> Dear Maria,
>  by CalmHeart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Surprises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

It's been... A long time since I had written to you. I just needed to tell you...

I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be.

I have found myself in a strange land, inhabited by talking, candy colored, ponies. (My opinion, they look more like horses.)

I met a pony. She's an inch taller than me, dark fuchsia mane and tail, pink body. She has balloons on her flank. (Apparently they're called cutie marks.) Her name was Pinkie Pie.

She was overly happy and nice to me. Didn't seem to care that I was a hedgehog. No one has ever treated me with such a level of unconditional compassion since yourself. I'm going to befriend her. She's asked me to come over to her place tomorrow to tell her more about myself. Should I be as open to her as with you?

...Why does she remind me of you?

I don't know. I'm just going to be myself for now. Maybe...

I could have another friend as kind as you were.

Love, Your best friend and brother,

Shadow the Hedgehog





Shadow approached the brown and pink cupcake looking building, known as Sugarcube corner. He was curious, about her. She just seemed different than anybody else he'd met before.

He stood at the door, and inhaled. He knocked on the door.

The door cracked a sliver, but no one answered.

Shadow sighed, and opened the door.

It was unusually empty inside, and a little dark. This confused Shadow.

'She said that she'd be here...'

Suddenly, lights came on, and the chaos of a party sounded. Some ponies were cheering surprise, some blew party favors, and music started to play. Confetti had exploded out of every corner, and tables of confections had grown up from the ground.

"Surprise!"

Shadow was not expecting this. He stood there with a blank face, not knowing what to think.

This time a bubbly voice shouted in front of him.

"Surprise!"

Shadow blinked, coming back from his surprise.

The pony in front of him was the pink, cheery Pinkie Pie.

"I threw this party just for you! Ooh, I just knew you needed one! Are you surprised?"

He looked at the pink mare, and gave a simple response.

"Very. Although, when you said we'll talk later, I wasn't expecting you to drag half this town with you."

He glanced around the room, and noted how many ponies were in the space.

Pinkie giggled and turned to look at her guests.

"It's what I do." She turned back to him. "You aren't cranky about it, right?"

Shadow shook his head.

"No, no. I'm not. Just a little overwhelmed."

Pinkie Pie beamed. "Good. Cause' it looked like you needed some surprise!" Shadow eyed a table of confections, and realized he was quite hungry.

He began walking to the table, Pinkie not leaving his side.

"So, how did you get here? Are you from a different part of Equestria? Maybe from across the sea! Ooh, or, or!-"

"You remember that emerald I asked you about?" Shadow interjected, reaching the table and grabbing the nearest sweet, which was a brownie.

"Uh huh, and I said I didn't see it, silly!" She giggled.

"Well, it's called a Chaos Emerald. Where I come from, they are the most powerful objects in the world." He explained calmly before taking a bite of the brownie.

Pinkie gasped with joy.

"You're from another universe where there are 7 of these emerald thingys, and you used one to teleport and you ended up in this universe, now having to find it so you can get home!?"

Shadow nearly choked on the brownie. How could she have known?

He swallowed, and stared at her.

"How did you know that?"

Pinkie Pie beamed.

"Just a hunch."

She hopped away from him, leaving Shadow with a lot of questions that would not be answered.

Shadow stayed long after, watching the other guests leave one by one.

He had met Pinkie's 5 best friends, and had decided that they were trustworthy. She seemed to really value her friends, all of them, which he had to assume was also the entire town.

Shadow had to give it to her, that was impressive. How could you make an entire town like you?

Pinkie waved the last guest goodbye, and turned to see Shadow deep in thought, his eyes closed and arms crossed. Pinkie Pie beamed.

"So? How was it? It wasn't bad at all, huh?"

Shadow dropped his arms and stared at her.

"It was alright. I'm not much for parties and being social though."

Pinkie giggled and hopped over next to him.

"You remind me of Fluttershy! Albeit, a darker one at that."

Shadow glanced at her, then turned away.

"Yeah. I get that a lot. The dark tone I mean."

This had been said of him by many on multiple occasions, so it didn't really effect him.

But Pinkie seemed to notice a shift of emotion in him. She kept on a big smile.

"Don't worry about it! I meant it in a good way, like dark as in mature, or something!"

He almost wanted to smile at that. Her overly sweet demeanor was something to be amazed by.

Suddenly, she gave him a big hug.

"I'll make you break out of your shell yet, and maybe even get a smile on that face!"

Shadow blushed with embarrassment. He wasn't expecting a hug, but he knew that he should have, considering her personality.

He gently pushed her away.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

He started toward the door, Pinkie trailing behind.

Shadow stopped, and turned. Pinkie smiled innocently.

"I still haven't gotten a smile from you!"

Shadow rolled his eyes, and turned, smirking.

Pinkie gasped happily. "Yay! I saw that smile!"

Shadow felt his smirk turn more into a smile.

"That was a smirk. Not a smile."

He walked out the door, Pinkie standing in the doorway.

"Well I'm counting that!"

Shadow allowed himself to quietly chuckle.

"Whatever."

Pinkie watched him walk away. Perhaps a little too long.

She blushed lightly, and chuckled to herself.

"Come on Pinkie, you have got to stop starring off into space."





Shadow spent the rest of the day searching for the emerald in and out of the town. He didn't find it, but he did find someplace to sleep. By now, it was dark, and the sky was a dark indigo-violet color.

The sleeping place was a single slumped tree, looking over the entire town. He climbed up the tree, and laid upon a slumped branch.

He stared up at the stars, pondering multiple things.

Where the emerald had gone, why he was brought here, how to get back...

"Pinkie Pie seems nice."

He didn't know where that came from. Though, he didn't seem to mind.

'Huh.'

He put his hands behind his head.

"Maybe this won't be so hard."
> 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."
> Explosive Entrances and Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

What a turn around this has been. I now am great friends with Pinkie, and she even let me stay at her home.

Things are actually quite pleasant.

Although, the Chaos Emeralds...

It's still bothering me that the red one is here. What could it mean?

...I guess I'll have to find that out then. I hope you're doing well. I'm very lucky to have made such a close friend this fast here. Especially somepony like Pinkie.

Love,

Shadow





It had been a week since Shadow had settled into the Cake household. He had learned much about Equestrian culture, and had started working at the shop. Pinkie had insisted on him sleeping in her room, even though he objected to it. It was too personal for him. But still, He had a small bed on the other side of the room, near the stairs. They had become quite the pair of friends, fascinating many ponies in Ponyville, even Pinkie's best friends. But they didn't mind, and seemed to understand their friendship.

On this particular morning, Shadow had finished buying some baking supplies for Mr.Cake, whom was planning a new recipe alongside his wife. He walked along, his destination being the cupcake building.

Shadow respected the couple, and their dedication to baking and each other.

It was quite, for lack of a better term, sweet.

He had also met their twin foals, and yes, they were chaotic. But nothing he and Pinkie couldn't handle.

Ah, yes. Pinkie Pie.

He had grown quite fond of the pink mare, and quickly had gained respect for her shortly after moving in. She really did want to make as many happy as she could. He had seen it these last few days, and he was actually quite curious about it. How did she find so much happiness in life?

Oh, how his allies and friends would react to them...

Actually, scratch that. He really wouldn't want others to know about it.

...Yet.

Pinkie opened the door to Sugarcube Corner, and inhaled deeply. It was shaping up to be a great day.

She heard the approaching swiftness of her friend, and smiled her iconic smile.

Shadow stopped in front of her, and flashed a quick smile.

"Good morrow, Ms. Pie."

Pinkie giggled, grabbing the bag of supplies Shadow handed her.

"Being all formal today, are we Mr. Shady?"

Shadow stifled a laugh. The nickname had grown on him quite a bit, and at times the way she used it made him want to laugh. He continued to play along.

"Hm, why, yes indeed. It seems I've run into quite a predicament, and had not produced the exact quantity of items needed to be acquired."

Pinkie gasped.

"WHAT?!"

Shadow gave out a genuine laugh. "I'm just kidding, I got everything."

Pinkie gasped again, this time with happiness.

"You.. Just.. Laughed! And gave a joke!" She laughed with joy, and bounced around. Shadow chuckled.

"You must be rubbing off on me."

Pinkie stopped hopping around, and brought in the supplies. Shadow crossed his arms and stood outside for a moment, observing the townsfolk. Suddenly, he felt something. Something very familiar. He stood straight, and uncrossed his arms.

The wind started to pick up. A rip in the sky had appeared. Shadow was now concerned.

And just like that, chaos broke loose.

A big mech had crashed into the town, near the park. It was futuristic, and wacky. In an instant, Shadow knew who it was. He knew what had just happened. And just like that, he jumped into action, and ran towards the commotion. Pinkie was walking back when she saw Shadow run off.

"Sha-"

She then saw what he was running to, and she saw small figures falling out of the sky. Shadow had also seen the figures, and had recognized them.

Pinkie's eyes widened.

"Uh-oh..."





Sonic grunted in pain as he slowly made his way to a standing position.

When he opened his eyes, the world seemed brighter than usual.

Then, he saw some colorful ponies running around. He was confused, but right now, he had to direct his attention to Eggman, who was laughing manically.

"Welcome to Equestria my spiky blue fiend! I found this little place a while back, shortly after Shadow's little disappearance. It's filled with limitless power, and I intend to harness that power!"

Sonic turned to look around, and saw that, yes indeed, he was in another world. He saw his other friends trying to stand as well.

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Silver, and Rouge all had all been roped into this adventure, most for similar reasons. Tails, Knuckles and Amy just wanted to help Sonic thwart another Eggman plan, and Silver and Rouge were concerned about Shadow's whereabouts.

