonic narrowed his eyes as the Rainbow Hair girl sped back towards him. He timed his attack, and once she drew close enough he curled into a ball and home attacked her right in the face. She spun out in the air momentarily, obviously NOTseeing that move coming.

She growled in anger and shot towards him again. Sonic then attempted to do his home attack again, but Rainbow Dash wasn't having it. As soon as he pounced towards her as a ball of fury, Rainbow Dash splayed her wings out to halt her speed, and then with a quick move she spun around and kicked Sonic higher into the air like a soccer ball. A very spiky soccer ball.

"Admit your defeat, Rat!" She yelled out to him, her voice cracked with stress, and her eyes was filled to the brim with anger, "For harming the Princesses you, will, PAY!"

Sonic, who's still shooting upwards due to Rainbow Dash kicking him like a dodgeball, narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What?" He said gawking at her. "I haven't hurt the princesses! I don't even know what you're talking about!"

He twisted his body widely trying to locate the Celestial Ship. Finally he spotted it about 20 miles due south west of him. He looked back at Rainbow Dash whom had a balled up fist and barreling straight towards him at lightning speed. Sonic thought quickly as he, still in the air, spun furiously at an angle just before Rainbow hit him with solid, flying punch.

Sonic spun through the air and due to his angle of spinning he shot straight towards Celestia's ship in a blue blur. Once the ship was in a straight shot Sonic uncurled his body, and in a superman pose, he continued to soar towards the downed Galleon.

When Sonic finally reached the ship and he landed hard on his feet, his shoes kicking up a cloud of dust and splinters. Sonic's vision went blurry for a moment. Yeah, i'm going to have to find some way to prove to this psycho chick that I'm the hero here, not the villain. He looked around on the large deck, but to his disbelief no one was there. There wasn't even a single sign of life on the destroyed ship. Sonic looked around for at least a blood drop, but he found none. "Oh come on…"

Then everything was black.

The next moment Sonic was knocked out, head busted through the incredibly thick Mahogany woods of the deck.

Courtesy of Rainbow Dash.

/Break/

Rainbow Dash flew through Ponyville on her way to Canterlot telling everypony that she has caught the alleged persecutors, and that she would be bringing them to justice at Canterlot court. She flew through the town with her head raised high as though she just saved the world.

Just about everypony from Ponyville to Canterlot has already heard of the news that the Celestial Galleon had fell from the sky two days before it was scheduled to arrive. Matter of fact thousands of people witnessed the mighty ship fall from the sky. People had crowded around Ponyville when they heard that Rainbow Dash has stepped in to investigate. No one, even her friends, would had ever guessed that she would be bringing back convicts. When she arrived back to Ponyville she presented her prizes; the spiky-cocky-rat and the whiny-bitey fox, names thanks to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash had already spread her epic lore of her heroic capture to everyone, and like seeds thrown to mice, everyone ate it up. People from all over chanted her name in praise and ushered her to the capitol; Canterlot. People all over swarmed to draw caricatures and pictures of the two aliens and then writ a story of a pirate in their tarnished name. Influenced by the falsehood of Rainbow Dash's story, people resented the two convicts and followed Rainbow Dash onwards to Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash zoomed towards Canterlot with Tails and Sonic, totally ignoring her friends when they tried to question what exactly was going on. The only thing that mattered at the moment was that she has the criminals of the "Celestial Ship Heist" in her custody for robbery and possibly murderer. Sonic was being held firmly by one of his skinny arms, and Tails by both of his big, fluffy tails as they both hanged limply in her strong grasp. Once in Canterlot the cyan pegasus flew straight towards the center of the massive, grand city to where the Royal Court was located.

There was an enormous crowd blocking the Herculean, golden doors that closed the court off from the public, especially since it was night time. The citizens that were eager to see the aliens tried were being blocked entrance by the Royal Guards by the use of their big steel and silver shields. Rainbow Dash flew slowly (on purpose) above the crowd towards the ginormous double doors of the court. Many people looked up and saw the two captured males and started to point and cheer. At this Rainbow Dash smiled heroically.

With the executive powers that Twilight possess she and her party, her friends, was allowed into the court.

Once inside the marvelous building, Rainbow Dash carelessly drops her "catch of the day" onto the magnificent marble and polished granite floors. As she did the court keeper turned from talking to some advisors and put his small, judging gaze on RD.

"Uh, lady you're not allowed to be here-" he stopped mid-sentence realizing she had the rumored accused criminals in her possession. "You got them...I'll go fetch the princesses!" He said, scampering off towards a golden-guild staircase, which led to a massive, larger-than-life door.

