Sunny was surprised to see that the new Mobians adapted so well and so fast to Equestria.
Amy and Rouge quickly managed to fit in, specially Amy, who quickly got a job with Pipp in Mane Melody. As for Rouge, Pipp gave her a shift in there as well, and Rouge is even staying with Jazz on her home for the time being.
Of course, Rouge was still worried for what happened to Omega in the mountains, but she wanted to get to know this world better so she could introduce it to Omega once she decided to go after him.
However, even if Amy and Rouge managed to fit in Maretime Bay so well and so quick, Sunny was concerned because... One of the new visitors wasn't that much comfortable around, and she still couldn't understand why.
Not only Shadow barely showed up to the Brighthouse, unlike Amy and Rouge, but when he did so, he never said a word. He was cold, silent, always frowning... And the thing that might be the worse for her, he seems to be avoiding her, because anytime she approaches him, he either teleports away with no shame, or he simply makes an excuse to leave.
Did she did something wrong and she doesn't remembers it, or Shadow is just like this because that's how he is? Sonic did mentioned that Shadow was his opposite on everything, and now she understands what he meant...
But that wasn't going to stop her! Shadow might be a bit grumpy, and he might be avoiding her, but she was going to find out why and fix it! Hopefully, it wasn't anything that bad, and Shadow just wanted to be alone... But to be absolutely sure, she had to talk with the only two people that seemed to know him very well...
"I never thought I would see a day were you would ask about Shadow of all people, Sunny-Bunny... But here we are!" Sonic said with an amused smile, as he, Rouge and Sunny sat on the Crystal Brighthouse's dinner table.
"I guess you wonder why he's alone all the time, or why he seems to avoid you, right?" Rouge asked Sunny with a concerned expression.
"Yes! That's exactly why I called you two!" Sunny exclaimed with panic. "I don't know if I did something wrong, if I said something wrong, if he hates me for no reason, or if I'm just overthinking this a lot!" she groaned, before covering her face with her hooves out of frustration.
"Usually, my answer to this would be 'Shadow's just being Shadow', but... I do gotta admit that he's been particularly evasive with you..." Sonic confessed. "Now, why? You lost me there..." he added with a sheepish smile.
"Hmm... Maybe I have an idea..." Rouge said.
"Really?!" Sunny said with sparkling eyes and a hopeful smile.
"Don't get too excited, kid. This story is not a reason to smile" Rouge warned with a frown. "You said that Dr. Eggman mentioned his cousin, Maria, when he had you and blue hostage, right?" she asked.
"Uh... Yeah... He said that she was... killed in front of him..." Sunny replied with concern, while her ears dropped.
"Well... I, uh... Look, if I tell you this, you have to swear you won't say I told you!" Rouge warned with a frown, pointing a finger at the earth pony mare.
Sunny blinked a few times and looked at Sonic, who shrugged at her, so she looked back at Rouge. "Um... sure?" she replied sheepishly.
"SWEAR IT!" Rouge said, now grabbing Sunny from her saddlebag and glaring daggers at her.
This made Sunny yelp and squeak in panic, as she nodded quickly with fear. "I-I swear it! I won't tell anyone!" she replied nervously.
With this, Rouge let her go from her saddle bag, before looking at Sonic at her side, and Sonic looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I love to mess with Shadow, but I'm a man of word, Rouge. Whatever is told here, would stay and die here" he assured.
Rouge nodded, satisfied with this answer, before looking back at Sunny. "Look, Sunny... Shadow is avoiding you, but not for the reasons you might believe" she confessed with concern.
Sunny, who was still kind of shocked after Rouge made her swear to not tell a soul anything, gasped slightly after hearing that Shadow is avoiding her.
"Shadow is reserved in everything, so if he ever starts to show emotions beyond indifference, panic!" Rouge started to explain.
"I second that..." Sonic commented.
"He also barely talks, and if he does, he only says what he thinks it's necessary" Rouge added.