Now, they were all here.

Eggman pointed missiles to Sonic and his friends.

"Ah, well, I can't resist! All of you are now vulnerable!"

Sonic grunted, and jumped with all his strength with a homing attack.

Suddenly, another blur, a golden blur, destroyed the missile cannons immediately, nearly hitting Sonic. Luckily Sonic got out of the way in time. He landed back on the ground, and looked to see who that was.

Standing there, with crossed arms, was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. His face was neutral, but angry.

Eggman was surprised but smiled with villainy.

"Shadow! So, this is where you've been."

Shadow stared meaninglessly at Eggman.

"Doctor. You will NOT be harming this world."

Shadow said no more, and once again attacked the mech.

He made quick work of it too, while also making Eggman particularly pissed off. He growled, but didn't stay angry for long.

Eggman pulled his regular flying machine out of the now destroyed mech, and flew up higher.

"I'll be back, with a plan to blow your minds, literally!"

Eggman flew off, Shadow watching him go as he stood on the ground.

Sonic was now standing up straight.

"Shadow."

Shadow turned to see Sonic giving him a smile. Shadow stayed stone faced.

"Sonic."

He gave simple nods to greet the rest of them, and Rouge was the first to walk up to him.

"So, how'd you end up in a cutesy place like this?"

"I wanted to lest the limits of my Chaos Control powers, and used a Chaos Emerald to do so. Unfortunately, it brought me here. The other Chaos Emeralds might also be in this world because of that."

Sonic smirked. "Well, an adventure is not complete without finding all the Chaos Emeralds, now is it? "

Shadow gave an eye-roll to Sonic as Silver spoke. "It's good to have you back Shadow."

Shadow nodded in response, as he noticed the mane 6 frantically running in to the scene.

Probably because of Pinkie.

He wanted to smile, but he knew whom he was around now.

And with that, he realized, he had to make a decision. A decision about her.

Show it, or hide it?

'...'

He choose the former.

"Shadow we saw you running over and-"

Twilight stopped mid-sentence, noticing the different anthropomorphic animals around.

"Uh, who are they?"

"That's what I would like to know." Knuckles spoke, being the first to turn and look at the group of female equines. The others tuned their heads to the group. Both groups were not too shocked to see the other, as both were similar in concept. Walking animals who talked. Although, Silver and Tails were quick to note the two pegsi and the one unicorn... And the purple one, who had spoken.

Shadow walked past the group, and stood in front of the ponies.

"These are the ponies who have saved their world from their own worldly disasters. The purple alicorn is Twilight Sparkle, the blue pegasus is Rainbow Dash, the yellow pegasus is Fluttershy, the orange earth pony is Applejack, the white unicorn is Rarity, and the pink one is.." He momentarily paused. He closed his eyes, and gave a heavy sigh. It was a fake sigh, but sounded genuine. He opened his eyes, and Pinkie noticed a false sense of annoyance in them.

"Pinkie Pie."

All the mane 6 noticed the tone shift. He sounded annoyed, and tolerant. They knew he wasn't like that.

Pinkie had assumed that he was feeling uncomfortable, so she did what she did best, and gave him a hug.

"Shady here's our friend!"

Shadow's eyes grew wide, and he felt a fluster coming on.

He suddenly growled, and pushed Pinkie off of him.

"Not really."

He mumbled loud enough for Sonic and Co. to hear him, but not so that the mane 5 herd him. But Pinkie did.

She gasped, and felt hurt.

"Wha-"

Shadow simply grumbled, and walked past Sonic and co, towards the fountain.

The mane 5 immediately took notice of Pinkie's mood shift. She was a little shocked, and actually looked quite sad.

"Don't worry about him."

Sonic suddenly spoke, mainly to Pinkie. She looked at him.

"He's usually like that." Rouge finished for him, and Sonic turned conversation over to twilight.

Pinkie wasn't satisfied with that explanation, and ran over to Shadow, whom was walking away.

"Why'd you say that!?"

"Sshh!"

Shadow hushed her, putting a hand over her mouth.

He glanced behind him, making sure no one was looking back.

He suddenly grabbed her hoof.

"I'll level with you."

Shadow quickly hid himself and pinkie behind the fountain. He let go of her hoof.

"Do you remember how I said I don't act like I do around you around others from my world?"

Pinkie thought back to their conversation a week prior.

"Yes, I do... But what does that have to do with-"

"I put out a tough front in front of most people in my life. I have to, as I... usually have trouble showing all sides of me. It's become so common in front Sonic and his friends, that I have to keep up this act. Or else be teased endlessly, or worse, not seen as a formidable asset. I know this doesn't make much sense to you, but it means a lot to me."

Pinkie had been listening with care and patience as soon as he finished his first sentence. She cared about what he valued, and if this what he valued, she was going to respect it.

"Okay Shadow, if that's what you want. We, as in you, me , and my friends, will keep this-" She pointed to him, then to herself to emphasize she was serious. "-A secret."

Shadow nodded.

"Promise?"

Pinkie smiled, and held up a hoof, crossing her heart, fluttering it, then putting her hoof in her eye.

"Pinkie Promise."

Shadow gave a small, but confused smile.

"Pinkie promise?"

Pinkie smiled again.

"Yeah, It's my way of keeping a promise permanent."

Shadow smiled, and nodded.

Suddenly, Pinkie herd someone calling.

"Hey, where did your pink friend run off to?"

Pinkie sighed, and grinned.

"Looks like I'm needed."

Shadow's face went back to a neutral one, and nodded.

He looked up to the sun.

"Yeah, and my shift at Sugarcube Corner is about to start. I believe it's an entire counter shift."

"I'll keep them away from the shop until your shift is over then."

Shadow looked back in front of him, to see Pinkie giving him a huge grin.

Shadow smirked.

"Alright then."

Pinkie hugged him again, but this time he returned it. By now he was used to her hugs, and was even returning them.

They let go, and Shadow teleported away. Pinkie gave a simple nod, and readied a big smile. She walked away from the fountain beaming. Sonic was the one to mention her, and so turned around to see her walking back up to the group.

"One day he'll be my friend!"

The mane 5 were confused, but Pinkie shortly explained the situation to them as they toured the anthros around Ponyville. They all were admittedly bewildered by the decision, but all complied.

Shortly after, Sonic and co. got settled into guest rooms at the castle. They had been told of Twilight's postponed coordination into becoming ruler of Equestria, so it might be uncertain as to how long they would be living in this castle.

Later that night, Shadow made a trip to Twilight's castle, to reunite with a friend properly.

He was being told she was held in a room with a balcony, so he headed there.

He softly knocked on the door, and Rouge opened it.

She was a little surprised to see him, but gave a smile nonetheless.

"Hello Shadow."

"Hello Rouge." He spoke politely, and nodded his head.

"Thought I should give you a better greeting than just a simple nod this time."

That really surprised Rouge. She had accepted the nod earlier in the day as his greeting, as that was his usual go to. She smiled again.

"Any reason for this actual greeting then?"

Shadow suddenly stood straight. He knew the reason, but he just couldn't tell Rouge...

...Yet.

He closed his eyes, attempting to hide all emotion. But the bat could sense something was off about him... And, wait, was that... Embarrassment she felt coming off of him?

Rouge waved her hand.

"Nevermind. I'm just glad you're safe Shadow."

Shadow inhaled silently, and gave a smirk, which was more of a smile than a genuine smirk.

"I'm glad you are too Rouge."

Rouge felt her eyes widen.

'Did he just..'

She was about to speak up when Shadow teleported away, leaving Rouge confused and bewildered.

'What..?'
> A Feeling Stronger
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,
So... Sonic and his friends are here.
I did not expect the Doctor to have found this dimension so quickly, but that's probably because of the Chaos Emeralds. I'm still confused as to how they got here, but there are other pressing matters to deal with.

First of all, Eggman's attempting to use Equestria's magic for some evil plot. Heh, he probably won't even be able to. Even Tails can't seem to understand the magic this place holds. I kind of get it now, but never in the way these ponies understand so easily.

Second, about Pinks. I.. Am hiding my friendship with her from them. Even Rouge. I know I shouldn't be, but.. It's just what I'm feeling right now. Speaking of..

I'm feeling a little.. Different about Pinks. She brings more light to my life than anyone else. It's almost impossible not to smile in her presence. She makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside..

Could I... Could I be...

Falling for her?

I... Think I might be.

Oh God have mercy.

I really hope no one finds out about this.

But..

I hope she'll feel the same for me one day.

Love, Your brother,

Shadow





Shadow closed the diary he kept. It was blue, and quite tattered. He has had this diary since..

Maria.

Sometimes, during late nights, she wrote to him in it, and he would respond.

He had forgotten about it, but when he saw it in her old room that day after Black Doom's defeat...

He had to take it.

He had written letters to her in it after that. Only vary sparsely.

That was... Until he was brought here.

He sighed, running his hand down the cover.

He hoped Maria could hear these words he had written down.

And maybe, just maybe, she did.

He was sitting on his bed at Sugarcube Corner. It was a crisp afternoon, as the autumn weather had finally reared its head. He had a small dresser beside his bed, and placed his diary in the top drawer. It was better than carrying it around in his quills all day anyway.

He sighed, and looked down at the blanket he was sitting criss-cross on.

Just thinking of her jump-started his heart.

Both Maria, and Pinkie Pie. But for slightly different reasons.

'Well, love is love, whatever form it comes in.'

Shadow was as silent as the dead of night.

But somehow, Pinkie always knew where he was.

Pinkie hopped up the stairs to find Shadow starring off into space on his blanket.

She giggled at the sight.

He was very handsome, just by looking at nothing.

