> I'll Run Anywhere with You
>  by PinkieDashLover
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Secret Is Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonic trudged down the streets of Ponyville, his eyes downcast, ears flat against his head, and his heart sunken. He wasn't completely sure where his legs were taking him, but he didn't really care. The blue blur hadn't felt this depressed in a long time, he couldn't even remember why he had been sad back then.
Before he could even realize it, there was the chime of a bell and the scent of fresh baked goods and sweets filled Sonic's nose. It finally dawned on the blue hedgehog that he had walked into SugarCube Corner, he guessed that this was where his feet wanted him to be, so he searched for an empty table. Once finding one, Sonic didn't waste time in sitting down, and allowing his head to slump onto the table.
"Nice going Sonic," Sonic thought with a sigh, "You once again lost your nerve and booked it before telling him how you felt, and to think you're supposed to be the fearless hero. Guess that's a lie"
"HIYA SONIC!!" A high-pitched voice broke into Sonic's thoughts. He looked up and saw a pink earth-pony and white unicorn trotting over to him, he didn't bother to put on a fake smile for them.
"Hey Pinkie. Hey Rarity," The blue hero grunted, addressing the pink earth-pony first then the white unicorn.
Rarity reacted to Sonic's sadness immediently when she asked, "Darling, whatever is the matter?"
Sonic lifted his head slightly and answered with, "I tried to confess my feelings for someone, but I lost it and got out of there was fast as I could."
"Awww," Pinkie said, putting her hoof on Sonic's hand, "still couldn't tell Shadow that you love him? Don't worry Sonic, you'll be able to do it next time."
Sonic shot up like a rocket while Rarity's face froze, "WHAT!?" they both shouted at the same time.
Pinkie looked at both of their dumbfounded expressions and asked in an almost innocent tone, "What?"
"Wha-......How-.......When did you figure this out!?" Sonic demanded, still in shock that Pinkie had said his secret out loud.
The party pony tilted her head, "I thought it was pretty obvious when you're always smiling when he's around, that you always praise him to us when he isn't around, not to mention that one when I caught you staring at Shadow's-"
"Alright!" Sonic snapped, his face turning a brilliant shade of scarlet.
Rarity looked over a Sonic and smiled, "Oh Sonic, there is no reason to be embarrassed," she said, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with loving someone of the same gender."
Sonic gave a small - real - smile, but shook his head, "No, it's not that Rarity," he sighed, "It's that I can't seem to tell him the truth, I just run away and beat myself up for not telling Shadow my love for him."
Both Rarity and Pinkie thought for a moment, before Rarity brightened and sang, "Idea!🎵"
Sonic and Pinkie looked at the white unicorn and gave her questioning looks, then Sonic asked slowly, "Rarity, what are you thinking?"
Rarity looked at Sonic with a large grin and a sparkle in her eyes, "Why I'm thinking that we're going to help you confess your feelings to Shadow!" she cheered.
The blue blur's jaw fell open, "What? No! You don't have to do that!" he exclaimed in a rush, "I'm sure I'll muster up enough courage to tell Shadow how I feel one day."
Rarity rolled her eyes, then her brow fell straight, "Oh come now Sonic," she argued, "you've been in love with that black hedgehog for goodness knows how long and you always lose your nerve. Do you really think you can muster up some courage on your own after all this time has passed?"
Sonic opened his mouth to retort, but upon realizing that she was right, he closed it. This was rewarded with a triumphant yet somewhat smug smile from Rarity.
"Yeah!" Pinkie suddenly shouted, making the blue hedgehog and white unicorn to jump and look at her, "You don't have to worry any longer Sonic! We'll help you tell Shadow the truth! Then the two of you will live happily ever after!"
Sonic gave the two ponies a grateful smile, "Thanks girls, I don't think I could have asked to better friends to help me out with this," he replied, then added, "But if we're going to start planning, can we do it somewhere more private?"
Pinkie nodded vigorously, then a large lever appeared from no where right next to the party pony, "Sure thing, we'll go to my Party Planning Cave!" she exclaimed.
Then, Pinkie pulled the lever and the three of them slid down into the Party Cave to start brainstorming on ideas to help Sonic with his problem.