"Unless you mock him up. He'll mock you back, but either to mock as well or to straight up insult you..." Sonic pointed out.
"He also... Well... Because of Maria, he's been feeling a bit weird about you..." Rouge confessed. "The few times we've talked these days, he has told me that... That you remind him of her" she added.
"What?" Sunny said, both confused and startled. "I... I remind him of Maria?" she questioned.
Rouge nodded. "Don't ask me how, because Shadow barely talks about her. I would even say that he never talks about her, not since..." she tried to add, but regret it.
"The incident with the Black Arms... right?" Sonic asked, now looking down at the floor with concern, and Rouge nodded, so he sighed. "Look, Sunny... If Shadow really sees similarities between you and Maria, you better watch what you will say, and how you approach him... When it comes to talk, it's complicated with Shadow..." he explained with concern.
"And whatever you do, don't mention we talked!" Rouge remarked once again with a frown. "Shadow won't take lightly that we talked about Maria with someone..." she pointed out.
"Specially from me..." Sonic added with a bored expression.
After hearing this, Sunny looked down at the table and thought on everything Rouge and Sonic told her about Shadow, and she knew exactly what she had to do...
Shadow stared at the horizon with a frown.
He was standing at the top of a hill with his arms crossed, as many thoughts ran through his mind...
He's been in Modern Equestria for almost two weeks by this point, and he couldn't get used to the friendly atmosphere. It's not like he hasn't been in a similar position before, anyways. He was dragged into Sonic's 20 year birthday party after the Time Eater thing, after all, and he seems himself involved in Sonic's and Eggman's mess from time to time...
Now, it is one thing to be dragged into this kind of stuff sometimes, but every single day?! Yeah, he was not used to this much colors and happiness, nor this much positivism, on a daily basis...
What was even the point to get used to it, anyways? This wasn't his home, and there was a lot of stuff to worry about: Find the Chaos Emeralds, bring back Omega, find Eggman and capture him...
His concerns were justified, and everyone else understood him perfectly... But for some reason, he seemed to be the only one who wanted to embrace those concerns, while the rest wanted to chill and take a break after all the chaos that happened with Eggman and Opaline...
It was understandable, actually, because a very, very, very small part of him wanted to rest for a minute as well, but he also didn't wanted to leave Eggman and the Chaos Emeralds out there.
And, for some reason, just like Sonic, he didn't wanted the Equestrians to suffer, either. Eggman was not their problem, and it should've never had been. Is weird he feels empathy for these colorful ponies, but maybe it was because––
"Shadow?" Sunny's voice spoke suddenly.
Shadow was dragged out of his thoughts and his eyes widened, so he slowly turned around and saw that Sunny was standing a few meters away from him...
She is the reason he wants to leave as soon as possible. For some strange reason, she reminds him of Maria, and not only because Sunny acts like her in some aspects... But also because her voice is the same as hers.
And that's why he tries to avoid her as much as he can. He has nothing against Sunny, he simply does not wants to be around her because he does not want to feel attached to her. He does not wants to bond with her because, if he looses her too, no promise is going to hold him back from killing everyone this time around.
He's... He's scared of what could happen if he bonds with Sunny, and he feels he has to be away from her.
"... Didn't expected anyone else to come here..." Shadow finally replied after he had that internal monologue with himself.
"Nopony ever comes here, which actually makes it perfect to stay away from everypony else" Sunny pointed out. "I'm glad I did found you here, though. I was looking for you everywhere!" she confessed.
Yeah, that's another sign: Her cheerful tone and attitude towards everypony reminds him of how Maria used to be with him and everyone in her family, even the younger Eggman (whom which he has barely any memories of, to tell the truth).
"... You were... Looking for me?" Shadow asked confused, but before he could turn around, Sunny quickly position at his side and sat down, also looking at the horizon now. "Why?" he added.
"Because I wanted to talk with you..." Sunny said with a fake smile...