She blushed at the thought, just as Shadow realized Pinkie had come up the stairs. He blinked, and turned. Luckily Pinkie's blush hid in her fur.

Shadow smiled at her, earning a beam from Pinkie.

"I'm going to be baking some cupcakes for the Running of the Leaves tomorrow, you want to join?"

Shadow nodded, and slid off his bed, Pinkie hopping back down the stairs. He followed her all the way to the kitchen.

The Cakes were at the park with the twins, so it was only them.

"You do know to make cupcakes now, right?"

Shadow chuckled.

"Of course I do. I work here."

They both went to the cupboards, carrying the ingredients and items needed to make assorted cupcakes: Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and what Pinkie called "Candy Rainbow" cupcakes, which were obviously the sweetest out of the bunch.

Both Shadow and Pinkie reached for the baking powder, and both touched the other at the same time.

They both blushed and retracted.

Shadow looked away.

"Sorry."

Pinkie looked at him, and smiled meekly.

"It's okay."

She grabbed the baking powder, and placed it on the counter behind them.

"No harm, no foul."

Shadow turned back to Pinkie, and noted her shy smile. He gave the same smile back, and two began to mix the ingredients together.

They were silent for for this particular baking session, which was unusual.

Pinkie kept stealing glances at Shadow. What Pinkie didn't know, was that Shadow had also been glancing at her with feelings of romance.

She just couldn't put her hoof on it.

Was it his devilish good looks? Probably.

Was it his kind and compassionate nature? Also likely.

Was it just him, his whole self, that made her feel butterflies every time she talked to him?

Very much so.

She found herself happier than usual when with him. His true self.

She hated every time that they, together, were near sonic and his friends. He had to hide this part of himself, and it drove her crazy. But she respected his wishes. She did Pinkie Promise after all. But..

She yearned for the day he could stop hiding.

She wished...

That she hadn't fallen so hard for him.

She stopped mixing the chocolate batter for a minute.

Shadow noticed, and stopped mixing the strawberry batter.

Pinkie had just realized something.

'I... I've fallen in love with him.'

She gazed up to Shadow, with a visible blush on her face. When Shadow got a good look at her, he could see her blushing. And that made him blush. They stared at each other for a brief moment.

Suddenly they were snapped back to reality, and both looked away from each other.

"Uh, sorry." Pinkie apologized, and walked over to the cupboard to grab a cupcake pan.

Shadow stared a her for a few more moments before looking away once more.

'Oh man. I don't think I can ever stop staring at her.'

The two soon forgot about the incident as the baking session went on, and conversation sparked up. At the end of the day, all cupcakes were finished, and the two had enjoyed some quality time together.

Cupcakes boxed and kitchen cleaned, the two continued their conversation in Pinkie's room.

"You know, I really do love my family. But I couldn't stay on the rock farm for the rest of my life."

Pinkie Pie and Shadow were sitting on her bed. She had just finished talking about her family, and how she got her cutie mark. It really was an intriguing story, at least to Shadow. He never would have thought such a peppy and bright pony like Pinkie would have grown up in such a somber place. He was happy she had a loving family, and such close friends...

Shadow suddenly frowned. He remembered her.

Pinkie quickly grew concerned.

"Shady? Are you alright?"

Shadow sighed.

"Yeah... I'm just thinking about... My past."

Pinkie looked to him with sympathy. She put a hoof on his shoulder.

"You can tell me more about your past Shady."

Shadow stared at her sky blue eyes. He inhaled, and spoke slowly.

"When I was created, by Dr. Gerald Robotnik, there was someone on the ARK I grew very close to. Her name was Maria. She was his granddaughter. Kind of like you, but less bombastic. She had an incurable illness, though I do not like to think of it. It was called NIDS, or something. Anyways, I watched over her a lot when I wasn't having tests run on me by Robotnick."

His voice started to become scratchy, and his mood more somber. Pinkie moved her hoof to his hand.

"We... Grew very close. I.. Saw her as my sister. I loved her than anything else in the world. But then.."

His head hanged low, as he tried to speak normally. However, it was now hard, as his voice was now shaky on top of what had been noted before. He felt a few tears form in his eyes.

"The G.U.N raid happened."

He felt the need to elaborate, so he did.

" G.U.N is a government organization, whom was working with the Professor's project. That project.. Was me. Project Shadow. They had suspected something bad had happened, and after rumors surfaced about Black Doom, they took action. They arrested him, and chased after me and Maria. I managed to get us into the escape pod room, when.. Maria locked me in the pod."

He felt a few small tears escape.

"She looked at me with kind eyes, as the soldiers entered. She told me to protect the Earth... Give the people there a chance to be happy...And then..."

Shadow paused, feeling a huge wave of emotion about to break. Pinkie kept kind, sympathetic eyes on him.

He suddenly looked up to her face. He closed his eyes.

Pinkie knew he was about to break. So, she hugged him. Shadow said nothing back about it, and returned the hug gently.

He finally found his voice.

"She pulled the lever. And I saw her. She was shot, dead in the heart, by one of the soldiers. I-I saw the blood spill. I saw her limp, dead body on that floor, before the pod left. It- I-"

"You do not need to say anything else Shadow."

Shadow stopped, and desperately held onto her hug. Not too tightly, but with the search for comfort. Pinkie let it happen, even though no weeps were given by the hedgehog. Only tears.

Silence.

A moment of silence, if you will.

After a while, Shadow broke away from the hug. His eyes were shiny, but he wore a small smile.

"Thank you Pinks."

Pinkie smiled.

"Anytime Shady."





The two always enjoyed their time together, and both sensed that feeling.

That feeling of being, well,

Loved.

And being in love...

Just when...When were they going to tell each other?





Two people were spying on them baking that day, both unaware of the other. One was a friend, and the other, was an enemy.
> Hostages, Effects, and Secrets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

I have come to a definite conclusion...

I am in Love with Pinkie Pie. Madly.

Oh, how I want to scream it out from the rooftops sister, how I want to hold her forever, and kiss her with everything I have...

I want the world to know how much I love her.

But.. As I have said...

I can't. They won't except it.

But, here's some good news:

SHE MIGHT LIKE ME BACK.

A week ago, we were baking together, and she kept staring at me. When I looked at her, she was blushing at me.

I hope it wasn't flat out embarrassment. I hope she does feel the same way. I..

*sigh*

I'm really lovesick, aren't I?

I should probably tell somebody about this...

Love, your-madly in-love dunce of a brother,

Shadow



Pinkie Pie was strolling though the park in the early morning. The sun was just beginning to rise, and Pinkie had grown a habit of checking in on her friends late at night and early in the morning.

No doubt because of Shadow.

All of a sudden, the wind blew lightly, and sent a shiver down her spine. She saw the shadow of a claw behind her...

"So nice of you to be here, Miss Pie."

She turned, and her eyes widened.

A blood-curdling scream rang out through all of Ponyville.



"HE TOOK PINKIE PIE?!"

There was no masking the amount of rage in Shadow's voice, and face.

In Twilight's castle, everyone was amiss.

The mane 5 were as pissed as Shadow was, Rainbow flying back and forth angerly, Fluttershy angry and on the verge of tears, Rarity flabbergasted and repulsed, Applejack fiercely trotting from the map to the entrance way, and Twilight just plain furious.

Amy held out her her hammer, ready to smash something. Knuckles and Rouge stood with crossed arms, peeved about the situation, but not as mad as the rest. Silver also feeling a bit mad himself, but not as much as Amy. Tails was mad too, but tried to keep cool as he overlooked footage on his tablet from a previous flight around. Sonic looked down, and gritted his teeth.

Although, no one was as pissed off as Shadow was.

He stood at the entrance way to the map room, and a fire was burning in his eyes. His fists clenched, his breath heavy, and ready to fight.

After Shadow's outburst he didn't speak any longer, he just stood there, with invisible waves of emotion emitting off of him.

Sonic was the first to speak after.

"How could Eggman even think of kidnapping such a pony?"

Rainbow then spoke.

"I say we find wherever he is, and give him a good old fashioned beat down."

"Yeah!" Amy agreed, and the two females started making their way to the exit.

Tails suddenly held up a hand.

"Wait a moment you guys!"

The two stopped, and everyone walked towards Tails.

"Listen, I did some scouting the other day, and I did manage to find his base."

"Well let's go get him then!" Applejack almost screamed it, but kept her voice at a consistent level.

"But he'll know that we're coming." Tails explained, looking up to everyone in the group.

Sonic crossed his arms, and looked at everyone.

"He's probably expecting an attack today. Our best bet is to fight him tomorrow, right Tails?"

Tails nodded. But before anyone could object, a bone-chilling voice broke through the split second silence.

"I'd hate to say it, but yes, that does sound like our best chance."

They all turned to the voice's owner, whom was Shadow. He stood away from the group, as they all turned their attention to him. He had his arms crossed, and eyes closed.

"The Doctor is a trickster, and he knows just how much Pinkie means to her friends. He wants us to go there all riled up. So we have to calm down first, figure out an attack plan, then raid the base."

When Shadow opened his eyes, no one was prepared for the death glare piercing through his ruby red irises. There was a raging inferno in his eyes, and it even startled Rouge a bit.

"Any objections?"

The room was silent, and everyone shook their heads.

"Good."

He turned, and walked out the room, needing some fresh air.

As soon as everyone stopped looking scared, Sonic became slightly confused.

"Why is Shadow so peeved about this?"

Rouge was concerned as she watched Shadow leave. Something was definitely up. Although, with some nuances she had figured out, she had a pretty good idea why he was so mad.



Shadow walked through Ponyville slowly.

He had noticed that almost every pony in Ponyville had been affected by her kidnapping.

