Dear Maria,
As these letters are getting fewer and far-between, you can tell I've been content with life.
Today an old friend of Pinks is coming into town. She wants to introduce me to him.
Yes, I said him. And yes, I'll not be jealous of her friendships.
You know me. I'm better than that.
Love,
Shadow
Pinkie Pie and Shadow were standing on a road outside of Ponyville. They were waiting for a close friend of Pinkie's.
Shadow was wearing a hot pink hoodie, made by Rarity, and had his hands in his pockets. Winter was coming, and Cloudsdale was about to make it snow over Ponyville. Pinkie was wearing her usual winter outfit, blue and yellow beanie and scarf.
Shadow had been told by a really excited Pinkie Pie all about him.
Her friend was what she described as a "professional party planner", and traveled across Equestria, planning and hosting parties. He had a company, but had left it to continue perusing the party planning lifestyle. He was energetic, funny, and had a sense of positivity to him.
He was a lot like her, apparently.
Pinkie was quietly humming, bobbing up and down next to Shadow, who now had his arms crossed.
After all her bouncing and talking on the way there, Shadow assumed she would have shown more excitement at this time.
Well, she was bursting with excitement, but now she looked slightly anxious, and Shadow even detected some nervousness coming from her.
He'd have to put a pin in that for now, as he saw a skinny stallion walking up the path.
The yellow stallion wore a black poncho, and hat to match. He was tall, and his poofy mane and tail were brown. His eyes were green, and a yellow rubber chicken was sat on his back.
He smiled as he noticed Pinkie first. Pinkie couldn't contain her excitement any longer, and ran to greet the stallion.
Shadow quietly trailed behind, with his normal stone face.
The yellow stallion ginned back at the pink mare, and Pinkie gave him a joyful hug.
"Cheese! It's so good to see you again!"
Cheese hugged her back with a smile.
"Good to see you too."
The stallion then noticed Shadow standing behind Pinkie. He had his arms crossed, and was looking down. Shadow had a face that was emotionless, but Cheese suddenly felt an aura about him.
Cheese broke the hug, and motioned his hoof to the hedgehog.
"Uh, who is that?"
"Oh, he's an anthropomorphic hedgehog that talks and walks, he won't bite."
Cheese showed slight confusion as he walked up to Shadow. "Oookkkayy... Sorry, I've just never seen someone like you on my travels."
Shadow looked up, and nodded,
"I'm used to that."
The yellow stallion smiled big at the ebony figure.
"I'm Cheese Sandwich. Nice to meet you."
Shadow nodded again, not moving his stance.
Before he could respond, Pinkie jumped in between the two of them, and put a hoof around Shadow, giggling.
"Cheesy, this is Shadow the Hedgehog, my boyfriend!"
Cheese tensed up at that statement. His pupils grew small, ever so slightly.
Shadow noticed. He mentally raised a brow at this, but didn't comment on it.
Pinkie took a step away, and motioned her hoof to follow.
"Now come on! I have a lot of things planned for today!"
Walking through the streets of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich quickly caught up and conversated, while Shadow walked beside Pinkie, silent. He had his hands in his pockets, and was listening in on their chatter, being inconspicuous. Pinkie noticed how Shadow had not contributed to the discussion, and spoke.
"Shady, did you know that Cheese here has planned over 1000 parties all over Equestria?"
"Yeah. I heard." Shadow said no more. Pinkie frowned, and glanced at Cheese. He also seemed unwilling to talk to the hedgehog, and avoidant of him. Cheese kept his eyes away from the ultimate lifeform.
Pinkie was silent for a quick moment, before she got an idea. She grinned wide, and started bouncing.
"If you two could excuse me for a second, I have a personal errand to run at Sofas And Quills."
The trio stopped in front of the shop. Pinkie turned to the two males.
"You both conversate while I'm gone. Get to know each other better!"
Shadow only nodded, and Cheese smiled.
"Of course Pinkie!" Cheese answered cheerfully.
"Thank you!"
Pinkie turned and entered the shop, leaving the two alone.
Silence followed, as both didn't talk. Shadow crossed his arms and Cheese looked away, whistling. Shadow noticed Cheese's avoidant eyes, and began to ponder.
When Cheese glanced at Shadow, he saw Shadow staring questionably at him. Cheese gulped.
"What?"
"What yourself?"
Cheese blinked, and realized.
"Sorry, I'm just little taken aback by your- ah, relationship with her."
Shadow kept his arms crossed.
"I get that a lot. So, how long have you known Pinkie?"
Cheese laughed nervously. "For a while now. Actually, we met when we were only foals, but we never talked afterwards. She's the one who inspired me to become a party pony you know. "
Shadow didn't know that. He uncrossed his arms. He stayed stone faced.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Cheese was silent for another minute before continuing. This time he asked Shadow something.
"When did you and Pinkie meet?"
"About 3 to 4 months ago. I was trying to figure out where I was when I ran into her. I gotta say, I was a little floored by her personality."
"Uh-huh..." Cheese had many questions, but he would have to save them for later.
"So... You're really Pinkie's boyfriend?"
Shadow nodded. "Yeah. It's not that complicated."
Cheese looked away. Shadow could see that he looked sad, and a tad jealous.