Why could he tell her smile was fake in the first place? What the heck is this mare doing to him?!
"... That's... odd, to say the least... Barely anyone I've met here has dared to take a word on me" Shadow said, returning his sight to the horizon.
"That's because barely anyone wants to know more about you. But I do." Sunny replied, now actually smiling instead of forcing a fake one.
No, seriously, what is she doing to him?! His heart skipped a beat happily, and his tail actually wagged a bit... What is going on?!
"... You want to know me? That's even odder..." Shadow replied.
"Well, that mysterious and distant attitude of yours just called my attention!" Sunny replied with a sweet smile. "Many might want to turn around and run from you. But not me. I don't judge by appearances, and honestly? I would like to meet the real you, not the Shadow that everyone talks about. Don't ask me who that'll be, though..." she added with a sheepish smile.
And then, the unthinkable happened... Shadow couldn't help but smile at her words...
For the very first time in years, Shadow felt... happy... Hearing that Sunny was approaching him because she wished to know him better was... It was hard to describe, but it brought immense happiness to that whom calls himself 'The Ultimate Life-Form'.
"... Heh... As odd as all your words are... I gotta say... I'm quite interested on on hearing what you wanna know?" Shadow replied with a little smile.
Sunny couldn't help but smile back. Even if Rouge said that Shadow showing any other emotion beyond indifference was a motive to panic, something about him smiling made her happier.
"Well... I may be going straight to the point with this one, but... I guess instead of asking something personal, I will go with: Are you... avoiding me?" Sunny dared to ask.
For some reason, Shadow's heart stopped for a second after hearing that.
Yeah, maybe teleporting away from her or excusing himself whenever she approached to him was not the best way to express his desire to not be close to her because of his fear of actually bond with her...
"... I... Yes..." Shadow decided to be frank about it. Lying was not one of his strengths, anyways. "I... I've been avoiding you these past days..." he added.
"Huh... I guess I'd rather you being honest with me than lying..." Sunny said with a nervous chuckle. "Well... Can I ask, then, why are you avoiding me?" she added, now looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
Shadow let out a long sigh, before looking back at her. "It's not personal, if you wonder or fear that. Nothing you did or say is the reason why I'm dodging talking with you" he replied.
"Oh, thank hoofness!" Sunny said with a smile and a relieved sigh, which actually made Shadow chuckle a bit. "But then, why are you avoiding me?" she asked again.
"Well... I've heard from Sonic that you dream of a unified world..." Shadow started to explain. "He says that you want to see the three tribes of ponies living in harmony and peace... Yet, you saw with your own eyes that not everyone is going to follow that lead with Opaline, and Dr. Eggman even beat the crap out of you..." he reminded. "So, why do I feel like you are still going to fight for the world you dream of despite everything?" he asked.
"Because I will!" Sunny replied with a cheerful tone and a determinate look, as she made her Alicorn powers come to life. "Eggman said that I have incredible power, enough to do things like stop hunger or corruption. And, even if all of those things are serious and should be stopped... I want to use my power for so much more... To protect everypony! Because if I can't do that... what kind of Alicorn would I be?" she added.
Shadow listened closely to her, and with every passing thing she said, she reminded him more and more of Maria.
"I know that not everypony will be on board with this idea, and I know that more evil forces beyond Opaline could pop one day out of nowhere... But it won't stop me from doing my job!" Sunny stated once again. "As an Alicorn, I have the power to protect everypony in Equestria, and it's a huge responsibility... But if I've learned something from Sonic, is that I don't have to do it alone!" she added with a determinate look. "Shadow, I don't know nor understand why you are the way you are. Maybe I never will... But I will love if I could call you my friend as well, and I will love if you helped us, too! Not because you need to defeat Eggman, but because you care, too... But... If you don't want to, I won't force you to do so" she declared with a smile.
After hearing all of this, there was no doubt now: Shadow was convinced that Sunny was Maria's counterpart in Equestria... And he was... not concerned with the idea...