Ponies were less talkative, and less happy.

Gloom laid over the town like a thick blanket of fog.

It made him feel.. Well..

Upset.

"Ponyville is always so.. Sad without her."

Shadow was startled a bit by the voice. He turned to see Twilight Sparkle, with her other friends. Shadow quickly calmed back down, and sighed.

"Yeah. I've noticed."

The group started walking together, watching the moods of the towns' ponies.

Rarity spoke.

"Whenever Pinkie Pie isn't around for a long time, others start to feel less happy."

Rainbow Dash went next.

"She's not only the laughter for us, she's the primary source of happiness for the entire town."

Applejack turned her head to gaze at the vendors of the Ponyville marketplace as they all walked past.

"After living in Ponyville for my whole life, I can say that now, without Pinkie, *sigh*, this whole town simply couldn't survive."

Fluttershy looked up to the sky.

"She cares a lot for Ponyville, and for us. And we all care about her."

Shadow sighed, as he came to a stop in front of the all-too familiar building. He gazed up to it, and felt a pinch in his heart.

The mane 5 could see it, the loss he was experiencing.

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder.

"We all know you cared for her deeply Shadow. We've believed that there was something more between you two for a while."

Shadow turned to them with wide eyes.

Twilight, and the rest of her friends, smiled.

"When we get Pinkie back... I think it would be best for you to tell her how you feel."

She stepped back, and into a line with her friends.

"And coming from her closest friends, you can trust us."

Shadow could only nod. He appreciated their words, really he did. But right now..

He needed a moment of silence. Suddenly he teleported away, Twilight and her friends not knowing where he had gone.



Rouge walked into her room. It had been a busy day, planning out routes, who would be rescuing Pinkie, etc. It was now nightfall, and Rouge was a little sleepy. Before she could walk all the way over to her bed however, she noticed someone standing out on the balcony.

It was Shadow. He had his hands on the rim, and was intensely watching the night sky.

He had been aware of her presence, as he had herd the door open and close.

Rouge was a little surprised to see Shadow here, but decided not to say anything about it. She walked out to the balcony.

"How long have you been starring at the sky?"

"For a few hours." Shadow did not break contact with the sky, and kept watching it. Rouge came over to his side, and looked up to the stars.

There was a moment of silence, before Rouge broke it.

"I know you're the most mad about this Shadow."

Shadow cocked a brow, but didn't look at her.

Rouge spoke again, with more confidence.

"And I know the reason."

Shadow blinked. How could she know?

He finally turned his gaze to her.

"Listen. I saw you two cooking together one time. You and Pinkie genuinely enjoy your time together. I haven't seen you that happy ever."

Shadow's eyes widened. She was spying on him?

Rouge paused, awaiting a response, but Shadow just stood there, wide eyed. She exhaled, and continued.

"I saw the way you look at each other. You had a magic in your eyes that I have only known from my own experience. Shadow, I know what I'm about to ask might be hard for you to answer, but I have to hear it from you. Are.. Are you in love with Pinkie Pie?"

Shadow suddenly blushed a wine red, a first for the bat. He glanced down.

'Well... So much for hiding it.' He closed his eyes, and turned his back to her. He gave barely a whisper.

"...Yes."

Rouge had herd, but she wanted to hear it again. She smirked, and stepped forward.

"What?"

Shadow inhaled, and his feelings suddenly came pouring out. He turned to face her, his blush covering his entire muzzle.

"Yes, Yes! I'm in love with her, okay!? Madly, hopelessly, mindlessly!-" He paced into Rouge's room continuing to spill, Rouge following with shock.

"Hook line and sinker, over the moon, loop de loop, far and away, deeply, passionately, endlessly in love with the pink mare! She makes me feel like this to no end, and its driving me crazy that I can't just walk up to her and tell her that I love her, hug her, kiss her with every emotion I have for her, and tell her that I love her over and over ag-!"

Shadow had finally realized what he had been saying. He covered his mouth with his hands, as red as a tomato. He stared wide-eyed at Rouge. Rouge was also in that much shock. Never before had she herd something so profound and passionate from Shadow before. He had poured his heart out into every word, and his now frozen embarrassed state was proof of that.

A stunned silence passed, before Rouge finally got rid of her surprise. She smirked, and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, well, well. I didn't expect such a declaration coming from you Shadow."

Shadow moved his hands away from his mouth, and looked down to the ground bashfully. His right hand held hid left arm.

"Please Rouge.. Don't tell anyone about any of this.."

Rouge chuckled.

"Don't worry Shadow, I won't."

Shadow exhaled heavily, and sat down on the foot of Rouge's bed. Rouge kept smirking.

"How long have you kept that in?"

Shadow inhaled and exhaled heavily. He looked down, and and answered truthfully.

"For a good long time."

Rouge went to to sit next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get her back. I promise."

Shadow looked up to her.

"Pinkie Promise?"

Rouge chuckled, and held up her pinky.

"A pinky promise?"

Shadow shook his head.

"No, a Pinkie Pie promise."

He did the motions Pinkie had showed him.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Rouge suddenly burst out in laughter, and Shadow looked away.

She lightly slapped his shoulder.

"She's really made you gone soft, hasn't she?" She giggled, not really expecting a response.

But all of a sudden she herd the strangest thing.

She herd chuckling.

Shadow's chuckling.

Shadow finally looked up to her, and showed a small smile. Rouge had never seen anything so strange. He rubbed the back of his head, still smiling bashfully.

"More than you could ever know."
> End of A Chapter; Start of Something New
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maria...

He.

Took.

Her.
I can't believe the doctor would have the gull to kidnap her...
I will take her back. I... I have to. You know why...
I might have been a little more explosive than I should have been when I heard the news.
Her friends are worried too...
Tails have made a plan to infiltrate the doctor's base, though I still don't know the full details.
Also...
I told Rouge.
She seems okay with it. I'm glad.
No matter what...
I'll be there for Pinkie.
Love,

Shadow



Shadow woke up from a light sleep. In truth, he did not get much sleep the previous night. He stared up at the ceiling.

His heart was heavy as he inhaled and exhaled calmly.

He could feel tears in his eyes.

He closed his eyes and sighed. Shadow slowly sat up and opened his eyes.

Pinkie's room was silent, and felt empty, just as he was. He slid off the bed, and slowly walked across the room. He stopped in front of her bed.

Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night and ended up watching Pinkie sleep until he could sleep again.

She was different when sleeping.

She was angelic, and peaceful. Calm.

He was missing her.

He put a hand on the blanket, and stayed silent.

"Unky?"

Shadow blinked. He turned to see the Cake twins, Pound and Pumpkin, looking up to him with concerned eyes. He briefly wondered how they had gotten up the stairs so silently. Pumpkin was the one who had called to him.

"Auntie Pinkie okay?" Pound asked. The two were learning how to put sentences together.

Shadow sighed silently, and smiled softly at the two little ones. He bent down to their level.

"Auntie Pinkie Pie will be alright. I promise."

The foals smiled at him and pointed at the stairs.

"Bak ride!"

Shadow knew what they wanted, and rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Alright, but you have to hold on tight."

He picked up the two foals, and put them on his shoulders.

"Down the stairs we go!"

He thumped down the stairs, while also saying thump in every step he stepped.

The cakes twins giggled and laughed with joy.

By the end of the stairs, he was also laughing along with the two little ones as they entered the shop.

Mr. and Ms. Cake noticed the sudden laughter, and turned their heads to Shadow. Shadow took no notice as he carried Pound and Pumpkin back onto the ground.

"Thankie uncle Shady!"

Shadow smiled at the two.

"You're welcome little ones."

He stood straight, and returned to a neutral face.

He looked to the Cakes.

"I have to get going. We're going to get her back."

They nodded, and Ms. Cake smiled.

"Take care of yourself Mr. Shadow."

Shadow nodded, and walked out of Sugarcube Corner.

"So, what's the plan?"

Sonic and co, and the mane 5 stood on a hillside, from where they could see the base Eggman had built. Sadly, the mane 5 had to stay back and were there only if anything magical happened. Tails was relaying the plan.

"Eggman's main base of operation is in the center of the facility. Pinkie is being kept somewhere in the back of the facility. It was decided only one of us will go rescue Pinkie Pie, while the others cause a distraction."

Knuckles nodded.

"So, who's rescuing Pinkie?"

Rouge looked to Shadow.

She gave him a look that said all she needed to. Shadow gave a fake sigh.

"I'll find Pinkie, and sneak out the back door of the facility."

Sonic and Silver looked at him strangely.

"Really?" Silver asked.

"Are you sure Shadow? I mean, me and Silver could-"

"No." Shadow said forcefully. Perhaps a little too forcefully.

He sighed again.

"I mean, Eggman would be least expecting someone like me to rescue somepony I supposedly hate."

Tails was surprised. "Supposedly?"

Shadow gasped internally. He let too much out.

He turned, and looked away from the group.

Sonic, Silver, Tails, and Knuckles stared at him with confused looks.

Sonic spoke.

"..Shadow, what's going on?"

The mane 5 felt a panic coming on, and Rainbow Dash decided to interrupt.

"Come on guys, we don't wave all day!"

As soon as she had said that, Eggman's robots began to stream out of the base.

The group would have to talk later.

Sonic gave a glance to Shadow, who immediately charged forward, with one goal.

Sonic and his friends ran forward, ready to face Eggman.

Pinkie was locked behind bars, but she was not all sad and somber like most would be. Actually, she was having quite a pleasant chat with Orbot and Cubot about favorite board games, while playing go fish.

They were in the prisoner containment area, and Pinkie was eating a cookie she had brought in her hair.

