Pinkie Pie sat in the center of that chaos.
She stared around blankly at the destroyed room. The decor was ruined, the carefully baked cake was splattered all over the place. All her preparation was obliterated.
Ponies stood around, shocked at what had occoured. Their manes were messy from the blast, and most of them were spattered with cake frosting. Their expressions were dumbfounded. The Cake twins were crying pitifully, alone sounding mourn into the silence.
Pinkie's friends and Shadow's companions were just as stunned at everypony else. The non-pony guests looked guilty and regretful as well as surprised. They had expected Shadow to be embarrased, maybe even angry. But none of them expected this.
There was a moment of complete disbelief.
Then Twilight took charge. She shook herself out of shock, and returned to the organized pony she was. She told the others to clean up the destroyed decor and mop up the cake, while she went around fixing everything that could be fixed with her alicorn magic.
But Pinkie still sat motionless. She had never felt so empty-hearted. She had never felt so much pain.
'How could Shadow have done this?' Finally, a thought registered in her distraught mind. 'All my hard work, all for him?'
This set off the first hot prickling in her eyes. Tears began to run down her cheeks.
She had been so certain Shadow would at least tolerate it. How could she have been so wrong? How could he do something like this to her? This was worse than the chocolates. This was far worse. He had broken her heart and spirit.
Pinkie sniffled, and lowered her head so the others wouldn't see her cry.
She suddenly felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up, and saw Twilight looking down at her. She was holding a broken chair in her magic, half fixed. Her eyes were filled with pity and sadness.
"I'm so sorry, Pinkie." She said. "I'm so sorry this happened."
Pinkie sniffled, wiping a hoof across her snout. "It wasn't your fault. It was Shadow who did it."
She looked at the door, still swinging. Something broke through her misery.
Shadow wouldn't have destroyed the party, wouldn't have that look in his eyes, unless something had made him. That something was almost certainly related to the mysterious incident in Shadow's past.
Now, more than ever, she had to find out what it was.
Pinkie stood abruptly, startling Twilight. She ran towards the entrance, hooves pounding on the wooden floor.
"Pinkie?! Where are you going?"
"I need to find Shadow!" Pinkie yelled back.
Twilight reeled in surprise, and so replied too late. "No, Pinkie! Not now! Not while he's like that!"
But the Element of Laughter was already gone, sending the door swinging madly a second time.
"Shadow! Shadow?"
Pinkie called Shadow's name for what seemed like hours. Like a fool, she checked the library first. The ebony hedgehog wasn't there. Of course he wouldn't be.
So Pinkie cantered out of the town, thundering across the bridge. She ran across the meadow, still calling Shadow's name.
And then she found him, sitting in a hunched position, knees under his chin.
Her steps slowed, and she abruptly stopped calling him. She suddenly felt self-consious and foolish, and wished she hadn't gone after him so readily. After his startling outburst in Town Hall, Pinkie wasn't sure what he'd do. What if he wanted to be left alone? What if he got angry at her for following him? What if he attacked her?
She tentatively trotted nearer. He still didn't turn his head; he didn't know Pinkie was there.
As Pinkie came closer, she noticed something strange. Shadow seemed to be still shaking, but now it was less stable and stronger, his back heaving oddly.
Then Pinkie heard something that stopped her in her tracks. Deep, pitiful sobbing.
Shadow the Hedgehog was crying.
The concept that this was even possible stunned Pinkie. He was such an emotionless individual... how could he do something like cry?
Then she noticed something else. Shadow had something in his hand. While Pinkie's invite - which for some reason he still had - was clenched carelessly in the other hand, this object was held carefully, as if Shadow didn't want to harm it.
It was a piece of paper. No, wait... not just a piece of paper. A photograph, weathered and old. And in it was the answer, the secret Pinkie had been seeking... the key to Shadow's past.
In the picture was a slightly younger Shadow. His eyes were carefree and bright, empty of the darkness and sorrow that they now contained. He was grinning all over his face, leaning into the embrace of... a human.
It was a girl. A girl with long, wavy yellow hair and big blue eyes. A girl who held Shadow so tenderly, who smiled down at him like he meant the world to her.
Pinkie Pie finally knew.
Her eyes teared up, seeing this photo and Shadow's sobbing form. "Oh Shadow..." she said, not thinking about what she was doing until it was too late.