"You seem to have a distaste for my relationship with her." Cheese blinked, and turned to look at Shadow. "Is there anything I need to know about you and her?"
Cheese looked down and sighed, slightly with relief, but mostly of nervousness.
He then chuckled nervously. He rubbed the back of his head with his hoof.
"We kinda dated awhile back."
Shadow's brow deepened, and he felt his hands become heavy. He then remembered what he had told Maria this morning. He exhaled through his nose, and calmed his nerves. Cheese continued.
"After the honeymoon phase of the relationship, things slowed down to a crawl. Because I traveled so much, I couldn't make time for her. We started talking about our relationship less and less. Finally, one day, Pinkie wrote to me in a letter that she wanted to break up. She said she just didn't feel the same connection she had when we started. When we met in person, she told me I wasn't the one she was waiting for. It kinda hurt for a few weeks. But she said we could still be friends, and well, here we are."
Cheese suddenly slightly panicked.
"We didn't have a nasty breakup, or anything, we're okay. -I don't feel like getting beat up anytime soon."
Shadow breathed heavily, but quietly. He was relieved that nothing bad happened between the two ponies, but he was thought it unwise for Pinkie to introduce her ex to him.
He then had a question.
"How?"
"What?"
"How can you continue on with your friendship just like that? Where I come from, breakups lead one to not speak to the other for a good long time, perhaps even forever. And, most of them do end up going real badly."
Cheese stared at Shadow for a moment, before smiling politely.
"Welcome to Equestria Shadow. Things like this just happen."
Shadow blinked. Even with all he had learned about Equestria, there was still new things that surprised him about it.
Pinkie trotted out of the shop, bags in her mouth. Shadow took initiative and took the bags from her. Pinkie smiled. "Thank you Shady!" She kissed his cheek in graduate.
Shadow nodded, and felt a small smile trying to escape. Cheese seemed to notice, and Shadow stopped. Cheese seemed to understand that this was an occasion. He smiled at him and Shadow rolled his eyes.
As the day went on, the two males noticed things about each other. Shadow noticed that Cheese really was like Pinkie; They both were so positive together, and got along even more than he and Pinkie did. He also noticed how much time Cheese spent just talking to her only. Shadow had a hunch about that, but it would have to wait.
Cheese was impressed by Shadow. He was a full-on gentleman to Pinkie, even ordering her extra hay-fries at the café when she had no more bits on her at the moment. When it showed, he could see how much Shadow loved her, and how much she loved Shadow. He was pleasantly surprised at this, but kept his jealousy to himself. Mostly for Pinkie's sake.
At the end of the day, He had made his decision about Shadow.
The trio made their way down the path, soon approaching the end of it. The sun was setting, and it was starting to snow lightly. Shadow was listening to Cheese and Pinkie talking in-depth abut the business of party planning.
"Sans says his resent research has indicated that slapstick humour is falling, and relatable humour is skyrocketing."
Shadow smirked. "Sounds like the modern humour where I come from."
Pinkie giggled, making Cheese laugh as well.
They all stopped at end of the path. Shadow turned to Pinkie. "Hey, can I talk to Cheese alone for a moment?"
Pinkie nodded, but seemed a little anxious. She gave them some space, and Shadow turned to Cheese Sandwich. Shadow's voice lowered.
"You still love her, don't you?"
Cheese's ears drooped. He looked down. "Yeah."
Silence came from Shadow.
But, I can live with it."
Shadow tilted his head, waiting for Cheese to continue. Cheese raised his head to look up at Shadow.
"I haven't seen her this happy with someone else before, even me. She looks at you, talks with you in a way she doesn't to anypony else. I can see the love in her eyes. And, I can see the same in yours. How much do you love her?"
Shadow looked down.
"Without her, I wouldn't be as open as I am right now. She gives me so much love, love I haven't felt in a long time."
Cheese blinked in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Shadow put his hands in his pockets.
Cheese sighed.
"Well, as long as she's happy, and you make her happy, I can live with that. I just want to know that she's in good hooves, er, hands."
Shadow nodded.
"I've promised myself to give her all my love, show her all my sides. So don't worry. I've got it covered."
Cheese smiled.
"So we're cool? No grudges?"
"No grudges."
Shadow took as step back, indicating the conversation was done. Pinkie took notice, and trotted over to say goodbye.
She hugged Cheese. "So long Cheese! I can't wait to see you again!" Cheese hugged her back carefully.
"Yeah. Me too."
They broke from the hug, and Pinkie took a step back, standing next to Shadow.
Cheese stared at the couple for a moment. Then, he smiled.
'Yeah. She's going to be just fine.'
Cheese tipped his hat, and walked away.
"Bye!" Pinkie waved him off, and Cheese called back.
"Tis' next we meet, Pinkie!"
Pinkie smiled, watching her friend go.
Shadow turned to Pinkie.
"You never told me you had an ex-boyfriend."
Pinkie winced, and her smile became crooked.
"He told you, didn't he?"
Shadow nodded. "Yeah, but we worked it out."
Shadow patted her head with a small smile.
"Next time, just tell me the truth before hand, alright?"
Pinkie smiled small.
"Yes. I will."