"I personally love sea serpents and stairs." Pinkie commented, remembering the last time she played with Rainbow Dash. RD lost.

"I've always found great personal enjoyment in connect 4." Cubot said, his voice changing halfway through the sentence.

"Chess is more of my personal style," Orbot added, glancing at his cards.

"PInkie, do you have a red card?"

"Nope, go fish!"

Orbot sighed and picked up a card from the deck.

Suddenly, Eggman came flying in on his usual machine.

"Orebot! Cubot! What did I say about patronizing with prisoners?"

"No more than 1 hour." Cubot responded in a matter-of-fact voice.

Eggman checked the clock he had onboard the machine.

"Then get out of here!" Eggman yelled, making the two robots panic.

"Yes, boss, right away boss."

The two robots ran down the hallway, leaving Eggman with Pinkie.

She beamed.

"Hello again Mr. mustache! You know, you're not so menacing without any machines, and-"

Pinkie kept talking, and Eggman was already annoyed.

"I can't take much more of this." He mumbled under his breath.

Suddenly an alarm sounded.

" Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Sonic and his annoying friends spotted in the outer facility!"

Eggman suddenly grinned evilly.

"Ah, perfect timing!"

Eggman pushed a button, and the bars lowered. Pinkie beamed.

"Are you finally going to let me out?"

"No, you idiot! I'm going to use you. For a trap!"

A claw grabbed Pinkie and made her yelp. It carried her to the center of hallway, and dropped her there.

"Now we wait."

"Wait? What do you-"

Suddenly another announcement came through.

"Intruder alert! Shadow the hedgehog has entered the building!"

Pinkie gasped. She wasn't peppy now.

"Shadow..."

Shadow ran through the halls with ease, tearing through Eggman's robots like Pinkie's usage of confetti.

He could feel her presence.

He was running down the big prisoner's hall when he saw her. Pinkie Pie.

He stopped in his tracks and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pinkie."

Pinkie smiled, but then her face turned into one of worry as realization hit her.

"Shadow, wait! It's a trap!"

All of a sudden, Eggman appeared in his walking mech, gun aimed... At Pinkie.

"Ah, ah, ah Shadow!"

Pinkie's eyes widened, and her ears drooped in fear.

Shadow stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened, and he growled fiercely.

"Let go of her Doctor!"

Eggman began to laugh.

"You know Shadow, I would never have taken you as the sentimental type. But after a little snoop around Ponyville, I've seen you two are more than mutual acquaintances.

Shadow growled again, and was about to step forward when Eggman interrupted.

"Shadow, before you escape with her in your arms, let me bring up an important point to consider."

A screen appeared before Eggman. It read:

Self-Destruct:

2 minutes

Shadow felt his eyes widen.

"Yes... Your comrades are walking into a bomb! The control room will be the first to blow! So, what will it be Shadow? Them, or her?"

Shadow gritted his teeth. He looked away; the decision was getting to him. He even felt non-existent tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Shadow!"

Pinkie suddenly spoke, making Shadow turn to her. Her eyes were flowing with tears, but she held a smile.

"Please... Go save them... I'll be alright.."

Shadow closed his eyes. He took in her words. He took in her trust. He trusts her.

He opened his eyes, and gave a slight nod, turning, and racing back to the main group.

Eggman did not follow. He only watched him leave.

"Uh-oh. Uh, Sonic?"

Tails begin to worry as the door to the control room sealed shut behind the group. Sonic grunted as he realized.

"Eggman's tricked us!"

Suddenly, a timer appeared on the screen.

Silver ran up to the screen.

"We've got to get out of here, and fast!"

Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge turned to the door.

"Let's bust our way out!" Amy lifted up her hammer, and the trio started running towards the door. They punched, kicked, and hammered, but they could not make it through the door.

Knuckles gritted his teeth.

"If we don't find a way to get that door to open, we'll all be toast!"

Sonic glared at the door and was ready to homing attack it when he heard a voice.

"Chaos... BLAST!"

Suddenly, the door was no longer there, and who was there was Shadow.

"Shadow? Where's Pinkie Pie?"

Shadow turned, avoiding the question.

"We've gotta get out of here, this place is about to blow!"

No one made any objections, and everyone started running out.

"Soooo, can I go now?"

Eggman groaned. He was making his way out of the compound, Pinkie in a floating cell next to him.

"No, I've got to get out here."

Pinkie gasped sadly.

"So you're going to... Leave me here?"

Eggman facepalmed.

"No, of course not, I-"

Before he could finish, Pinkie was already talking.

"So you're taking me with you? Cool! I like adventures, not so much when I'm chained, but they're still cool, like how one time me and my friends went to go find this book au-"

The more and more she talked, the more Eggman grew angry.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, Alright! That's It!"

Eggman released her from the cell, and she landed on the ground. They were just outside the facility.

"Leave, before I change my mind."

Pinkie was puzzled.

"You're letting me-"

"GO! Just, go please! I never want to hear you ever again."

Pinkie beamed.

"Thanks Mr. mustache man!"

Pinkie ran off, leaving a frustrated Eggman.

"THE NAME IS EGGMAN YOU DUNCE!"

Sonic and co. were running away from the site, and finally reached the hill where the mane 5 was. They got to the top, and before anyone could say anything, Shadow turned, and saw the explosion. His eyes widened in shock, and felt tears quickly pool in his eyes. He fell to his knees, and lowered his head to the ground as he punched the ground.

"No. No. NO!"

The others were worried, and in shock. Not just because of the explosion, but also...

Shadow's response. It was full of emotion, pain, sorrow.

And, they could even hear the black and red hedgehog starting to weep.

A moment of silence passed, with only Shadow's cries flowing through the air.

All the others noticed her, slowly walking up the hill.

She stopped in front of him.

"Shadow?"

He knew her voice all too well. He looked up, teary-eyed, to see Pinkie Pie. She was alright, no injuries or illnesses. Pinkie immediately saw the sorrow in his tears.

She gave a small reassuring smile, one telling him it's alright.

Suddenly, Shadow did something that nobody, and nopony, expected. Not even Pinkie.

He latched onto her with a tight, close hug. Pinkie's eyes widened.

Shadow's walls fell, and his feelings poured out.

"OH GOD, PINKIE, I ALMOST LOST YOU! I can't believe it! I-I Don't know w-what I would do with myself if you!-"

"Sssshhh."

Pinkie comforted him, and sat with him. She rubbed his back in their hug. He stifled his sobs.

"It's okay Shady. I'm okay."

That calmed Shadow down. He stopped sobbing, and embraced her warmly.

He didn't care anymore.

Another moment of silence passed.

Shadow slowly pulled back, and looked into her eyes. Those big, beautiful, sky blue eyes. He could not hide it from her. He couldn't hide it from anyone anymore. Shadow felt himself blush, but that didn't deter him from what he was about to say.

"Pinks, I... I Love You."

Pinkie smiled softly, and felt a blush on her own cheeks.

"I love you too Shady."

The two's lips met in a sweet and slow kiss, not a care in the world.

They had each other, and that was all they needed.

Sonic and co, except for Rouge, gasped. They were flat-out shocked.

Rouge smirked, and wondered how long Shadow was longing for this moment.

The mane 5 were all smiles, giddy about their friends finally confessing.

The couple departed from the kiss, and Pinkie noticed the shocked faces. She chuckled, blushing. She turned her attention back to Shadow, noses touching.

"You broke the Pinkie Promise."

Shadow was also blushing, and stared at her.

"You did too."

Pinkie motioned her head forward, and Shadow turned his head to see their flabbergasted looks.

Shadow blushed more, and looked down to the ground. He smirked, and looked back up.

Squees were coming out of the mane 5 and Rouge, while Amy was starting to crack a huge grin.

Sonic finally spoke.

"WHAT THE-?!"

Shadow sighed, and stood, Pinkie following suit.

"Guys, I can explain-"

"Explain, Explain WHAT?! YOU JUST-! I-!"

Silver was at a loss for words, but words came fumbling out anyways.

"SHADOW AND PINKIE PIE LOVE EACH OTHER?!" Knuckles shouted in disbelief.

Tails was the first to come out of his shock. The couple started walking off, and the rest followed.

"How did this happen? Shadow, don't you hate her?"

Shadow shook his head, and sighed.

"No. I never did. I've been friends with her since we met."

Sonic let out a laugh, finally had gotten over his shock.

"No kidding. But, why then? Why did you mean to hide this from us?"

Shadow sighed heavily.

"You would assume that this-" He referred to himself, and to Pinkie, "Would be a little strange. And, I figured none of you would accept it."

Shadow mumbled that last part, but Rouge was there to hear it.

"It's a good thing you were wrong then."

Shadow turned his head to look at her. She smirked.

"Because I think you two are absolutely adorable!"

Shadow blushed a light pink, but smirked.

"Shut up Rouge."

Pinkie Pie abruptly nuzzled his side, making him even more embarrassed. When he turned to face her however, she just smiled.

Shadow gave a small smile back.

He had found her.

The one for him.
> Reactions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,
I...
Have something to tell you.
Me and Pinkie... Well...

I.. I kissed her.

And I told her that I love her. You know what she said?
SHE SAID SHE LOVED ME TOO!

Words cannot even begin to express how happy I am right now! I.. haven't been this happy in a while.
As I write this, it's been a few days, and it's early morning as my pink angel is still fast asleep.
Heh, I just called her an angel. Well, it's true, at least for me.

Tangents aside, I don't know how I was blessed with this light for my life. If it was you, I thank you. I love you sister.
And now, I have someone else to love as much as you.

Oh, and, uh, Sonic and his friends know.

I still don't know their opinions on me and her, but for now, I don't think I really care. Ironic, I know.

