Evening Run: Techno Cinema.
~~~

Birds graciously flew across the light yet cloudy sky and glided over a vast city below. In the centre stood a proud, triple tiered stone fountain with market stalls that stretched around it in a circle. Beyond that buildings scattered all around, occupied with countless of citizens that were busy with their days. There was friendly chatter, children's laughter and amicable greetings that swarmed the smooth dirt pavements. On the outskirt lay many houses built for the mobians in the city and beyond trees circled around, acting like a protective border. All were completely blissful as if war wasn't right at their door.

"So, you're the princess then?" A blue hoglet asked curiously.

A young chipmunk watched her reflection through the fountain water prior to splashing the green eyed newcomer with a giggle. She expectantly received a huff and glare, accompanied with a protruding tongue.

The young princess simply nodded. "Yuh huh!"

"So, you'll be the Queen one day?" A fuchsia pink hoglet tilted her head in curiosity.

The chipmunk focused back on the water. "Well no. My big brother will become King."

"Who that?" The last of the three, a young green hedgehog, scratched his head.

"Oh! Elias! Elias Acorn!"

"Can we meet him?" The oldest of the four asked.

"Absolutely! Th-though...not right now. Sorry. But he and Mother are busy."

"The Queen right? Doing...royally...queenly stuff."

Sally Acorn giggled and nodded to Olgilvie, who took to fiddling with his ear. "I wouldn't put it as queenly, but yes. I can ask about you three staying for dinner though!"

Sonia held Manic's hand with a smile. "That sounds like fun!"

"Okay! Let's get moving! There's so much to explore here!" Olgilvie rubbed his hands together with a grin.

Sally hopped off the edge of the fountain and rested her hands on hips, smirking. "If memory serves me right, your parents said you're quick, right?"

"You betcha!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Speed of Sound, right?"

The blue hoglet rubbed his nose. This was a challenge. "That's what Uncle Charles said."

"Well then Olgilvie! Show me what you can do! Supposedly." Sally teased.

"Piece of cake! You guys go on your boring tour. I'll meet up with ya before you can say chilli dogs!"

"You're so on!" The young princess immediately yelped afterwards and went to cover her eyes as the speedy hoglet blasted off, kicking up a storm of dust.

Whether it were the people, the smells, the buildings or the wide variations of flowers, Olgilvie found everything he laid eyes on more interesting than the last. Of course, Knothole had it's own greenery and citizens (or did) but none of it scratched up to the sight of Mobotropilis. Cream, marble walls, towering blue windows and foliage utilised for roofing definitely created far more stunning buildings than the wooden huts Knothole had (the former arguably more suitable for a time of war).

Not to mention the people, oh the people, who (despite Olgilvie not having much experience with yet) definitely seemed friendly and ready to lend a hand. Or perhaps that was just Vanilla and Sally. Either way, Mobotropilis was brilliant to explore. From the Market Place, what appeared to be a vast airfield to what was labelled the Civic Centre.

"Ah! There he is!" Sonia waved from the fountain beyond the aforementioned large public building.

"Hey guys!" Olgilvie greeted with a skid and snorted from blowing dust in the princess's face.

Sally coughed and stood, having sat crisscrossed on the grass previously. "Wow! You really are quick!"

"I told ya!"

"Sorry if I seem overly excited. I-I haven't seen many hedgehog's as fast as you."

The blue hoglet grinned and rubbed his nose. "Probably because there aren't that many."

The chipmunk giggled before gesturing to Manic and Sonia (the former who had taken to sitting on the ground).

"Your siblings here have been telling me about Knothole! It sounds wonderful!"

"Or sounded. There's not much left of it. Just dirt, dust and ash." The fuchsia pink hoglet loosely crossed her arms with a sigh.

Manic halted in picking the grass as his ears tilted backwards. "Me miss home."

"I'm sorry. This must be difficult." Sally went to hug the pair.

Olgilvie grinned and snapped his fingers. "Turn those frowns upside down! Don't worry guys! Dad's gonna fix this! And we'll help anyway we can!"

The chipmunk tilted her head. "You mean with the war? But there's not much we can do."

"Maybe not out on the field, but we can definitely do something here!"

"We can help Ma and Vanilla!" Sonia mused.

"Make people smile!" Manic clapped.

"See? It's not so bad. We have a home. And we'll get our old one back in no time!"

"And we'll save everyone in Knothole!" Sonia threw a fist towards the sky.

"Including your Uncle Charles." Sally nodded.

"Helping Dad!" Manic grinned.

Olgilvie ruffled his brothers head quills. "You bet your spines pal. Besides, we gotta show our friend Sally Knothole in it's full glory!"

The young princess smiled. "Friend?"

Sonia giggled. "Of course! You and Vanilla took us in! You've been so kind! You're definitely a friend!"

"Friend for life! Forever and ever and ever and ever!" Manic scrambled up to jump.

"Yay! You guys are definitely my friends too!" Sally hugged (or did her best) the three siblings.

"Okay okay." Olgilvie rolled his eyes. "What did Sonia and Manic say about Knothole anyway? I hope they didn't make it sound lame."

"Hey!"

"Of course not." Sally smirked and took to skipping, letting the three tail her.

"I heard you three have moved quite a bit."

"Yeah. Robotnik kinda has it out for our parents and uncle. We don't know much about that. But Knothole's our third home." Sonia replied.

"Third? Oh wow."

"Yeah. First Christmas Island. Don't remember much of that place. Then Green Hills. Aw man that place was sweet! Hoops and running tracks for days! If I ever get the chance, I'm definitely going back there! And then Knothole. Now we're here. Robuttnik sure likes to keep us moving." Olgilvie frowned, which soon diminished from Sally giggling.

"Sorry but, Ro...buttnik?"

"Funny name." Manic clapped with a laugh.

The blue hoglet grinned with a puffed out chest. "It just came to me. It's right there!"

"Oh brother." Sonia rolled her eyes. "Anyways, we were going to move here anyway. Dad and Uncle Charles have been requested by...by...GUN, I think, to help!"

"What's their deal anyway? We know they want to take Robotnik down." Olgilvie scratched his ear.

Sally looked over her shoulder at the three. "The man in charge of GUN has come to offer a deal with my Father. Military support or something. GUN's new. Sort of. You see, they have a...messy history. I'm not sure what that means but I do know they're trying to make things right. So, the obvious thing to do is defeat Robotnik. They'll look like heroes then. Their past forgotten. I believe they want my father to spread the word about them. This is what my Mother said to me and Elias anyway."

"What kind of messy past?" Sonia asked with a raised brow.

The princess shrugged and faced forward. "Beats me."

"Who in charge?" Manic's head cocked to the left.

"Oh! That I do know! Mother said his name is Commander Abraham Towers."