Chapter Text
"A princess movie?!"
Sonic nearly dropped his piping hot bag of popcorn, instead dropping his jaw. Maddie was beginning to explain to Tails what the movie was about, and how scary the scary parts were. When the hedgehog heard "princess" his attention was off the salt and onto his mom.
"I'm pretty sure everyone here is way too mature for that type of stuff."
Knuckles, keeping the dog away from the extremely enticing peanut butter turned to the hedgehog because they just had to put their two cents in.
"Mother explained the plot of the movie, while managing not to spoil it. We also checked expert reviews of the film and it passed with flying colors."
"Were those reviews written by babies?"
Sonic put down his popcorn and made his way towards the echidna.
"No, they were written by exp-"
Maddie stepped between the two, Tails awkwardly kicking his feet on the counter as his mama resolved the conflict before it started.
"Knuckles, hey. I'm done with the peanut butter, you can get your snacks now."
The echidna glared at Sonic but chose to ignore the hedgehog's attitude and instead collect their tub of raisins.
Sonic, in a last ditch effort to sway the opinion of his little brother, shot an accusing finger to the fox on the counter, who put his hands up in response.
"Tails, you've flown a plane. You've crashed a plane. And you're a grand total of eight years old. Don't you think you're way too cool for this movie? A princess movie that isn't even Disney?"
The fox seemed deep in thought (for about 7 seconds), weighing the pros and many, many cons of watching this movie. Obviously, he's going to be on the side of his awesome big brother!
————————————
He was not, in fact, on the side of his awesome big brother.
"Sonic, just because I've flown-"
"And crashed," Sonic interrupted.
"..and crashed a plane, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy an animated princess movie. Like you said, I'm only 8 years old and I think I deserve to act like a little kid while I have the chance!"
Maddie nodded, inconveniently on the side of the sweet darling baby boy of the house (Ozzie came second.) She picked up Tails under his arms and held him on her hip while she picked up the jar of peanut butter for their sliced apples. His mom handed the fox the jar and plate for him to hold while she washed the knife off.
"Yeah! I save little doggies' lives every day cause' I'm a full fledged veterinarian, baby. And I chose the 'silly princess TY-Y7 film'. Now get your popcorn and get on this couch."
"Mom, it's not even Disney!"
————————————
Sonic was still a little mad. But he was the only one not enjoying himself, surprisingly. He sat criss-cross applesauce on the ground, behind the coffee table and under his little brother.
With the childish premise, he would've assumed at least Knuckles would be bored, but nope. As his sibling munched on his raisins, a soft smile rested on their face. Unbelievable! Ozzie and Dad were cuddled up together and enjoying some pretzels, while Tails was bouncing on Mom's knee as she stroked his…well, Tails.
When was this movie set again? Right, early 20th century Russia. Saint Petersburg, to be exact. (No, he didn't remember the introductory song at all.) The main character, Anya, bent down to inspect half of a broken plate. But the second she touches it, she's hit with a vision from when she was young. Startled, she moved away and towards a large vase, decorated with dancing bears.
"This place it's…it's like a memory from a dream."
Anya wandered further into the palace, to the no-longer grand ballroom. A portrait of the old royal people started glowing. Or was it the moon lighting it up? And why's she stopping halfway down the huge staircase?
Wait. Oh no. She's gonna start singing. Sonic hated this part of princess movies because they always sang a stupid song. Dumb idiot song.
A gentle music box began its melody.
"Dancing bears, painted wings. Things I almost remember, and a song someone sings, once upon a December."
The melody was downright haunting. Anya's not a bad singer, he guessed. Maybe this movie wasn't so bad.
"Someone holds me, safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory."
Sonic subconsciously leaned towards the screen when the music swelled. The ballroom was suddenly…revived or something. It looked nearly untouched. Ghosts float out of the portraits in the hall and to the floor, dancing. Anya danced with them.
But this wasn't really happening, Sonic guessed. His suspicions were confirmed when the dog's perspective was revealed and Anya was dancing alone, in her regular clothes, in the crumbling ballroom.
"Someone holds me, safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory."
The music swells again and the royal looking people from the big painting earlier come out of the painting. Sonic's mouth is half open and his eyes are wider than dinnerplates.
"Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember. Things my heart used to know, things it yearns to remember."
That older royal dude faces Anya and invites her to dance. The Czar, right? He holds his hand out and invites her to dance, the music softening soon after. (the Czar is facing anya and invites her to dance.)
"And a song someone sings,"
The Czar? Yeah, the Czar releases Anya and kisses her on the forehead. Weird, but whatever. She full curtsies to the man before her, Sonic half-entranced by the movie.
"Once upon a December."
————————————
Anya's daydream is cut off by Dimitri calling for her off-screen. Whatever happened after that was kind of a blur, because Sonic was still hung up on her vision. He managed to completely tune out his mother's "i told you so", a stunt unusual for the hedgehog.
Why did the sequence seem so familiar? He kind of remembered having something like them before, except they were dreams so he barely remembered.
That's it! They were just dreams, so they weren't real and there's no reason to think about them any longer. Case closed and fantastic work, Detective Sonic. Now all he has to do is finish the movie.