She's happy, and I'm happy, and that's what matters.

Love, Your very happy brother,

Shadow



Shadow stood from his bed. It was early morning, and the sun was just starting to rise. He glanced at Pinkie, whom was still fast asleep. He smiled softly, and walked over to her bed.

'She's so cute.'

He gave a quiet sigh, and continued to wonder Pinkie's rooms until he reached the balcony. He stopped at its doors, and stared for a moment. He turned, and walked towards the doors, opening them.

The morning light poured into the room, and onto him. He stepped out onto the balcony and stood, looking out onto Ponyville. Hues of orange, yellow, and blue bloomed across the horizon.

Shadow inhaled and exhaled deeply, his breath visible in the cold air.

Suddenly Shadow felt hooves wrap around him from behind.

He blinked with surprise, and glanced behind him. Pinkie beamed at him.

"What are you doing up so early?"

Shadow looked back at the sunrise.

"Admiring the view."

Pinkie let go of him, and came to a stance next to him, watching the sunrise.

Shadow put his hand on her back and smiled softly.

"Thank you for coming to check up on me."

Pinkie giggled softly at his comment, and leaned onto him. "I wanted to. I think I've gotten too used to your breathing patterns."

Shadow chuckled back. A comfortable silence came upon them.

After a while, Pinkie stepped away.

"It's almost time for Twilight's weekly breakfast. Which means I have to get cooking." Pinkie turned, and started to walk.

"I'll see you there Shady."

Shadow chuckled again.

"You forgot something."

Pinkie was slightly confused, and turned back to him.

"What's that?"

Shadow walked up to her.

"This."

He gave her a quick teasing kiss, making Pinkie blush. Shadow smirked.

"Good morning pink angel."

Pinkie giggled again, and put a hoof on his chest fur.

"Good morning handsome prince."

She turned and walked away, leaving Shadow to stare up into the sky.

"A little run before breakfast should do."

He hopped off the balcony, and took a brisk run.



"Mmm, Pinkie, these pancakes are delicious!"

Fluttershy hummed happily as she took her first bite of the pancake.

The mane 6 were being served breakfast by Twilight and Pinkie. Twilight handed a pancake to Applejack.

"Thank ya kindly, Twi."

Rainbow Dash deeply inhaled the scent of the pancake Pinkie handed her, mouth beginning to water.

"They especially smell like cinnamon today."

Twilight levitated a pancake to Rarity, Rarity taking it with her own magic.

"And they look just heavenly, darling."

Twilight and Pinkie went to sit down at their sides of the table.

"Thank you girls for the complements! But Twilight really did work hard on them too." Pinkie spoke as she sat down, grabbing two plates and placing a huge stack of pancakes on one, three pancakes on the other. Twilight smiled.

"Thanks Pinkie. But you did most of the work."

Pinkie gave a scoff, still smiling.

"It was your recipe."

Just then, Shadow came walking in to the room. He had two flowers in his quills.

"Am I late?"

They all gave a smile to the ebony hedgehog, and Twilight shook her head.

"No, you're just in time."

Shadow walked over to take a seat next to Pinkie.

He smiled, and took one of the flowers from his quills and put it in Pinkie's hair.

Pinkie beamed, and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks Shady!"

Shadow smiled softly, giving a small blush. He rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"No problem."

They all started to eat, but strangely, Twilight and her friends were silent. They kept looking at the couple.

Shadow finally noticed the ponies' eyes on him. Halfway through breakfast, he swallowed the piece of pancake that he had been currently eating, and stared at them with a questionable look .

"What?"

He suddenly realized why they were starring. He glanced at Pinkie, whom was not paying attention to the moment, and was busy biting into her stack of pancakes.

He sighed, and put his fork down. That got Pinkie's attention.

"If you're going to gush about us, just do it now. Get it out."

Silence followed for the next few seconds, before Rarity busted out.

"You two are SO CUTE!"

And just like that, conversation erupted.

"Rarity was holding that one in for a while you know." Rainbow Dash commented, with a smug smile.

Fluttershy spoke with a smile.

"We all knew that you both would get together eventually, and I'm very happy for you two."

Applejack rubbed the back of her head. "And I'd be lyin' if I'd say I didn't agree with y'all."

Twilight chuckled, and smiled.

"What we're trying to say is, congratulations. We are all very excited to see where this new adventure will take you two."

Pinkie grinned at her friends. "Awww, thank you guys. That really means a lot to me. And to Shady, right?"

She turned to him with a smirk, tying to replicate his.

Shadow chuckled, and gave a small smile, to her, then to her friends.

"Of course. Thank you girls."

Knuckles walked into the room, still feeling a little groggy. He then noticed that Shadow was smiling. Shadow was quick to notice Knuckles too, and stopped.

Knuckles looked at him with a face full of confusion.

"Were you just smiling Shadow?"

"No. Definitely not." Shadow lied. Pinkie nudged him, and Shadow glanced at her. He sighed, and smiled with defeat.

"Yes, I was. And I am right now. Happy?"

His face abruptly turned back to normal. Knuckles inhaled to speak, but Shadow interrupted.

"Good. You'll never see it anywhere else, expect in Equestria. Got it?"

Knuckles nodded, and quickly smelled the scent of pancakes.

"Did someone cook pancakes?"

Applejack responded to his comment.

"Pinkie and Twilight did. Y'all are welcome to take some. She made plenty for everyone, when they wake up eventually."

Knuckles nodded again.

"Uh-huh..."

His eyes drifted back to the pony and hedgehog couple briefly.

"Was I dreaming? Am I still dreaming now?" He thought aloud.

Pinkie shook her head.

"Nope. It was all real."

"And you might want to get used to it."

Rainbow Dash was the one to have spoken, Twilight preparing another plate with her magic, and placing it at an empty spot on the big dining hall table.

Knuckles was hesitant, but hunger made him think otherwise. He walked over, and sat down in the chair in front of the plate.

Another long moment passed, as everyone started eating, and conversation finally went back to normal.

Shadow finished the last bite of his pancake, and stood up quickly.

"My morning shift is about to start. It's counter and storefront work."

He was going to grab his empty plate when Twilight objected.

"You can leave it there Shadow. Pinkie's probably going to lick it clean anyways."

Shadow stifled a laugh, as well as Pinkie, although, she had some pancake in her mouth already. She swallowed, and smiled.

"See you after work Shady."

Shadow smiled back, and quickly kissed her before running to the door. He stopped at the door frame.

"Oh, Pinks?"

Shadow turned to look at Pinkie. He smirked.

"You taste like strawberries."

Pinkie blushed at the remark, and Shadow sped off.

Pinkie suddenly had a love-struck grin, and put a hoof to her chest, letting out a small, happy sigh.

The mane 5 glanced at her with knowing looks. Pinkie noticed, and she smiled shyly.

Knuckles had witnessed the whole ordeal, and was still quite puzzled, and a little stunned.

"Is anybody going to tell me how this happened, or am I going to be left in the dark?"



"What are we going to get this morning Tails?"

Tails and Silver were making their way to Sugarcube Corner. It was still morning, and the sun was fully greeting the land. It didn't make much difference though, as it was still cold out. The two wanted to grab a sweet from the shop to eat later, as they, Sonic, and Knuckles were going to look for more Chaos Emeralds that afternoon. So far, they had 3.

"Probably just a loaf of sweet bread. I don't want anything too sugary today." Tails answered as they walked towards the bakery doors.

Silver shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm going to get as many banana and chocolate muffins as I can!"

As they walked in, they witnessed something peculiar, to them at least.

Shadow stood behind the clerk counter, and placed two pig pink boxes on it. He put a hand on the top of the pile. He was speaking to the customer, whom was a grey pegasus with a blonde mane and tail. She had on a satchel.

"Now, Derpy," He spoke in a stern voice, "As much as I love your frequent trips to the shop, you have to stop ordering so many muffins. I'm practically running out every morning."

Derpy cringed at herself, and rubbed her neck, looking away. Tails and Silver noticed her eyes were derpy.

"Sorry Shadow, you know I can't help myself."

Shadow sighed, and slid the boxes across the counter to her.

"Just, try not to show up this week then. These should be enough for you."

Derpy smiled, and reached into her satchel, handing Shadow a pile of bits.

"Thank you Shadow, but I can't promise anything."

Shadow nodded, but gave a sigh as the mare placed the boxes on her back. Derpy turned, and waved as she left.

"Thanks again! I'll try to at least not come back tomorrow."

Shadow rolled his eyes at the remark, but waved back as she walked out. Tails and Silver stood next to the door, a little surprised to see him here.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?" Tails asked, as he and Silver walked up to him.

"This is my job. Well, as long as we're staying in Equestria for." Shadow replied simply, retaining a neutral expression.

He raised a brow, and crossed his arms.

"Is there a problem with that?"

Silver slightly winced, and shook his head.

"No, not at all Shadow. We're just surprised to see you here."

Shadow rolled his eyes again.

"So, you are here to buy something, right?"

Tails nodded, and quickly glanced around the store.

"Do you guys have any sweet bread?"

Shadow pointed to the far left of the store, where the breads were kept.

"Sweet breads are on the top shelf."

Tails nodded again, and smiled. Tails walked over to observe his options as Silver stood there for a few seconds.

He smiled cautiously.

"..I'm guessing that previous pegasus just bought all the muffins then."

Shadow didn't answer, he just turned towards the kitchen doors, and gave a shout.

"Ms. Cake, do we have any more banana or chocolate muffins in our inventory?"

A voice answered from the kitchen.

"Some hot and fresh ones are coming out of the oven right now! Could you be a dear and help me box these up?"

Shadow turned to see a stunned Silver staring at him.

