Dear Maria,

by CalmHeart

The Pink Mare

Dear Maria,

Yesterday went well. She is definitely a more bubbly, spunky person. Last night I considered gaining the assistance of her to find the emerald. I'd think she'd agree.

...

I like her.

This place is nice as well, warm and colorful. Harmonious, I would like to think.

Today we're going out to find the emerald. We probably won't, but at least I'd be getting to know her better, which I know is something you would want me to do.

Love,

Shadow

---

Shadow stood on the tree branch, watching the sunrise. It was a very beautiful one. Shadow let himself smile.

The wonders of the Earth.

Well, not his Earth.

He hopped down, and decided to take a brisk run though one of the forests before heading to town.

It was autumn, and the leaves looked ready to fall. As he sped by, some of the leaves fell loose, and onto the ground below.

Shadow was enjoying his time here. It really was a place one could kick back and relax, forgetting their troubles. But he knew that can't last for long.

Shadow had been so deep in thought that he didn't realize that he had wondered back into Ponyville.

Pinkie trotted out of the bakery, with an extra hop in her step. She wanted to know more about her new friend, plus she had to buy some more supplies for her party cave, and the bakery.

As if on cue, Shadow skated by. Pinkie saw him, and grinned wide. She started running after him.

When she had caught up with him, she beamed.

"Why are we running?"

Shadow's thoughts were shattered by her high, bubbly voice.

He stopped dead in his tracks, and blinked. He glanced around, and quickly realized he was back in Ponyville. He turned to his side to see Pinkie Pie smiling at him. Her joyful eyes stole his breath, for one vulnerable moment.

"Pinkie Pie. How-"

"I just saw you running through town, so I wanted to come say hi!"

Shadow was going to ask how she had caught up so fast, but he decided to drop it.

"So... You going somewhere?" He pointed to the satchel on her back, marked with the same symbol as her cutie mark.

"Oh! I was just headed out to buy more baking and party supplies! You wanna join?"

Shadow crossed his arms, and thought about it.

"Well.. I was going to look for that Chaos Emerald, but if you could help me, we would be able to find it much faster."

Pinkie Pie grinned from ear to ear.

"Great! I'll help you! But first, we have supplies to pick up!"

---

"You're a baker for a living?"

Shadow grabbed the sack of sugar Pinkie just bought, and slung it onto his shoulder. Pinkie thanked the vendor, and answered his question.

"Yes, but my main profession is professional party planning."

They were walking down along the Ponyville marketplace, just having bought the last bakery supplies Pinkie needed. To Shadow's confusion and surprise, she had managed to store all the supplies she needed in her satchel. The only reason he was carrying this bag was to lighten the load, although Pinkie had said it wasn't a big deal.

"Really? Is party planning a lucrative business in Equestria?"

"Sort of. But party planners don't do it for the profits."

She stopped by the streamer stand, and smiled at the owner. The stallion smiled back, and handed her some pink streamers.

She paused the conversation, and spoke to the worker.

"You have black and red streamers? I'm looking to branch out my color palette. " She looked over to Shadow when saying that last sentence, with a playful grin.

Shadow was curious at her sudden reference to him, and raised a brow.

Pinkie giggled.

"Hey you might use them too sometime, who knows?"

Shadow scrunched his lips together, holding a smile back.

Pinkie Pie giggled again as the vendor handed her the streamers.

"I see you trying to hold back that smile Shadow. You can't hide that from me."

Shadow shook his head, and he let a smirk escape.

"Shut up."

Pinkie laughed, and the two walked away from the streamer vendor.

"As I was saying, you don't just plan parties for money. I do it to make others happy, and to see them smile."

Shadow was back to a neutral face, and he nodded with thought.

'Hmm... Now where have I herd that before?...'

He stared forward, as Pinkie walked up to the balloon vendor.

He was silent for a good time, and when Pinkie finally noticed, she grew curious. Though, she didn't say anything and continued talking to the vendor.

Pinkie gathered the deflated balloons, and put them in her satchel. Suddenly Shadow spoke.

"How are you doing that?"

Now Pinkie Pie was confused. "Hm? What do you mean?"

Shadow took a deep breath, and let his thoughts flow.

"Well, how are you making me smile right now, and by that same token, how are you making me talk to you so casually? If I'm being blunt, I am never like this, not even around my close friends. Usually I am quite quiet, and intimidating. It would be a rare sight to see any emotion in me. But when I'm with you, all that goes away. So, I guess my biggest question would be this: How, how am I so comfortable being with you?"

Suddenly, Shadow silenced himself, his eyes wide. He didn't mean to let that much out. He sighed, and looked down to the ground, quickly feeling very bashful.