At first, he was convinced that staying around Sunny was just going to hurt him, that it wasn't a good idea to even try to bond with anyone in this world, because he was seriously afraid of loosing that anyone, and then go ahead and kill somebody...
But now, after hearing everything Sunny just told him... He was genuinely considering the idea of following up.
So, he let out a long sigh and looked at Sunny once again.
"Look, Sunny. I'll be totally frank with you: I've been avoiding you because you are too similar to Maria..." Shadow finally confessed. "The way you act, the way you talk, even the way you dream... I see so much of Maria on you that... That I'm afraid... Afraid of bonding a lot with you, and then... and then loose you... The exact same way I did with her..." he added.
Sunny gasped, and her ears went flat after hearing that. "S-Shadow... I-I'm so––" she tried to say, but Shadow raised a hand, so she cut off whatever she was going to say.
"I've been trying to move on from her pass away ever since... After destroying the Black Arms, I told myself I would let die whoever 'Shadow the Hedgehog' used to be in the ARK, and embrace a new leaf... But it's been really hard to ignore everything that I was before Dr. Eggman woke me up..." Shadow kept going with a frown as he looked down to the floor, and then, he looked at Sunny. "You remind me of the only person I've dared to call my friend. Rouge and Omega are comrades I really care about, but... I don't see them as friends... And now... You ask me to help stop that Alicorn Opaline and help you with your dream of a unified world..." he added, but his frown started to fade away.
Sunny looked at him a bit nervous now. Did she said something wrong? Did she made him mad? Judging by his frown fading away, she probably didn't, but it was still concerning.
"... Maria made me promise to protect all the living creatures on the planet, no matter if some of them were rotten to the core..." Shadow confessed. "And your dream of a unified world is too similar... I'm seriously thinking you are Maria in this Equestria land" he added with a smirk.
That actually made Sunny chuckle a little, and Shadow chuckled slightly as well.
"Okay... For a guy that barely jokes around, that was actually funny!" Sunny said with a smile.
"Oh, I do know when to joke. I just don't do it to play cool like Sonic 'Gotta go Fast' the Hedgehog" Shadow replied with a slight smile, before sighing and face Sunny entirely, extending hid hand. "... Sunny... Give me your hoof" he requested.
This made Sunny look at Shadow a bit startled, but she nodded and placed her hoof on his hand, while he carefully hold it.
"I promise you... That I will help to stop Opaline, that I will make my part to help out this universe... And that I won't rest until your dream of a unified world is accomplished" Shadow said with a serious expression, but also smiling at the mare, who looked at him with genuine surprise and shock. "And maybe, just maybe... If you don't really mind, I would like to know you better as well and... Actually be your friend, Sunny" he finished, although it seemed like he struggled saying that last part.
However, all he just said left Sunny speechless. Maybe he has known Shadow for just a couple of days, but he's clearly demonstrating that despite having a cold and distant attitude compared to the other Mobians... He did had a heart, and right now? He was doing something that would leave the rest flabbergasted.
Still, Sunny smiled widely and then wrapped her hooves around Shadow, pulling him into a big hug, which did startled Shadow and made him feel kind of awkward.
"Sorry for this if you're not used to hugs, but... Gosh! I'm just so happy to hear you saying that!" Sunny exclaimed happily, as she broke the hug and looked up to him. "I promise you, you won't regret this! We don't have to be friends the same way you were with Maria, we just gotta be ourselves around each other!" she added with a cheery smile.
Again, Shadow's heart skipped a beat after seeing her smiling.
However, this time around, he allowed himself to smile back at her. He was still hesitant at the idea of bonding too much with Sunny, since he seriously didn't wanted to loose her like he lost Maria...
But maybe, Sunny herself was the key to get over that trauma. Her cheerfulness was just contagious, after all, even for him! So... Just this time, he was going to let his guard down, and embrace a new chance on friendship with this optimistic earth pony mare.
THE END