"How-?"

Shadow rolled his eyes, and turned again.

"This may take a minute."

He walked into the kitchen, leaving Silver puzzled and confused. Silver sighed, and shook his head in disbelief. He turned, and walked over to Tails to browse.

Shadow walked into the kitchen, grabbing a few pink boxes on his way to the next counter, stocked with hot and fresh muffins.

Ms. Cake closed the oven.

"So, who's getting first pick of the non-Derpy batch?"

Shadow placed the pink boxes on the counter, as Ms. Cake came over to assist him in taking the muffins out of the tin.

"Silver."

Ms. cake seemed a little surprised.

"Really? He's never come in when you're working."

Shadow chuckled, placing three banana and two chocolate muffins in a small box. "You can blame Pinkie for that one. She's seen keeping Sonic and his friends away while I'm working counter shifts."

chuckled back.

"You know, she really loves you."

Shadow took the small box, and gave a small smile.

"I know."

He turned, and walked back into the main store.

Tails had returned to the counter, cinnamon bread in hand. He placed it on the counter as Shadow placed the pink box on the counter as well.

"So, did Pinkie give you this job because you're her boyfriend now?" Tails smirked, attempting to tease the Ultimate Life Form.

Shadow rolled his eyes again.

"No, I've been working here since my 4th day in Equestria. The pay is quite decent."

Tails was stunned to hear this news.

"Really? How come we've never seen you around?"

"That's Pinkie for you." Shadow answered, looking over the goods, counting up the cost.

"She was determined to make sure you or anyone else from Earth(Mobuis) didn't know I lived here."

"Wait, you live here too?" Silver asked, a little surprised.

Shadow sighed with annoyance. "Yeah."

"I didn't know that you two were so close before becoming a couple." Silver noted, suddenly smelling the muffins in the air.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me Silver." Shadow replied, arms crossed.

"Like how you try to kiss Pinkie every chance you get?" Tails teased again, remembering what Knuckles had told them about this morning.

That one got to him. He growled, and glanced down and away. He closed his eyes, not only by embarrassment, but also by insult at Tails' remark.

"I do not. I respect her deeply, and I give her the space she needs."

Silver started to smirk.

"Well, we heard from Knuckles that earlier this morning, before you went off to work, you kissed her and flirted with her. You really are risky with her, aren't ya?"

"I love her in the ways that I do. Do you got an issue with my love for her?" Shadow suddenly gave a death glare at the two, and they quickly panicked.

"Ah-no, not at all!" Tails quickly responded, glancing at Shadow, then at Silver, attempting to get away from Shadow's glare.

"We're just- It's just a little weird to us, that's all." Silver corrected himself, and rubbed his neck nervously.

Shadow's glare relaxed, and he let out a small chuckle.

"Of course."

Tails and Silver had never herd him chuckle before, and they were stunned again for a second.

"That'll be 15 bits." Shadow spoke, snapping them out of their shock.

"W-What?" Silver asked, missing the question.

Shadow lowered his arms back to his sides.

"Your total is 15 bits..."

He saw their expressions change into realization, then embarrassment.

"...And I'm guessing by the look on your faces that you don't have any bits on you."

Silver and Tails chuckled nervously, and Shadow rolled his eyes once more.

He sighed heavily. "It's 10 dollars in all. I'll do some currency exchanging later."

Tails and Silver Gave him 5 dollars each, and picked up their items.

"Uh, thanks." Silver thanked Shadow, and Shadow waved his hand.

"Yeah, yeah. Good luck."

"Good luck? With-?"

Tails suddenly realized.

"Wait, how did you know?"

Shadow was also surprised at what he had said, and how he knew.

"I didn't... Until I said that."

He quickly realized why. He he thought about it for a moment, then smirked.

"Guess that's proof I hang out with Pinkie way more than you thought."

Tails and Silver looked at each other with disbelief. He just had a Pinkie Pie prediction.

They looked back to Shadow, whom was just smirking them.

They were going to say something, but Silver had another thought that made him stay silent. Silver smirked.

"We should get going Silver." Tails spoke, noticing the time.

Silver nodded, and Tails turned to walk out. Silver gave Shadow a smirk, making Shadow come back to a neutral face.

"You better not be thinking about trying anything Silver."

Silver turned, but did not respond. He only smirked, and walked out with Tails, the two beginning to chuckle. Shadow shook his head, and gave an audible sigh.

He felt endless teasing coming his way in the future.



"So, how did you fall in love with Shadow exactly?"

Pinkie Pie's job as a teacher was over for the day, and she was sitting at the outdoor cafe'. Amy and Rouge had just finished shopping when they noticed Pinkie waiting there for somebody. So, they came over to talk.

Amy had asked the present question, very curious about her side of the story.

Pinkie smiled softly. "Well, it started as any of my friendships; I saw someone new, talked to him, then threw a welcome party for him. To be honest... It was his striking appearance that first attracted me." Pinkie Pie looked down to the table, blushing.

"I... do think he's really handsome."

Amy and Rouge beamed at the pink mare, Amy feeling a slight squee rise up in her throat.

"I love everything about him. But... I think, the one thing that made me fall in love with him the most...Was his voice."

Pinkie looked back up, and saw Rouge motion for her to continue. Pinkie gave a shy sigh, and continued, even though she was still blushing as red as Shadow's highlights.

Speaking of, he was approaching. Although, they were all too engrossed in the story to notice.

"It's such a soft, soothing, rich, voice. When he speaks, I can feel it through my bones. I especially love it when he whispers. It tickles my ear, and sends shivers down my spine."

"Like this?"

Pinkie's ear suddenly felt the whispering breath of him, and her blush covered her nose. She jumped slightly, and gave an out an "Eeep!"

She turned her head to see Shadow standing very close behind her. He wore a smirk, making Pinkie redder. But she beamed back, keeping her composure.

Shadow went back to a neutral expression, and took his gaze to Amy and Rouge.

"So, what have you been telling them about me?" Shadow asked Pinkie, his attention on Rouge.

"Or more specifically, what have they been telling you about me?"

Pinkie giggled.

"Oh, nothing that'll put your reputation in jeopardy." Rouge smirked, teasing him. Shadow rolled his eyes, and took a seat next to Pinkie.

"Actually, Pinkie here was just telling us about how she thinks you're very handsome." Amy giggled, beaming.

Pinkie Pie blushed again, and smiled big, hiding her bashfulness.

"Oh, I know I am." Shadow replied with another smirk, making Pinkie burst out with laughter.

Pinkie's contagious laughter spread around the table, and yes, even to Shadow. Amy abruptly stopped when she herd the strange noise. Rouge lowered her volume, so they both could witness the glorious sound of Shadow and Pinkie laughing together.

The couple stopped laughing, and smiled at each other. Shadow then caught the fascination in Amy's eyes, and Rouge's all knowing look. He returned to a neutral expression. He turned to them.

"What?"

Amy's grin spread across her face. She brought her hands together, eyes sparkling.

"You two are sooo adorable!"

Shadow felt slight embarrassment at the unexpected comment. He was able to keep a straight face though. Pinkie giggled.

"That's what Rarity said this morning!"

Rouge closed her eyes, and chuckled.

"I was lucky enough to be the first Shadow confessed to."

Shadow gasped, and felt a blush on his muzzle.

"Rouge!"

Rouge ignored the ultimate life form, and continued exposing him.

"At first he was all quiet about it, but then he suddenly exploded into a passionate soliloquy about you Pinkie. It was truly a wondrous sight to behold. He was crushing on you so hard."

Shadow closed his eyes, with an unamused look on his face, along with it being entirely red.

Pinkie giggled.

"Really? Awwww!" Pinkie looked at Shadow, whom was extremely flustered, eyes still closed.

Pinkie beamed, blushing happily.

"Love you too Shady!"

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, making Shadow open his eyes in surprise. He turned his head to her, mouth open, searching for words. Pinkie only smiled, and motioned her head to the two female mobians. Shadow closed his mouth, and turned to look at them.

Amy's smile stretched across her face, her eyes and smile growing bigger every second, sparkling.

Rouge smiled with a smirk, arms crossed.

Shadow rolled his eyes, and smiled small.

"You're welcome."

He returned to his resting face, and stood from the table.

"Now, we have someplace to be."

Amy was about to speak when she realized something. Guilt was now written all over her.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry we interrupted your date!"

Shadow shook his head as Pinkie stood from the table.

"It's okay Amy. You didn't."

He gave Rouge a look before turning to Pinkie.

"You ready?"

Pinkie nodded her head.

"Yes indeedy!"

Shadow nodded, and swiftly carried her into his arms, bridal style. Pinkie gasped. She was not expecting that, and she blushed

"Shadow!"

Shadow looked down to her, and smirked.

"You did say you wanted to frolic in a field flowers, right?"

Pinkie gasped again, this time with happiness. Her smile grew big, and she nuzzled her face in his chest fur. Shadow smiled back, and skated away from the scene, pink pony in his arms.

Amy and Rouge watched them leave, both grinning.

Suddenly, Rouge spoke.

"How long have you shipped them for?"

"Since we've met her."



Sonic was speeding along, taking a well deserved break. He had looked for Chaos Emeralds all day with Tails, Silver, and Knuckles, and they had managed to find one. It was evening, and the sky was a tinted pinkish orange.

He was causally running along, when a voice was brought to his ear.

He skidded to a halt. He herd the voice again. It was... A singing voice. He grew curious, and he ventured towards the source.

As he did, the voice became more and more quiet.

He suddenly realized whom the voice belonged to. The voice fell silent.

As he got close, he jumped onto a tree branch to observe the scene.