"See what I mean?" He spoke barely a whisper, not wanting to look at her.

Pinkie Pie was fascinated, her eyes full of wonder and curiosity. She had just been subject to Shadow the Hedgehog pouring his heart out to someone for the first time. She stared at Shadow for a minute, not responding. It was clear that he was embarrassed by the ordeal. Then, Pinkie smiled.

"I have that effect on a lot of ponies. My destiny is to make others happy after all. That's why my cutiemark is what it is. Honestly, I don't know why I seem to be effecting you so much, but I have a feeling that you already know the answer to that question. "

Shadow was about to speak again when he realized something.

'Maria..'

Pinkie gave off the same energy as his friend did from long ago. That's why.

He suddenly gave a small smile, making Pinkie Pie gasp with happiness.

"I wondered how long you were going to hide that smile from me!"

Shadow chuckled.

"Yeah. Me too."

The two talked along the rest of the trip, really enjoying their time.

Finally, they reached Sugarcube corner. Pinkie guided Shadow to the back door, directly leading into the kitchen. Pinkie bounced in, Shadow following behind.

"Just leave the bag of sugar on the counter, will put it away for us."

He placed the bag on the counter, as Pinkie took her satchel off to dump the baking contents.

Shadow's eyes wandered around the kitchen, waiting patiently for Pinkie to finish whatever she was doing.

Finally, Pinkie Pie spoke, and Shadow turned his head to her.

"Alrighty, let me go upstairs to drop off these party supplies!"

He followed her into the main store room, and decided to browse the store's displays as Pinkie bounced up to her room. He observed sweets ranging from sugary candy, to chocolates, to baked goods. He was thinking about how long they would be searching for that emerald today. It was already afternoon, and it would take a while to even figure out where it could be.

He suddenly herd the front door to the shop unlock, and he turned to see who it was.

Mr. and Ms. Cake walked in, with the twins fast asleep on their backs. Shadow stood straight as spoke.

"Oh. I didn't know we having someone over."

Shadow composed himself, and cleared his throat.

"I'm a friend of Pinkie's. She let me in though the back."

Mr. Cake relaxed, and Ms. Cake smiled.

"Oh, alright. Well, make yourself comfortable. I'm sure she'll be back down in a minute."

Shadow nodded, and continued to peruse his options.

After a while, he had picked a few confections:

White chocolate covered brownies, some assorted taffies, and a bag of cotton candy.

Ms. Cake had noticed the potential costumer in him, and stood at the counter, waiting. Shadow suddenly realized something.

He turned to Ms. Cake just as Pinkie Pie came down the stairs.

"Oh. I don't have this world's currency on me."

Pinkie beamed, and walked out of the clerk space.

"It's on the house, right?"

Ms. Cake just smiled, and waved her hoof.

"Sure, just make sure you have some bits next time, alright dear?"

Shadow nodded.

"Yes m'am. I will."

Pinkie bounced up next to him as they left.

---

"I've searched the entire town, and the surrounding forests here. But it doesn't seem to be anywhere around."

Shadow held a bag of random food items, most of which were of Pinkie's choosing. He had assumed that they would be searching for a while, so he got food, just in case. He was telling Pinkie about his his search for the emerald. And he was running of places to search.

"Have you tried the remains of the Tree of Harmony?" Pinkie suggested.

"Tree of Harmony?" Shadow was intrigued, and glanced at Pinkie, just as the two were strolling out of town.

"Well, it was planted by the Pillars a long time ago, and then it grew and produced the Elements of Harmony, which me and my friends used to protect Equestria from evil until they were destroyed, along with the tree."

Now Shadow was even more curious, and had many questions.

"Elements of Harmony?'

And so, Pinkie explained, in her bubbly way, what the elements are, how they came to be, and who represents them. They started walking along the Everfree Forest path, making sure to stay on track. Shadow was told that the Everfree was a mysterious and dangerous place, so he was cautious in his movements. At times, talking with Pinkie almost made him forget that.

---

"So, you're the Element of Laughter?"

They were nearing the Castle of the Two Sisters, and by that same token, the tree. Shadow was now interested in her element that she had previously mentioned a moment ago.

Pinkie skipped along as she talked. "Yes indeedy! The Element of Laughter represents happiness, and of course, laughter!"

Shadow nodded.

"Yes, I can see why you were destined to be it."

Pinkie giggled.

"Thank you! Oh, we're here!"

The two had stopped at the top of a long set of stairs, leading down into a ravine that held broken pieces of crystal.

"Let's get searching!"

---

"Anything?"

