#Sonic really was just such a good guardian re: Tails' self-esteem

[sage-nebula]

Tails was bullied on West Side Island because he was born with two tails. That's his canon backstory. He was born different, and that difference led to him being ostracized and shunned. It's not a stretch to think that his prodigy level intelligence wouldn't have done him any favors either, because kids are mean and being a nerd isn't exactly seen as cool by most. Even adults probably would have thought he was weird for wanting to tinker with stuff, would probably think he was more liable to break it or set the building on fire or something, and so probably didn't give him too much of a chance to prove his mettle when it comes to engineering. That part is speculative though; I think all we know for sure is that the people of Tails' hometown saw his second tail and thought, "Freak."

Sonic didn't feel that way, but then again, look at Sonic. Him being blue isn't a big deal, because animals come in all sorts of colors in this world, but he can run at supersonic speeds. He can break the sound barrier, easy. That's something no one else can do, hedgehog or otherwise. And as far as we know, Sonic's been able to do this since he was born. He was born different, too.

And you might think, okay, but Sonic's speed isn't visible just by looking at him, and also it's like a superpower, so how is that comparable? And I say, Tails' extra tail lets him fly. No other fox on the planet can do that without assistance. They need planes, or jetpacks, or whatever, but Tails doesn't. Tails can fly all on his own. Doesn't that count as a superpower in its own right?

Tails' village looked at him, and they said, he's different, he's a freak. Sonic looked at him and said, hey, I'm different, too. Guess that makes us two of a kind, huh?

And that made all the difference.