The moment the three of them made it down there, they each took a seat on one of the cupcake chairs and leaned on the table in the middle.
"Alright Sonic," Rarity said firmly, putting her front hooves on the table, "why don't we start off with you telling us why you love Shadow and what you love about him. That way we'll be able to think of plans that will appeal with Shadow more while hinting your own feelings for him in the process."
Sonic paused for a moment, then began to think about all the things he loved about Shadow. When they all came to him, he explained it with, "Well, I love Shadow because he's really mysterious and hard to figure out. It makes to me want to become closer to him and understand him more, he's always keeping to himself and I want to help him truly open up to at least one person. He's also super brave, almost always diving head-first into action when it's needed, and never letting up when the odds are against us. I also love how straightforward and to-the-point he is when he talks, it's nice to have someone who doesn't beat around the bush when we're trying to give bad news. And the last big thing I can think of are those eyes, while Shads may not know it, he has some of the most expressive eyes that I've ever seen. They always show when Shadow is upset about something, and I always confront him about. And that's it, that's why I love Shadow."
When Sonic finished, both Rarity and Pinkie Pie had tears in their eyes.
"Awwwww!!" They both squealed in delight with huge gins on their faces, making Sonic blush.
"That was so romantic!!" Rarity gushed, "I had no idea you had this side to you Sonic."
"Yeah," Pinkie agreed, "That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say!"
Sonic blushed madly, making him cover his face, "Thanks," he mumbled, "now can we start brainstorming on ideas for me to tell Shadow how I fell?"
The two ponies nodded, and they all began sharing their ideas. And in truth, Sonic had ever felt more eager to tell Shadow his feelings now that he had help from two great friends.
> Chapter 2: Playing it Cool
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, this plan is pretty simple, but I personally think it's the most likely to fail," Sonic said as he looked over a bush at Shadow, who was leaning against a tree alone with his eyes closed.
"Oh darling, don't start thinking bad now," Rarity said, putting a hoof on Sonic's shoulder, "You won't know of the plan works until we try, and if it doesn't we'll try again with a different plan."
"Yeah," Sonic began, "but still-"
"Nonsense!" Rarity interrupted, stamping her hoof and staring the blue hedgehog dead in the eye, "You are going out there and sticking with the plan!"
"Yeah! Don't worry Sonic!" Pinkie said, hopping up next to Rarity, "We have more plans to try out of this one is a bust."
Sonic took a deep breath, "Yeah, you're right," he agreed, "If this plan backfires, then we get back up and try again. Like a ball bouncing against a wall."
Rarity gave the blue blur a confident smile, "That's the spirit!" she cheered, then she levitated a flower over to Sonic, "Now go get him!"
Sonic nodded, then he ran over to Shadow, jumped a little while doing a 180, and skidded right in front of Shadow. Who's eyes snapped open.
"Heya Shadow," Sonic greeted, sniffing the flower lightly.
"What do you want Sonic?" Shadow growled, clearly unhappy about Sonic interrupting whatever he was doing.
"What? Can't a hedgehog hang out with one of his good friends?" Sonic asked in his usual cocky attitude, however, if anyone were to listen closely, they could hear the faintest outline of nervousness in the blue hedgehog's voice.
Shadow narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
"After all," Sonic continued, sniffing the flower, "you're so busy being your awesome self, you barely have time for your friends."
"Wow that sounded so much better in my head," Sonic thought to himself, "Why did I say it again?"
Shadow blinked, then slowly approached the blue hedgehog. Sonic himself tried his best to not blush like mad, meanwhile, out of the corner of his eye Sonic could see Rarity and Pinkie Pie with the biggest grins on their faces.
"Sonic," Shadow asked almost gently, "are you feeling alright? You don't seem like yourself today."
Sonic's attempt at not blushing failed, "U-um, well," he stammered, his heart thundering in his chest, "y-you see....I..."
He trailed off when the two locked eyes, and Sonic found himself lost in those crimson windows. In there Sonic could see not just slight concern for him, but all kinds of emotions: Faint happiness of being alive, the longing to go home, and even the suppressed sorrow from the past. But deep under all that, Sonic saw....something else. Sonic was about to make an attempt to dig deeper for that emotion, but suddenly irritation erupted in the ruby irises and Sonic snapped back into reality.
"Sonic!" Shadow snapped, grabbing Sonic by the shoulder and preparing to shake him, "What's wrong?"
"Huh!? Oh! Nothing! Bye!" Sonic called as he ripped free of Shadow's grasp and took off towards Ponyville. Rarity and Pinkie soon leaping out of their hiding place and following him.



