The Hedgehog Prince

Come alive

 No one except Godfather Charles could have predicted what happened that dark, snowy December night, as the grandfather clock struck twelve. They say that during the midnight hour, strange things are known to happen, and this was certainly no exception. As that very clock finished chiming, a shower of golden dust was released from it, blanketing the room.

Despite it cascading down upon her, Sally slept undisturbed, but shrunk down to the size of the nutcracker beside her. When the dust settled in the room, there was a flash of light as the doll disappeared and was replaced by something entirely different. He wasn't quite back to a hedgehog, but not a nutcracker either.

Sonic gasped and coughed as if he almost drowned, before taking off Sally's handkerchief as he didn't need it anymore. He looked down at the chipmunk next to him with a soft smile, as she gently nuzzled into the hand on her cheek. "Don't worry, Princess. I will watch over you and make sure no one disturbs your slumber." Suddenly an army of robotic animals thundered into the room, seemingly from nowhere.

Determined not to let the intruders harm his sleeping beauty, Sonic leapt down and started running at top speed, turning the robots to smithereens as he ran past. The sound of metal hitting the ground was enough to stir Sally from her sleep, and was shocked to find the size of the sofa around her.

She crawled to the edge of the couch, her eyes widening when she saw the battle raging on in her family's parlor. In the middle of it all, there seemed to be a blue blur, smashing each of the robots as it went past. Once all of the intruders were taken care of, the blur stopped, and Sally gasped in surprise.

It was her nutcracker, she could clearly see him despite the distance between the two. She leaned forward to look closer, yelping out loud when she leaned too far and tumbled off the furniture. He saw her falling down, running quickly over to the couch and catching her just in time.

"Thanks, Sonic." She said when she was standing safely on the ground. "That is your name, right?" The nutcracker smirked at the question, nodding. "Pleasure to meet you properly, Sally." "My godfather told me about how you turned into a nutcracker, Robotnik was wrong to do that to you, as well as Fiona and Cyrox."

"Oh, right." Sonic said. "I don't remember much after I was transformed, it was kind of like I was underwater. Everything I heard was slightly muffled, and everything I saw was blurry. I do remember you patching me up though, when I was slammed into the wall. Thanks for that, by the way."

Sally blushed at his gratitude, Sonic was much more handsome and dashing now that he wasn't a nutcracker anymore. While it was true that he wasn't a hedgehog yet, his head was a bit smaller, and his features weren't nearly as sharp and angular. "You're welcome. Hey, do you know how I shrunk?"

"I'm not sure, but I do know of someone who can turn you back to normal. Her name is Amy Rose, the sugar plum fairy. She resides in the four realms, where I can take you if you'll just come with me." He said, extending a hand for her to take.

Sally nodded slowly. "Okay then, how will we get there, though? Do we need a way to get outside?" Sonic chuckled softly, scooping up Sally in his arms. "The only thing you need to do is picture what you love most about christmas in your mind's eye, and feel it in your heart." She nodded, and thought about waking up on Christmas morning, all warm and snuggly despite the cold, springing up from the covers once she realized what day it was.