Shadow's head snapped around. His eyes were wild and bloodshot, glistening with tears. He stared at Pinkie in surprise, which quickly changed to fury.
"PINKIE PIE?! What are you doing here?! Haven't I told you to LEAVE ME ALONE?!" He yelled. Yet his voice, while angry, was also filled with pain and sorrow.
Pinkie stood there, ears flat against her head. She had no idea how to respond.
For a while, the two just stared at each other. Then Pinkie took a leap of faith, and carefully asked a question.
"Shadow... who is that girl?"
The hedgehog was taken aback by the unexpectedly personal question. Then he roared at her, lifting a fist. "WHY YOU - "
Pinkie scrambled backwards, afraid that he would actually punch her. But instead, he did something very different.
He paused. Then he dropped the fist with a sigh. He turned back, away from Pinkie.
"Her name was Maria."
After that sentence, it all flowed out. All the bottled up memories. They all came spilling from his mouth.
"I wasn't born, like everyone else. I was created in a place in my world, called Space Colony ARK, which hovers in outer space. Maria had an illness, something called NIDS - Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. Because of this disease, Her grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, created me as a means to study immortality. He was going to use the results of the project to attempt to cure his grand daughter.
I... I became close friends with Maria. She was the only one I could talk to, spend time with. She was my guardian angel. And I... I loved her."
Shadow hugged his legs tighter. He stared at the moon.
"And then... it happened.
The Guardian Unit of Nations. They found out what was happening. They realized what a danger I could be. So they attacked the ARK. Maria... she tried to protect me. She knew they would do horrible things to me if they caught me. So she put me in a capsule against my will. She was going to send me off into deep space, in the hope that I would reach the earth.
I can still remember her face. I can still remember the last words she said to me. I can still remember the desperation in those pale blue eyes.
Then that gunman came. He told her not to pull that lever. He told her not to let me go."
Shadow's voice became hoarse. He continued to stare blankly ahead.
"I wanted to do something. I wanted to do something, anything. I wanted to scream at her not to, not to give her precious life up to save mine. But she didn't listen. She pulled the lever."
Shadow's voice was barely a whisper.
"I heard that gunshot. I watched that light fade from those beautiful blue eyes."
Only silence was in the air after that. The wind stopped blowing. The moon gazed serenely down on both hedgehog and pony, bathing them in silver light.
Pinkie Pie was stunned. She had expected a lost friend, a childhood pain, or even a failed romance. But this story... this story was beyond anything she had known.
Equestria was a place of peace and harmony. Discord's attack on the princesses, Sombra's rule over the Crystal Empire and Nightmare Moon's rebellion were, of course, hugely chaotic incidents. But now Discord was reformed, Sombra had been banished, and Luna was back.
Now that Pinkie thought about it... she realized something.
No-one had ever been killed in Equestria.
Finally, Pinkie licked her dry lips and spoke.
"Shadow, I - "
"Don't bother saying you're sorry. There was nothing anyone could do."
Shadow still didn't turn to face her. Pinkie couldn't tell if he was still silently crying, mourning his friend.
Pinkie carefully continued. "Fine then... I won't say it. But I need to ask you a question."
Shadow turned his head, just slightly. "I've already told you something I've never told anyone before." He said, a tone of aggression in his voice. "And that's because I was being weak. Don't push your luck."
Pinkie swallowed. "I... I understand that you feel terrible heartbreak for your loss. But... why then, did you wreck my party?"
Shadow was quiet for a moment, considering if he should answer the question. Finally, he sighed in defeat and pain.
"Because... because today was her birthday."
Pinkie was struck by the mental blow. He destroyed her party because it had been Maria's birthday? He must have done it because it might have resembled a birthday party... one that his beloved wasn't receiving, and would never receive.
Suddenly, Pinkie felt terrible for doing such a thing, even though she hadn't known about Shadow's secret. Instead of making him happy, she just wounded him deeper.
"Shadow... I'm - "
"I said, don't tell me you're sorry!" He snapped, whipping his head around. He had stopped crying, but now a new wave of angry tears began to stream down his cheeks. "You didn't know! No-one knows! But I feel a constant pain and hate just by being here in this... this UTOPIA!!"
"It's too perfect, too perfect after the things I've been through! You'll never know who I really am, you'll never know what it feels like to live my life! It's - It's not fair! All you've ever known is happiness, smiles, glitter and butterflies! All I've ever known is PAIN!!!"