"That's what I thought" Rainbow dash huffed in annoyance.

Rainbow Dash's friends stood behind their speedy friend with a slightly confused expression on their faces. The justice hungry crowd started to pour in after them, eager to hear the hearing of the accused aliens. Many foul-mouth jeers and insults were shot at the two in custody as the crowd grew in size in the massive courtroom.

/

Consciousness slowly came to Sonic as his head throbbed in pain and slowly his senses started to flood back to him. He started to feel the cold, polished ground beneath his sore body. What is this, rock, marble maybe? Either way the smooth, cool surface felt good as it numbed the pain that resided all under his fur. His ears twitched as voices of many different people pounded against his eardrums; their verbose yapping hexing his head even more. Finally he started to open his eyes wide, only for him to shrink back and narrow them as light flooded his retinas, causing even more pain to his head.

He shook his head as he began to push his sore body off the cool ground to examine his surroundings. After several seconds of staring around, eyes going in and out of focus, and mind throbbing pain, Sonic began to get some sort of prehension of what was going on. Whipping his head from side to side in full alert, Sonic concluded that he was in some sort of large commons. There was not a single seat in sight besides two heavily decorated thrones. These heavily decorated thrones sat dignified on a raised, glorious platform that overlooked the whole room.

As Sonic's sore eyes scanned the room he noticed just how royal the room was. Every surface shone like diamonds and every breath Sonic took in smelt of incense. The polished marble walls were full of beautiful, intricate stained glass windows, allowing the moonlight to travel softly through its medium, pouring a glorious array of color with the moon's silvery grace on the magnificent marble floor. The room was lit by fire encompassed in glass, and the glass was being held by a golden vase. For being such a huge place, the fire lit the room very well.

There were people all behind him. The guards held them back peacefully as they yelled for his conviction and sent daggers from their eyes, their eyes pointing directly right at Sonic and his still knocked out companion.

Sonic began to rise higher and stood unsteadily. Sonic shook his head as he found himself rocking on his two feet. Pain shot through his body, but he tried to ignored it. Darn… what in the hell happened to me? Then he remembered. That Rainbow Haired chick. Sonic looked around trying to locate his capturer. He felt slight resentment for the spectra haired female for knocking him out, but he hated that she could keep up with him even more. Sonic turned around and spotted her. There she was, standing proudly among a group colorful haired females.

Color, so much color.

/

"Rainbow Dash, are you sure these are the guys that captured the Celestial ship and hurt the princesses?" Twilight inquired, this being the 5th time she asked her friend, hopefully this time she'll get a smart answer. Twilight eyed them both, processing info just about the blue fellow. She remembered Rainbow Dash mentioning that he had incredible speed, and if he did it didn't make sense that he would just stand there. Certainly someone who could run at the speed of sound would escape at the first chance right? "He doesn't seem dangerous at all, just confused."

"Well duh!" She looked slightly offended that one of her best friends kept questioning her about it. "Of course they're the scumbags who did it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed stubbornly keeping to her word. "For an Egghead you aren't too bright…" She added, muttering under her breath and turning her head.

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

Applejack and Rarity said nothing as they both stood arms crossed listening absentmindedly to the ongoing argument of Twilight's and Rainbow's. They both looked around the room, they've only been here a couple of times and the sight is breathtaking as ever. This, if they were ordinary citizens of the Republic, would be the closest they would be able to get to the Princesses. They had a privilege unseen of for thousands of years. Another thing that haven't been in this court in a thousand years is someone being tried for allegedly trying to destroy the Celestial Galley, hurt the Princesses, and or kidnap the sisters of royalty. The blue and orange furred guys was making history today.

"An orange fox? A blue hedgehog? I have never seen such animals- er, people like them stand on two feet before." Rarity commented to AJ. Applejack nodded in agreement. Fluttershy was sitting on the floor crisscrossed also eyeing the two aliens. Her eyes instantly graced upon the the orange furred boy as soon as he began to stir.

"They aren't guilty." The calm Fluttershy muttered under her breath.

Fluttershy couldn't see the two figures, the blue hedgehog now helping his companion to stand, to be guilty of what Rainbow Dash said there were. They seemed hurt, lost, and confused. They haven't made the slightest movement to escape. They haven't seen like a threat to her in the littlest bit. What do Rainbow Dash see that she can't?

