Tails the Fox sat by a tree with his head down, feeling terribly sad. In his hands he held the remains of a small gyrocopter model he had built himself, which had just been destroyed a few minutes ago by the mean kids laughing and playing in the field a short distance away from him.

As the young fox looked over at the group of kids he could never join, a tear began to form in the corner of his eye. He felt he would never belong in anyone's circle of friends; he was all alone in the world...

"Hey, kid", came a voice behind him. "Why the long face? What's the matter?"

Startled and suddenly aware that he was being watched, Tails quickly turned around to face the speaker. It was a tall blue hedgehog, with green eyes and red running shoes, leaning up against the tree and looking down at the sad fox.

Tails's mood quickly changed from surprised to embarrassed. He wiped the falling tear off his cheek as he stood up to answer the hedgehog's question.

"I'm here all by myself", he said sadly. "The other kids don't let me play with them. They make fun of me."

"Why would they do that?" asked the blue hedgehog, genuinely surprised.

"Because I'm different", said Tails, and turned to the side so the hedgehog could see his abnormality. There were two tails on the fox, where there would normally only be one.

The hedgehog casually observed the young fox's twin tails, and then made a remark which Tails had not anticipated:

"So?"

"'So?'" answered the fox, confused. "I'm a freak! And nobody wants to be friends with a freak!"

The hedgehog glanced at the small broken machine in the fox's hands, then looked back up into his blue eyes and smiled.

"What's your name, kid?"

Tails hesitated for a moment before answering. His mother had taught him never to speak to strangers, but there was something unusual about this particular person. The fox vaguely recalled a rumor he had heard about a brave blue hedgehog who was currently in a quarrel with an evil scientist. This hedgehog, according to the rumors, was a hero who was fighting to protect the innocent people of the land from the scientist's obsession with world domination. But as heroic and popular as he was becoming, no one seemed to know very much about him. He was just as elusive as he was courageous, and apparently his free spirit had brought him to the wide open fields near Tails's home.

The fox smiled back at the hedgehog and spoke up.

"Miles Prower", he answered. "But everyone calls me Tails."

"Tails..." the blue hedgehog repeated, then extended his hand to the young fox. "Nice to meet you, Tails. I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

Tails extended his own hand and eagerly shook Sonic's. It was the closest he had ever felt to being accepted.

"Sonic..." he said quietly, for the name certainly rang a bell within his mind. "Why do they call you that?"

"Because..." the hedgehog explained, "I can run faster than the speed of sound. Watch."

And in half a second, he was off. He ran down to the far end of the field, then took a course around the meadow, speeding along the edges in a wide circle. He ran several laps in an incredibly short amount of time, and in mere seconds, there was a great boom which carried across the entire field. Sonic then headed back to the tree where Tails was standing amazed, his figure reaching the spot before the sound of his speeding feet did.

"So, Tails", said Sonic, glancing at the fox's twin tails once more. "I've never been the best at math, so correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't having two of something usually twice as good as having just one?"

"Well, yeah, I guess..." said Tails slowly.

"Have you ever tried to see what heights you could reach with double the potential?"

"What do you mean?"

In response to Tails's question, Sonic simply winked, then reached out and gently flicked the loose rotor of the broken gyrocopter model still in the fox's hands. The blades turned slowly three times, then stopped.

Tails instantly understood the hedgehog's idea. Looking back at his own tails, he began to spin them around each other. It took him a while to get the hang of rotating them quickly, but once he had reached the right speed, he suddenly found himself being lifted off the ground.

It was a wonderful sensation. Never had Tails felt so free, like he could do anything. He made a half turn in the air... and suddenly realized that he and Sonic were being watched. The kids that had been playing in the field had stopped abruptly when the hedgehog began to zoom past them, and were now staring transfixed at the two people beside the tree.

Tails landed gently on the ground, and looked from the kids to Sonic. The hedgehog smiled at the young fox, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"See? You have what it takes to reach the stars. All you were missing was the right amount of faith in yourself."

Tails smiled up at the mysterious hedgehog. After wishing him luck, Sonic winked at the fox, then turned to face the open fields in the opposite direction from the kids. Before he took off, he glanced back at Tails.

"You know what I've always wanted but never had? A little brother to whom I could relate, on whom I could always count, who would be my closest friend."

"You think you can relate to me?" asked Tails, surprised. "Why?"

"Because, in case you haven't noticed..." Sonic answered, smiling his sly smile. "I'm different too."

And with that, he sped off towards the horizon. Tails turned back to the group of kids still staring at him. Some of them, he noticed, were rotating their own tails, trying to imitate his impressive feat. Grinning broadly, the young fox dropped the broken gyrocopter model on the floor and repeated the new trick he had learned, lifting up into the air once more. Once he was off the ground, Tails stuck his tongue out at the mean kids in the field, then turned and flew off to follow his new big brother into the distance.