Heaven on Earth

Chapter 12: Holy Shrine

Sonic scaled the tree flawlessly, emerald eyes glinting in the moonlight as he waited outside of Twilight's balcony.

He brushed aside the last of the autumn leaves, shivering at the reminder that winter would be coming soon.

In his hand, he clutched a meager bouquet of zinnias and sunflowers, accented by honeysuckle. The last of his garden flowers as fall turned to winter. They meant so much more though, and hopefully Twilight would see that.

"Blue Streak?" Her voice beckoned him.

Parting the leaves, he whispered, "I'm here. Is it safe to enter?"

"It's safe," Twilight assured him. Grinning, Sonic sprang from the tree onto the balcony like a flawless acrobat. He held out the flowers to her, a conversation beginning.

"You keep giving me flowers," Twilight chuckled as she took the bouquet. "I may need more vases."

"Well, these will be the last until spring." Sonic let a wide grin cross his face. "You know, flowers have a language all their own."

"Do they?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I usually study flowers for genetic makeup and science. Never as a language."

Sonic nodded. "Zinnias are endurance, lasting friendship, or goodness/remembrance. Sunflowers mean ambition. Honeysuckles mean pure happiness, prosperity, or faith in the future. But they can also mean sweetness or affection." A light blush dusted his muzzle.

"You're fluent in flowers. Who'd have guessed that the heroic prince of Kingdom Mobius speaks flowers?" Twilight giggled.

"It's not something I like to brag about," Sonic sheepishly answered.

"But you like bragging about everything else," Twilight quipped.

Sonic opened his mouth for a comeback, then snapped it shut. "Touché." He wiped his sneakers on the mat outside her balcony before stepping in. "So, are we experimenting tonight?"

Twilight shook her head. "I wish." She huffed as she sat at her desk. "Shining Armor was talking about how Mobians raided a supply depot on the border. Near Everfree." Her radiant purple eyes locked onto his emerald ones. "Were you part of that raid?"

Sonic shook his head. "I got sent out to Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace. They picked up a company of Badniks there. Eggman hasn't attacked that area since the Phantom Ruby war, so a Badnik company was enough to send me out." He smiled. "It wasn't terrible -- the zone's pretty, but I didn't find any evidence that suggested Eggman was there."

"Huh. And where do you think he went?" Twilight asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Eggman is wherever he decides to hunker down and hatch a scheme." He sat down on her bed. "So tell me about the depot raid." He already knew of how the Mobians had laid claim to weapons and ammunition. Real ammunition, like the bullets Shadow wielded. The bullets of Eggman's robots as they mowed down civilians.

And BAM! Sonic was back on the battlefield with Infinite's illusions and the Death Egg and shouting and blood, so much blood and pain and dear Chaos--

"Blue Streak?"

Her hands jolted Sonic back from memory as she caressed them. "Are you okay? You looked like you were having a panic attack."

Sonic took a deep breath. "Yes. I'm sorry. You were saying?"

Twilight's eyes glinted sadly. "Those Mobians killed eight Canterlots during the attack."

Sonic promptly embraced Twilight. "Oh, Poppy. Oh, Chaos. Who do we blame for this one?"