"...Besides! When the princesses get here we'll find out their punishment soon enough." Rainbow Dash finished her argument to Twilight as the purple one walked away from her dismissing herself from the conversation. Twilight obviously just found out that she was getting nowhere with her friend.

As soon as her words left Rainbow Dash's mouth Shining Armor, the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, and Twilight's brother, including a pair of elite guards made an entrance out of the massive door that Dashie witnessed the court keeper disappear to. The Princesses, still in their torn and dingy suits, but walking strongly, followed them and made their way steadily to their raised platform.

They both seem very tired; Luna wore a serious and strong face in attempt to hide her exhaustion. Celestia's eyes were dull, but her face was straight, and her chin was up. Despite the soreness her mind felt, she was keen on keeping her noble character. One thing was certain though, when looking at them, they both seemed as though they didn't want to be bothered, especially since court hours have long gone by, but since it was deemed an emergency by the holders of the Elements of Harmony the Sisters of Royalty accepted their beacon.

/

Sonic and Tails faced the two Princesses. After what Sonic had told his buddy about what was going on he wore a confused face that needed answers. 'What do you mean we're going to be executed?' Tails had asked him just minutes before when Sonic passed on the news. Sonic's face was painted in resolve as he boldly ignored the taunts and threats the people behind him were slinging at him and Tails.

Just then the Rainbow Haired chick flew quickly in front of Sonic and Tails, her excited face turned proudly at the the princesses. She then cast a stone-cold glare back at Sonic, full of hatred, but she composed herself and returned her heroic gaze back at the Princesses.

Celestia spread her prodigious, cream-white wings outward to silence the crowd. Her movements were slow and delicate. Truly loyal to the Princess, everyone piped down, and soon there was not a further sound made in the court as it quickly slipped in silence. Celestia led the way ahead of her sister to the center of the court where Sonic and Tails was located, the elites and Shining followed closely behind, spears at arms.

As they approached the two boys that saved her and her crew, Princess Celestia began to curiously take note on the things around her. Her eyes studied Rainbow Dash, then to Sonic, then to the angry crowd of civilians, and then a poster coined by the CMC that had Sonic's and Tails' caricatures in ink. The posters were labeled "MURDERER" or "EVIL" at the top in bold. With tiredness and stress lining her pale magenta eyes, Princess Celestia wanted to sigh out exasperatedly. But of course, her status required a clean head and demeanor.

As Celestia got within 6 feet to Sonic she withdrew her beautiful saber from its sheath with her right hand. In a silky-smooth motion the crisp, shining blade became exposed to the warm light that filled the room. Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up as she assumed justice was about to be served. The rest of the Mane-Six also watched on intentionally, stomach in knots as they came to a conclusion that this must've be an misunderstanding. Was Celestia really going to execute them two? Her job is to her kingdom, and her kingdom wishes does become a priority if enough citizens wish it to. And since the conviction of the two boys seemed to be a priority of the time, she acted on it. The crowd started to get excited again and even a child could taste the anticipation in the air.

Celestia then abruptly struck the sharp end of the blade to the floor with graceful display of finesse and power. She looked at the two dearly, and in the next second she kneeled in front of Sonic and Tails. Her wings spread out as a symbol of honor as she bowed in front of them. Luna halfheartedly mimicked her big sister, clearly she do not bow to people beneath her likely.

Rainbow Dash was dumbfounded.

The crowd instantly grew silent.

And what seemed like a forever sentence to a silent purgatory, the two rulers of the great kingdom of Equestria stood back up. Celestia then sheathed her saber and put on a small smile.

"Thank you Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails, for saving my sister, as much of my crew as you could, and myself. Without your heroics and impeccable timing I'm almost certain we would have perished out there. I thank you." Celestia said strongly her voice echoing around the room.

"And I as well…" Luna spoke. Her eyes seemed to be glued to Sonic.

Like the rest of the crowd, and including Rainbow Dash, Sonic and Tails was in shock that the two most powerful women in this side of the universe had just bowed to them.

Rainbow Dash mouth was still agape and her magenta eyes couldn't been wider. "But, but, I thought they was the ones that wrecked your ship and injured you both?!" She cried trying to justify herself while avoiding the looks of everyone that thought she was right. Rainbow Dash felt embarrassment flood her whole body from her head to her toes. This was her time to possibly gain some power or at least be accepted into the Royal Guard, but now the Princesses are bowing to them?! Rainbow Dash couldn't believe this.