Shadow's voice was muffed by the apple he was currently eating, his attention going from the tree's ruins to Pinkie whom was kneeling by a small rock.

"Wait, wait-!"

She lifted up the rock, but kept smiling.

"Nope, this place is emp-ty!"

Shadow rolled his eyes, and swallowed.

"Obviously."

His gaze was brought back to the shattered ruins as Pinkie bounced over to him.

He didn't say anything, he just starred at it.

Pinkie tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it?"

Shadow sighed, taking another bite of the apple.

He spoke when he finished chewing.

"It's-"

He swallowed, and frowned.

"It just feels so... Sad to look at. This was where the everlasting power of this world's peace keeping objects were created and stored. How could they be broken so easily?"

Pinkie smiled.

"Twilight had to realize multiple times over that the Elements of Harmony were not the jewels, they were us. And always has been. United in friendship."

Shadow was surprised at that response, and turned to Pinkie. Although, he kept a neutral face.

He was silent for a minute, making Pinkie Pie curious as to what he was thinking about. She awaited his response with a patient look.

"That was really insightful of you Pinkie."

Pinkie cracked a huge grin, feeling a small pink blush on her cheeks.

"Heh, thanks Shady!"

Shadow chuckled at this new nickname.

"Shady?"

"Yeah, isn't a good nickname? I have nicknames for most of my friends, and-"

Shadow suddenly noticed something glowing in the rubble, and tuned out Pinkie's conversation, reaching over the rubble to grab it.

Pinkie had noticed his attention shift, and soon stopped talking as he pulled out what was glowing.

Shadow's eyes were wide with shock. What he held was a Chaos Emerald. But not the green one he'd always carry around. No.

This was the red emerald.

He turned to Pinkie with the emerald.

Pinkie Pie gasped with wonder.

"Is that one of your Chaos Emeralds?"

"Yes, it is..."

Shadow's voice was now filled with concern, and his voice trailed off as he stared at it.

Pinkie began to smile, until she registered the concern in his voice, and what little of that emotion could be seen on his face. She frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Shadow gulped.

"This.. Is not the emerald I brought here."

Pinkie gasped.

"What? What does this mean?"

Shadow closed his eyes.

"The other emeralds... They might be here... But.."

"How?"

Pinkie finished his thought, making Shadow open his eyes to her. He smirked.

"Don't be finishing my sentences all the time Pinks."

He suddenly realized the name he had called her, and turned away.

He felt embarrassment, and a small blush, creeping up on him.

"Pinks, huh?"

Pinkie felt that he was embarrassed.

She smiled.

"I like it! No pony's called me that nickname before!"

Shadow turned back to her, and gave a small smile.

"Pinks it is then. You have your nickname, and I have mine."

He started walking away from the ruins, and Pinkie followed close behind.

Shadow was then thrust deep into thought as he let his feet carry him to his sleeping tree.

'Did the other emeralds sense the green emerald was missing? Did I teleport more than one emerald to this world?'

Another thought occurred to him.

'Do.. Do the others know about this? Could... They be here in Equestria? They don't even know where I am...

I hope everyone's alright. Especially Rouge and Omega..'

He slowly came to a stop in front of the tree. It was late evening, and sun had sank halfway from the sky.

He starred at the sunset, and it calmed him and his turbulent thoughts.

"So you sleep in this tree?"

Shadow nearly jumped. He turned to see Pinkie standing on the branch he slept on.

Shadow blinked. "You followed me here?"

"You never told me to leave."

Shadow simply nodded. He could not argue with that. Pinkie hopped down, and watched the sunset with him.

They both were quiet for a time, in a comfortable silence.

"Looks like I'm going to be in this world for a while."

Pinkie beamed.

"That's great! We'll get to know each other more!"

Shadow chuckled, but did not reply. He turned back to a straight face, and looked up to the tree.

"I might want to find a more suitable sleeping place."

Pinkie gasped happily.

"You could stay with me!"

Shadow blinked in surprise, and turned around to face her.

"What?"

"Yeah, come on, it would be so fun!"

Shadow shook his head.

"I don't know Pinkie. I don't want to intrude in your personal life."

Pinkie frowned.

"Awwww, please? I could even get you part time at Sugarcube comer, so you would an income while you're here, since Ms. Cake mentioned it. She's always in need of extra hooves!"

Shadow thought about it.

'Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt.. Pinks doesn't seem to mind how close people get to her life...'

"...Okay then."

Pinkie beamed, and suddenly gave Shadow a hug.

"Yay! It's going to be so fun!"

Shadow flinched. He still wasn't used to this. But he now considered that he might have to. He sighed, and looked out over Ponyville, allowing himself a small smile.

"Sure."