Shadow awoke, up in a hammock on the highest branches of a tree. He was out in the meadow again, and had spent the previous night watching the star-spangled sky. He didn't want to sleep in a spare house when he could be out here.
At first, he was almost enjoying the morning, the colorful sunrise, the calls of the morning birds. And then he remembered.
It was that day.
The lingering, constant pain, usually deep inside himself, rose up overwhelmingly in his chest. Suddenly, the beautiful world around him was twisted and horrible. How could there be such peace on this day of all days?
No. Don't think like that. Shadow closed his eyes against the multicolored sky above, and willed his weak feelings away.
When he opened his eyes, all he saw was bleakness. Gone was the beauty that made it colorful in one's eyes.
He yawned, and shifted himself so he could get up. He felt something in the crook of his arm, uncomfortably digging into his flesh.
He groped clumsily. His fingers curled around a piece of paper. An envelope.
He abruptly sat up, wide awake. Why did he have an envelope?
Shadow lifted it up to his face, and was hit by the sickening smell of sugary treats. The paper was pale pink, sealed with a balloon sticker. Shadow groaned. He knew who it was from.
Reluctantly, he opened the envelope. At once, he received a faceful of confetti. A piercing squeal of a party pooper impossibly followed it out of the envelope.
After staring stunned at it for a couple of seconds, he hurriedly brushed off the confetti, muttering angrily about wrangling Pinkie's annoying neck. Then he carefully extracted the letter inside with two fingers, half expecting it to blow up in his face.
This is what it read:
Dear Shadow,
I beg of you, from the bottom of my heart and soul and hoovsies, that you may come to the town hall at 9 pm tonight. A suprise will be awaiting you.
Lots of Sincerely, Pinkie Pie.
P.S: Twilight helped me write this.
Shadow read it again a couple of times. A surprise? Nothing PINKIE prepared for him could be good.
Yet he had the natural curiosity to what it might be. 'Another box of chocolates?' he thought sarcastically.
And another thing. Twilight helped her write this? Twilight, the one Shadow trusted above all the other ponies?
Shadow frowned. He crumpled up the letter half heartedly and stuffed it back into the envelope. Then he swung himself down and took the hammock apart in a matter of seconds.
He jumped down from the tree, the hammock bundled up under his arm, the envelope in hand, and began to walk towards town.
His mind was still on that letter. He would probably just throw it away when he found an opportunity. And that last sentence. He hoped that Twilight was the only one who knew what this mysterious surprise was.
Then a jarring thought occoured, causing Shadow to falter.
Surely not all of his companions were in on this surprise?
All of his companions were in on the suprise.
With increasing irritation, he carefully watched the others from his world throughout the day. Each of them averted his gaze, and even worse - suppressed smiles.
Now, in the afternoon, he met Sonic's eyes as he passed him in the street on the way to the library. He held it until the blue hedgehog cracked a huge grin and sped off down the road, leaving fading laughter behind him.
Shadow sighed as he continued to walk on. Pinkie's surprise was definitely a prissy, silly one. He was not looking forward to that evening.
He tried to take his mind off it by looking around. There were couples everywhere, dreamily sharing drinks and staring into each other's eyes. It was all pointless and disgusting. Especially today.
'Should I go tonight at all?' He wondered. It would certainly put a damper on that annoying smile. Maybe it would teach Pinkie to just leave him alone.
But he realized that the others wouldn't forgive him. Amy would most likely pound his head in with her enormous hammer. She seemed to have become Pinkie's best friend and guardian. And Twilight would be disappointed in him. He wouldn't really care if that happened, but it meant that visiting the library would be awkward, and that would rule out his back-up hideout.
And Pinkie herself. Yes she would be upset, maybe upset enough to just leave him be. But would he be able to stand seeing her sad face, those big blue eyes?
NO.
Shadow stopped on the very doorstep of Twilight's library. He physically shook his head to rid himself of that thought.
Was he going soft? He was SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, the ultimate lifeform. He had no feelings of the weak, he had no patience for sappy things. He had stood by, watching, as thousands died, families and cities falling lifelessly at his feet.
He had no time for one mare's feelings. He had no time for things like care and compassion and love.
He opened the door of the library, a little bit shaky.
Unexpectedly, he heard a stifled cry, the zing of magic, and the loud poof of something teleporting. As Shadow fully opened the door and looked inside, he saw Twilight grinning guiltily at him, a violet aura fading from her horn.
"What did you just do?" Shadow asked matter-of-factly.
"I... uh...." Twilight continued to maintain her wide smile, her gaze moving shiftly about. "...I..."
"Never mind." Shadow stalked inside, resisting the urge to huff in exasperation. If there was one fault in Twilight, it was that she was terrible at lying and finding excuses.
She had obviously teleported something for Pinkie's surprise tonight. Something big, too, otherwise she would have just stuffed it under somewhere in the library. What it was, or where it went was unknown to Shadow. But he knew he could expect it at the surprise tonight.
Shadow realized what he had just thought, and let out a small groan. He sat huffily down in his usual spot. Argh! Whatever he tried to do, his mind always came back to that stupid surprise! He didn't care about it! Or Pinkie Pie!
Or did he?
Shadow's mind was suddenly in agony, being torn between two sides of him like never before. Now he realized he had only delayed this battle.
One part of him was his stubbornly emotionless side. It was the part of him that refused to accept the discomfort he felt when he was in this world, discomfort, dislike, even jealousy, and kept himself rid of weak feelings. It was the dominant side of him, and he had always believed it was the only side of him.