Luna looked to Celestia, and the latter nodded. Celestia then backed up as Luna stepped forward. The Princess of the Night took a deep breath, and in her old Canterlot voice to ensure that everyone could hear she reviewed everything that had happened during the trip from obtaining the artifact, the terrible interaction with the Egg warship, to the horrifying deaths and to the null gassing, and then finally to Sonic and Tails saving them. She was certain to make sure that she left out the part when she foolishly underestimated the Doctor.

After finishing the retelling of the story Twilight Sparkle spoke up, "So about this artifact, that was stolen by that evil Psychopath Eggman, if so what are we going to do to get it back?"

"Yes..." Princess Celestia replied softly. She looked down, then away. Princess Celestia felt the guilt of losing such a treasure and then putting her crew in the way of danger. The princess then shook her head to clear out the downputting thoughts. She then looked toward Shining Armor and did a quick nod. The Captain of the Royal Guard acknowledged the silent hint and ordered his men to usher all the civilians out of the court, thus leaving the Mane-Six and Sonic and Tails alone with the Princesses.

"Twilight, we will talk more later on about this pressing issue; but not now. My sister and I need to rest. Sonic and Tails are in our debt, and I will trust that you and your friends will treat them with your utmost hospitality." She flashed a stern look to Rainbow Dash, clearly disappointed in her unmindful actions. "Find them somewhere to sleep for the night. In two days, once my sister and I have rested, we'll talk about other matters."

Princess Celestia then looked to Rainbow Dash. "I expect more out of someone who desires to be a part of my detail." And without another word the two women in royalty exited out the room behind a large, golden door.

/

Sonic's appalled, shining eyes followed the princesses until they disappeared through the tall golden doorway. A million of thoughts flew around Sonic's mind like it were flies, bothering him with every thought. He then turned and focused his eyes on the colorful haired females behind him. One of whom looked back at him in particular eyeing him in indifference, her pride not letting her face the fact that she was wrong and drop it. But thankfully the others weren't so harsh.

Twilight Sparkle approached the pair of freedom fighters and did a quick courtesy bow to show her thankfulness that they have saved their princess, and most importantly her teacher. Twilight sparkle took the hand of Sonic and stood close, she had the look of utter graciousness. "Thank you so much, you are a hero in my eyes-" Twilight began.

Sonic smiled at her and nodded his head, but he interrupted. "It was Tails here that revived her using his nerdy technology." Sonic beamed proudly at his brother and gave him a smack on the back. The golden kitsune laughed, and soon found his hands encompassed by Twilights.

"So it was you then…" She stared dead into his eyes, and suddenly a tiny spark popped over her horn like a miniature firework display. "Thank you so much Tails." Twilight felt her gaze become almost tethered by the vulpine's tantalizing gaze. Tails on the other hand felt almost uncomfortable and flashed his gaze from Sonic to Twilight, and back again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I uh-" Twilight finally blinked and took a step back from the handsome fox. The rest then soon followed and greeted Sonic and Tails with kindness as they introducing themselves.

/

After a long two hour train ride back to Ponyville, they soon arrived in the town commons, talking amongst themselves. Twilight proudly talked about the land around and Sonic and Tails talked about their home planet and what they do. They all contributed in the conversation and soon becoming friends. All except Rainbow Dash who flew backwards with her back to everyone in a lounging position. Her arms were folded as she completely isolated her from the conversation entirely. Twilight noticed her friend's antisocial and rude behavior and so she fell back a bit from the crowd.

"Are you still upset that they weren't what they seemed?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash ignored this and turned her head away from Twi.

"Well I don't know, what do you think Twilight? I embarrassed myself in front of everypony thinking that I caught the most dangerous national criminals ever. I looked like a fool." Rainbow Dash growled dipping lower into her flying position, hiding her disappointment in herself. "I still think they're up to no good though..." She hissed under the table.

Twilight nodded at this, she twirled the hair in her bangs as she thought. "Mhmmm... Well, be that as it may, we still have to find living quarters for the two." She looked to Rainbow Dash sincerely. "And I thought you should let Sonic stay with you for a while-"

Rainbow's eyes stretched with disbelief and just when a startled retort began to form on the tip of her tongue Twilight interrupted swiftly. "SOOOO," Twilight emphasized quickly over Rainbow Dash's mumbling and stammering, "If he do try to hatch up a plan or cause any trouble, it'll be "Ponyville's Greatest Flyer" to capture him, and bring him to justice." Twilight knew her little psych out will make her more willing to consider it. Rainbow Dash frowned a bit but didn't complain as she thought about that sort of attention.

"Okay, I'll do it."