Shadow stopped yelling. He was breathing raggedly. His eyes were like fire, flames that even he didn't know how to put out.
Pinkie was still scared, sad, and taken aback by the history and suffering the creature in front of her had been through. But now, she felt something else. Pity... and compassion.
"You're right Shadow." She said.
Now it was Shadow's turn to be taken aback. "I am?"
"Yes. It's true I'll never know what it feels like to be you, live your life, go through the things you've been through. It's true I live in a world with no hate, no fear, no pain. It's true that it's not fair. It's true I know nothing compared to you."
"But I know this much." Pinkie looked Shadow right in his eyes, crystal blue to fiery red. She put a careful but firm hoof on Shadow's hand. It stiffened at her touch, but didn't shake it off.
"You shouldn't be running from the past. You shouldn't be keeping your feelings trapped inside you. It's made you build a - a castle around yourself, an invincible stone wall... but inside that castle is the real you. Reproachful and defenceless."
"But somehow, you let me in. You've told me about your past. Has... has anyone ever heard it before?"
"No-one has ever."
"So for some reason, you told me the secret that's been chipping away at you - like parasprites to a basket of apples." Pinkie smiled weakly at her own joke.
"That's the first step you've taken into the light. You've gotta heal the wound you've taken, not just leave it open and uncared for. You've gotta mourn for her, mourn for Maria... and then move on."
Shadow stared at Pinkie Pie. He had never heard her so serious, so smart... so caring.
He realized that not only were her eyes beautiful, but... familiar. It was like turning back the clock, and seeing... Maria before him. There seemed to be another presence in the air right at that moment. As if Maria's spirit was trying to speak through this pink pony, and tell him to give life... a second chance.
Slowly, slowly, the fire died from his eyes.
"But... but how?" He asked the pink mare. "I've never done this before, I've never quite fitted in! How can I start now?"
Pinkie paused, just looking at Shadow. Then she began to smile. She squeezed his hand with her hoof.
"I'll help you."
Shadow continued staring at her. "But... I've only known you for a few days, and all through that time I despised you! How can.. how can I put my trust in you?"
Pinkie didn't even falter at this slightly hurtful sentence. She just took her hoof off Shadow's hand, and put it to her own chest.
She slowly drew a line diagonally across where her heart should be. Then she crossed it in the opposite direction. An X.
"Cross my heart..."
She lifted both hooves and fluttered them cheesily in the air.
"... Hope to fly..."
She mimed splatting something into her right eye.
"... Stick a cupcake in my eye."
Shadow looked at her in confusion. "What was that for?"
Pinkie lowered her hooves and smiled. "It's called a Pinkie Promise."
Shadow sighed, but smiled. "Of course."
Pinkie cleared her throat, and sat up straight and buisness-like. She licked her hoof and combed back her messy hair.
"I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, promise to help Shadow the Hedgehog to come out of the castle he's locked himself in. Metaphorically. I will guide him through the darkness towards the light, and heal his broken heart. Also metaphorically. And I Pinkie Promise to never let down this duty."
She broke off as her hair poofed back into shape. She giggled.
Then humor turned to surprise. She felt arms wrap around her shoulders, warm and caring.
She was stunned to find Shadow giving her a hug.
"Thank you, Pinkamena Diane Pie."
Pinkie gave a wobbly smile. Her eyes started watering with dramatic emotion. She hugged him back, and felt the first bonds of friendship form between them.
"Aww, Shadow... Once you come out of your shell, you're a real sweet softie!"
Shadow broke away from her. He was annoyed, but he was smiling all the same. "Never say that to the others."
Pinkie giggled. "Oh, I won't. I promise."
Twilight paced the floor of the library. She was worried about Pinkie. Had Shadow pushed her away? Had he yelled at her? Had he even... dared to hurt her?
She was torn between going out to find them and Shadow's need for privacy. Her pacing became more and more desperate. Finally, she let out a groan of exasperation and cantered after Pinkie. She threw open the door.
She was surprised to find Shadow and Pinkie Pie on the doorstep. Shadow... with Pinkie Pie. And even weirder... they were laughing together.
"What are you two doing?" She asked in bafflement.
Shadow noticed Twilight. He smiled at her, which was a first. He put an arm around his pink companion.
"Finally... Finally... getting along."