Sonic let out an exasperated sigh as he slumped down against the wall of Pinkie's Party Planning Cave, disappointed in himself for letting the plan backfire so hard on him.
"Wow Sonic," Pinkie said, hopping over to the blue blur alone (as Rarity had to head back to Carousel Boutique), "that was a pretty good first try with our help. Though next time try not to lose your nerve that fast."
"Actually, I didn't really bail just because of my nerves," Sonic corrected, looking over at the party pony, "I got lost in Shadow's eyes for a few moments, and it made me forget what I was even doing there. Then I remembered and high-tailed it."
Pinkie gave a small giggle, "Anyway, I have a new plan that is sure to end in sugary-sweet success!" she announced, "And you won't have to talk directly to Shadow!"
Sonic's ears perked up in interest, "Really now, and what plan would that be?" he asked.
Pinkie ginned super wide, "Isn't tomorrow Shadow's birthday?" she questioned in an almost sly voice.
Sonic nodded, slowly catching on with the new plan.
Pinkie Pie turned around and started to hop up to the kitchen, "Then let's get baking!🎵" she sang.
And with that, the two of them headed up to the kitchen to start baking.
> Bonus Chapter: Shadow's Birthday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonic could only watchin amazement as Pinkie Pie worked her magic with baking, tossing in each and every ingredient with ease and precision that nearly dumbfounded the blue speedster. She rarely asked for Sonic's help, which he didn't mind that much, after all no pony could bake a cake better than Pinkie.
"Hey Sonic," The party pony suddenly called, making Sonic snap back to attention, "think you could open the oven for me?"
"Oh sure!" Sonic said, before hurrying over to the pre-heated oven and carefully opening it.
Pinkie put the red velvet cake into the oven, shut it, and looked back at Sonic, "This plan is super-duper simple!" she told him, "All you have to do is send him this cake, write a note telling Shadow how you feel about him, and BOOM! You two will live happily ever after!"
Sonic rolled his eyes, but didn't dare protest as he knew Pinkie would have some sort of comeback, even if it didn't make any sense at all. He gave Pinkie a small smile and just went along with her silliness.
About 30 minutes later, the timer for the cake started going off and Pinkie took it out of the oven.
"There we go," Pinkie said, wiping sweat off of her brow, "Now all we need is the note."
Sonic nodded, and ran off to write the note.



The Next Day...
Shadow sat comfortably on the couch of his temporary home in Ponyville ready a mystery novel, but froze when he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door, set to the beat of "Believer" by Imagine Dragons. That was odd; No one visited him at this time, not even Sonic.
"I'm coming!" He snapped at the door, slowly walking over to it. However, when Shadow opened the door, no one was there. The only thing there was a package.
"Hmm?" He hummed in question, picking up the box and bringing it inside, "What's this?"
With a small sense of cation, Shadow opened the package. Inside was box, was a red velvet cake and a note; written on the cake in black icing was, "Happy Birthday Shadow!"
Shadow was speechless, so he simply picked up the note and started reading it.

Dear Shadow,
There isn't a great way for me to say this, so I'm just gonna put it all in one sentence: I love you Shadow, and you mean the world to me.

The note hadn't been signed, but Shadow smiled anyway, already knowing who wrote it. He closed the box with the cake and looked out the window, seeing Sonic running to SugarCube Corner.
"Love you too Sonic," He said sincerely, "Can't wait for you to finally confess to me face-to-face."