Shadow’s in Equestria: A Sonic the Hedgehog/MLP Crossover

by Lord Shadow Eclipse

Chapter 4

Planet Earth - With Shadow and the Rainbooms

Shadow woke up in Sunset's apartment feeling... good. Better than he'd felt in a long time. His body and spirit felt lighter and fresher than ever before. He walked into the kitchen to make breakfast for Sunset. She walked out of her bedroom wearing her pajamas.

"Good morning, Shadow. You look a bit chipper despite your neutral expression." Sunset said with a smile.

"I guess I just had a good night's sleep," Shadow said. "I genuinely feel great after our chat last night."

"Like I said, if you ever wanted to talk, I'll be more than happy to listen," Sunset said.

The pair ate breakfast together until they heard a knock at the door. Sunset opened the door and saw Juniper and Wallflower standing there with smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Shadow! Is Sunset here?" Juniper asked. "We need to talk to her about something."

"Yeah, she's here," Shadow replied. "Please come in."

Shadow led to duo to the kitchen to see Sunset. They all sat down and Shadow got to work making breakfast for them, including classic breakfast foods like eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Juniper and Wallflower were salivating at the smells coming from the kitchen.

"I think I might come here more often if there's going to be food that smells this good!" Juniper said.

"Agreed. I didn't know Shadow could be such a good cook," Wallflower acknowledged.

Shadow prepared plates for both himself and the two guests and sat down at the table to enjoy breakfast with the girls as Sunset looked to her guests.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Sunset asked.

"We found out where the Dazzlings are going to be!" Juniper replied.

"They're performing in the park tonight! We can talk to them after they perform!" Wallflower said.

This was something that made Shadow curious about who they were talking about. He ate his breakfast and looked to his new friend/roommate Sunset and asked just who the Dazzlings actually were. She shared how they were magical creatures from her world that attempted to take over their world using dark magic. Shadow took all of this in stride, making Juniper and Wallflower tilt their heads in confusion.

"You don't look surprised to hear about things like this," Wallflower said.

"I've faced demons, gods, and malicious aliens. Magic-stealing sirens doesn't bother me," Shadow said. "Besides, they remind me of a certain scientist I know back on Mobius."

"Oh, yeah? Does he try to conquer your world, too?" Sunset asked.

"Constantly. But thanks to my comrades, he's never succeeded," Shadow replied. "Still, he never gives up and is always back for another round. I oddly admire him for that."

Juniper shrugged. "Even villains can have some admirable qualities, I guess."

The girls and hedgehog finished their breakfast and Juniper and Wallflower got into Juniper's car to drive to school, leaving both Sunset and Shadow to walk. As they walked, Shadow stretched and did something he had never done since... the incident on the ARK. He bent down on one knee in front of the girl and turned to look at her.

"If you want, I can carry you to school," Shadow offered. The girl understandably looked concerned about his request.

"I may be smaller than you, but I am much stronger than I look," Shadow said with a confident smirk.

Seemingly sensing Shadow's powerful nature, Sunset allowed Shadow to hold her bridal style and turned down the street in a takeoff position.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Sunset said with a shaky voice. Shadow chuckled.

"I promise I won't go too fast," Shadow said reassuringly.

With a nod from Sunset, Shadow took off. It was one thing watching Shadow's speed when he raced down the school running track, but actually experiencing such speed for herself was another thing entirely. Everything around her was a blur and the wind in her hair felt great. A sense of euphoria was beginning to wash over her until Shadow abruptly stopped. Sunset opened her eyes to see that they've arrived at school. Her friends were shocked to see them arrive so quickly.

Shadow set Sunset up on her feet, which threatened to buckle under her. She righted herself and smoothed her now windswept hair.

"Did you enjoy your ride over here, Sunset?" Rainbow asked with a smirk.

"It was... certainly an experience I'll never forget," Sunset replied with a slight slur.

Applejack turned her attention to Shadow with a look that said that she was impressed with him. "You must have a strong set of arms on ya if you can carry Sunset all the way here."

"It's fine. Sunset hardly weighs anything to me," Shadow said.

"I'm certainly happy to hear that," Sunset said. "How much can you lift, anyway?"

"I can lift over a thousand pounds," Shadow replied.

There was no way the girls expected a three-foot anthropomorphic hedgehog to lift that much weight. Shadow simply crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought.

"The last time I ever carried someone was my best friend from Mobius. She always liked me carrying her whenever I went for my daily runs," Shadow said.

"You have a best friend?" Pinkie asked.

"Had. I had a best friend," Shadow replied. "She's... in a better place now."

It was all too clear what Shadow was implying here. The girls stood in silence for a bit until the school bell rang, prompting the girls and hedgehog to head inside. Shadow's mind was now too focused on Maria to really pay attention to what most of the teachers were saying until he went to gym class with Rainbow Dash.

*****

In the School's Track Field

Shadow was eager to begin running with the other students. He thought that a good run would take his mind off Maria for a while, especially since Rainbow Dash was there with him. She reminded him too much of Sonic to ignore her, and he knew that they would get along great if Sonic was on Earth with him.

The coach of the gym class, Spitfire, blew her whistle and spoke with all the authority of a drill sergeant.

"OK, class! Line up at the start so we can begin the running course!" Spitfire said before looking at Shadow. "Our newest transfer student will be joining us today, so treat him with fairness and respect!"

"Hmm. She's... surprisingly nice under that soldier's exterior. I like her," Shadow thought to himself. Rainbow took a position next to Shadow on his right.

"You ready for a race, hedgehog?" Rainbow asked competitively.

"I never back down from a challenge," Shadow shot back.

Spitfire lifted a hand in the air and dropped it down to signal the run. Shadow and Rainbow took off like bullets. While the rest of the students were running at normal human speeds, the rainbow speedster and the alien hedgehog were zooming by as blurs. Shadow smirked as he skated beside Rainbow.

"Hmph! You're reasonably fast for a human, I suppose," Shadow said.

"You're pretty quick yourself, for a hedgehog from another planet," Rainbow fired back.

The two racers were on the verge of breaking the sound barrier when they heard Spitfire blow her whistle. Shadow and Rainbow stopped running and looked to see Spitfire smiling at them.

"I can understand having fun in gym class, but maybe don't make a sonic boom while we're all here?" Spitfire asked with a chuckle.

"My apologies. I suppose we got caught up in the excitement," Shadow said.

Shadow and Rainbow went back to their regular classes and joined the rest of the Rainbooms for the day. Shadow knew that the plan was for Sunset, Juniper, and Wallflower to go talk to the Dazzlings after their performance in the park tonight. He thought about joining them in case things don't turn out too well. Shadow also thought that he could join them at some point. If the group was made up of former villains, then maybe they'd accept him no matter what. Besides, Sunset had Maria's loving spirit, so he knew he could trust her.

Author's Note:

If you all enjoy this story so far, then I know you'll absolutely adore the sequel I have planned! I'll give you a hint for the planned sequel:

The path to destruction is born from the cradle of pain
A poor soul's thunderstorm can be washed away by a calming rain

You wanna guess what the sequel's gonna be about?