But he had only been trying to ignore the slow increase in those very rebellious feelings. Now he faced it full on, and realized there was a whole lot more to him than even he knew. It was the side... that wanted to reach out to the ones trying to get to him. The one that wanted to reach out to Pinkie Pie.
Now those two sides were conflicting against each other. The abrupt rebellion caused Shadow to let out a small gasp, and clutch his head.
Twilight sharply turned her head. "Shadow? What's wrong?"
The black hedgehog took a while to answer. His eyes were slightly wild. Twilight dropped her books and rushed over, a little concerned.
She stopped in front of him, hesitant. "Shadow?" she asked carefully.
"I'm fine." The husky reply came. Shadow lowered his hands.
He was fine, but he seemed angry and more sensitive than usual. His eyes were dark and stormy, and when he caught Twilight's gaze, the look in them made her step back nervously.
Shadow stood. "I need to go."
He strode across the room. Twilight looked at him in confusion. "But... you just got here!"
"I need to be alone." The door swung shut, and Shadow was gone.
Twilight sighed in defeat. She went back over to her abandoned books. Using her magic, she picked them off the floor and dusted them off.
She knew that leaving Shadow to himself was what he would appreciate the most. But...
Twilight could see he wasn't like the others from his world. Sonic, Amy and Rouge were all completely different to one another, but they all were open people. Shadow was closed off and private, unable to put his trust into anyone else.
Twilight knew that she should just leave him alone. But she also knew enough about friendship to acend to an alicorn and become a princess. She knew that something had changed him, turning him weak and causing him to build a wall around himself. Leaving him alone would be the worst thing to do.
But... nopony could get close enough to him to learn what had done this to him. No-one, not one of his companions knew.
If only...
Shadow's stubborness had won the battle.
But as he blocked out all the feelings and convinced himself it was nothing, just a minor incident, he dwelled too long on the fading thought. He couldn't help it.
Ever since he had arrived in Equestria, the number of incidents like these had been growing. On Earth, there was too much destruction and terror for him to think these thoughts. But in this world, this utopia... there was so much perfection. So much happiness. So much peace. It wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair to her.
Shadow hastily blocked out that final thought.
'Alright.' Shadow told himself. 'I'm going to go tonight. I'll see whatever lame thing Pinkie's put together. I don't care. Then I'll leave, and this horrible day will finally be over.'
'I am the Ultimate Life Form. I have no care or compassion or love.'
Shadow stood on the bridge, the one over the river circling Ponyville. He watched his reflection shimmer in the crystal clear water, his dark colors contrasting with the night sky above him. He was waiting, slightly apprehensive.
Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong. Bong.
He allowed himself a moan. It was already time.
He took his hands off the side of the bridge. He turned towards Town Hall, and took a deep breath.
He began to walk unhurriedly towards the center of town. He was in no rush. The village was small and unmodernized, and he would reach the hall in no time.
But as he neared the tall, pale yellow building, he noticed that all the lights were off. There was no sound. That was unusual, especially for Pinkie Pie. Had he come at the wrong time?
He pulled out his envelope. Despite having no pockets or places to store things, he still had the annoying letter.
It was the only other possession he had in this world. The other, he had been holding it when he was sent here. He only had that one now for courage.
He was already shaking that thought off the moment it formed in his mind. He had already won that battle.
He reluctantly opened up the crumpled paper and read it.
Yes, it said 9 pm. But then why was it so quiet and dark?
Shadow walked up to the doorstep. He carefully opened the door, and peered inside.
All was dark. He stepped inside, overeading the note again. He was confused now, and a little angry. He had bothered to come, but no-one showed up?
Then he stopped. He had spent enough time in stealth and combat to sense he wasn't alone.
Suddenly the lights snapped on, dazzling Shadow. At the same time, the scream of party poopers and cheers pierced the air. Shadow's nerves overloaded at the unexpected light and sound. When the spots finally cleared out of his eyes...
...what he saw stopped his heart.
All around him were bright, fancy decorations. Streamers, banners and balloons hung from the walls. There was a refreshment table, loaded with unhealthy but delicious treats (except for some burnt muffins) complete with a three tier cake. Maybe that was what Twilight had hastily teleported away.
Around him stood ponies, beaming brightly. There weren't many, but they were all wearing ridiculous wigs and accessories. There were the couple that ran Sugar Cube Corner, and their young twin brats, each wearing a party hat.
In front of him was the largest group of people and ponies. There was Sonic, Amy and Rouge, as well as Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and of course... Pinkie Pie.
Shadow jumped as the group in front of him let out a cheer. His breath refused to come as he stumbled back.
No. No no no.
He stared around. He didn't expect something like this. He was a fool; of course it would be a party. It was what Pinkie did the best. But...
The streamers. The cake. The lights. It was...
No no no no no.
Shadow's irises shrank, and he began to quiver. This was what he should have gotten. This was what she should have gotten. It wasn't... it wasn't...
...fair.
"Shadow?" Pinkie's smile faded.
Shadow abruptly let out an unearthly roar of sheer emotion, anger and horror and even pain. Unleashed with it was a wave of power, one that swept violently through the room, destroying everything. All the balloons popped, all the streamers and banners tore themselves to shreds, the refreshment table crashed over and the cake exploded, sending icing everywhere and onto everyone.
Then it stopped. Shadow closed his mouth. He still shook, with something beyond fury. Almost like sorrow.
He turned, leaving ponies and people alike gobsmacked, and rushed haphazardly out, leaving total chaos behind him.