Pinkie Pie was laying down in Shadow's lap, his arms around her, holding her close. He had his head resting on top of hers. Shadow was smiling softly, as was Pinkie.

Pinkie sighed happily.

"Thank you for today Shadow."

Shadow looked down to his pink angel, and smiled.

"No big deal."

They both continued to stare at the sky.

Shadow abruptly let out a sad sigh, making Pinkie concerned.

"Shady? Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

He was silent for a minute, before sighing again.

"It's just.. How did I get so lucky?"

Pinkie gave a small smile, and glanced up to him without moving her head.

"It was simply fate, shady. "

"I guess."

He sighed again, and pulled his head away, looking down to her.

"I'm just... a little anxious, is all."

Pinkie turned to him with curiosity. He stared at her, feeling able to be vulnerable. He inhaled, and exhaled slowly. He was having a hard time putting his thoughts into words.

"...We're both so different, you and I. I really want to make you happy Pinks. You make me happy. But..." He sighed.

"I'm worried that I'm going to lose you. Or worse, break your heart. Because of our differences. I, to tell the truth...

I get nervous about love, and being in love."

Pinkie stared at Shadow for a few moments, before giving a smile.

"Oh Shady,"

She nuzzled into his chest, making him blink in surprise.

"It's okay to feel that way. We're going to have our rough patches every now and again, but that won't mean I'll ever stop loving you. I do see us working out. Just know that my love for you is stronger than anyone else before."

Shadow blinked again, and smiled at her.

"How do you always say what I need to hear?"

Pinkie brought her face to his.

"Maybe we're more connected than you thought."

Their lips met for a sweet, slow, and long kiss, Shadow's hands sliding up her back, nearer to her neck. Pinkie held a hoof on his chest, keeping them balanced.

Once again, Sonic did not know what to think. He was wide eyed for a bit, before he began to think. And the longer he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Sonic started to smirk, as the couple had concluded their intimate moment.

Pinkie looked up to the sky. It was growing dark blue, and the sun was setting.

"I should be heading back to Sugarcube Corner."

She climbed off of Shadow's lap, and stood.

"You coming along?"

Shadow stared at the sky.

"I'll stay out here for a bit."

Pinkie smiled.

"Alright. See you at home Shady!"

Shadow chuckled, and waved as she exited the scene.

"See ya Pinks."

Shadow once again looked to the sky, and he gave a sigh of content.

He put his hands behind his head, and laid down, smiling.

He abruptly heard a soft noise land in the grass, and walk over to him. Shadow stopped smiling. He could sense who it was.

"What a surprise to see you happy Shadow."

Shadow opened his eyes to see the blue blur staring down at him, smirking.

Shadow turned stone-faced, and looked very unamused.

"Shut up faker."

Sonic shrugged, and rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Whatever."

He sat down next to the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow glaring at him before bring his attention back to the colors of the sky.

"So... You and Pinkie Pie, huh? It's a little odd."

"I suppose it is. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

Shadow glanced at Sonic, who was still wearing that grin. "Not at all. I'm just curious... How would the Edgey the Hedgy himself fall for such an opposite personality?"

Shadow sat up, and looked at Sonic. He gave a humph, and looked away, crossing his arms.

"Aww, come on Shads!"

"No."

"Please? Pretty please?"

Shadow turned his head to glare at Sonic with an unamused look.

Sonic sighed, and stood.

"Okay then Shadow. If you won't tell me, maybe Rouge will."

That made Shadow blink in surprise, as Sonic started to walk away. Shadow turned his head to Sonic.

"Sonic!"

Sonic turned back, with a smirk on his face. Shadow sighed, and motioned his hand to the ground.

"You're going to have sit down for this one."

...

"Wow, I didn't know how serious you actually were with this."

Sonic wore a surprised, but sympathetic face as he had just finished listening to Shadow's story. He had not expected Shadow to be so genuine about it.

Shadow sighed, and brought his legs to his chest, holding them there.

"Sonic, I truly and deeply love her. She brings more light to my life than anybody I know. If you want to make fun of me for that, whatever. Just know this: I probably wouldn't even be telling you all this without her influence."

Sonic suddenly smiled.

"I appreciate your honesty, faker. Although, I cannot promise that there won't be at least some endless teasing in the future."

Shadow chuckled, and smirked. "Alright then."

Both Sonic and Shadow stood, and they looked up to the now starry sky.

"I guess I should leave you to it then."

"Yeah. I promised Pinkie I'd kiss her goodnight."

Shadow realized what he just said, and blushed in embarrassment. He eyed Sonic to see him smirking again. Shadow stared at him.

"You never heard that."

Sonic shrugged, and rolled his eyes with a smile.

"You do you man."

Shadow turned away, but before he could take a step, Sonic called out to Shadow.

"Hey shads."

Shadow turned.

Sonic smirked.

"Pink's a good color on you."

Shadow rolled his eyes, and smirked back.

And with that, the hedgehogs went their separate ways. They weren't going to forget that conversation for a long time.
> Range of Emotions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

I haven't written to you in a few days, sorry about that.

I've been helping Sonic and his friends find the emeralds. We have 4, and we're pretty sure Eggman has one. The less he has the better.

Me and Pinkie have been doing fine. Although, I've been finding myself in more arguments with her recently.

...

I'm worried.

Today we have to babysit the twins while the Cakes are out at a baking competition. It should be no problem.

Hopefully.

Love,

Shadow





"Untie Pinkie! Lookie!"

Pumpkin Cake ran up to the pink mare, whom was sitting on the floor next to Pound Cake. They were all drawing, including Pinkie.

They were all out in the storefront, as today the shop was closed. The Cakes had gone out for the afternoon, and Shadow and Pinkie had to watch them. Although, Shadow was nowhere to be seen in the bakery.

Pinkie beamed at the filly.

"Aw, what a nice drawing Pumpkin!"

Pumpkin smiled back, and sat back down, Pinkie handing her another paper. Pumpkin busily got to work, as Pound flipped his paper over to continue doodling.

Pinkie stood, and glanced at the clock.

'Where is he? He was supposed to be here an hour ago.'

She gave a sigh, and looked back down to the twins.

She quickly herd the door open, and turned to see Shadow carrying a million bags in both hands.

Pinkie smiled, but there was a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"You're late."

Shadow gave an annoyed sigh.

"I would have been back sooner if you didn't use 50% more of your party supplies this month than you were supposed to." Shadow walked in, carefully making his way to the counter.

PInkie groaned, put her hoof on her head.

"Yeah, yeah. Stop reminding me."

Shadow walked behind the counter, and to the stairs. "I'll go put these bags down in the party planning cave, then I'll come back up to watch them. Can you please be more patient?"

Pinkie gave a humph, and Shadow rolled his eyes. He walked up the stairs, leaving Pinkie with the twins.

She looked down at the twins, then to the kitchen door.

'It'll be only a few minutes...'

She looked back to the foals, who were occupied in their art.

Pinkie smiled.

'Yeah. They'll be fine.'

She walked behind the counter, and into the kitchen.

But little children are curious, especially when they manage to flip a latch holding sweet throwables.

(30 minutes later)

Pinkie was carefully piping a flower pattern on the top layer of the 6 teir-cake. It wasn't finished of course, as the cake was still bare of frosting/fondant, excluding the top, which Pinkie was currently working on.

It was a black and white, chocolate and vanilla, tier-cake, and the frosting was going to be the same, white frosting on chocolate, black frosting on vanilla.

She climbed down from what she had dubbed the "confection ladder", and stared the cake, piping bag in her mouth. She was thinking.

And that's when she herd it.

"PINKIE PIE!"

She winced at his yelling voice, and set the bag down. She walked out to the storefront, and gasped.

Everything was covered head to toe in frosting and cake. This included the two cake twins, who had stopped playing around when Shadow shouted. Speaking of..

Shadow was mad. Frustrated, and mad. He turned to Pinkie.

"I thought you were watching them!"

Pinkie's ears drooped.

"I couldn't help it. I just needed to bake something!"

"Didn't I tell you to be patient?! I swear, you never seem to learn, or listen when comes to them!"

Now Pinkie was getting frustrated.

"But you said you'd be here to watch them in a minute, not an hour!"

"Well excuse me! I'm not the one wasting time and money on pointless parties no pony could give damn about!"

Pinkie gasped again. That one hurt. Tears started to pool in her eyes.

"And furthermore, you already know how troublesome the twins can be! What, are you ignoring their needs now?!"

Pinkie sniffed, and closed her eyes.

No. She was not going to take this lying down. She opened her eyes, starting to fill with rage.

"Easy for you to say! You're not the one who has juggle a baking career, party planning career, teaching career, and babysitting on top of all that! So excuse my actual ethic to work!"

"Oh, here we go, there she is, there's the annoying nucisnce I decided to date!"

The two kept arguing, their voices growing louder and louder. The cake twins cringed at the noise, then they started to feel guilty. They looked around the store. Tears appeared in their eyes.

"-And that's beacuse!-"

Two high pitched wails interrupted the argument. The couple blinked, and turned their heads to see the twins crying hysterically.

"Un-Un-"

"UNTIE AND UNKY! WE SORRY!"

"W-we dint want u to fight!"

Pinkie and Shadow suddenly had guilt written all over them. Pinkie ran out from the counter to comfort the fillies.

"Aww, Pumpkin, Pound, we weren't fighting because of you.."

Shadow now felt really bad. he walked up behind Pinkie, who was holding the two little ones in her hooves.

Pound sniffed.

"Are u ok now?"

Pinkie nodded.

"Oh babies, we're okay. We were just a little angry at each other, that's all. Now,"

Pinkie looked up and around the room, then back to the fillies.

"How about we all clean up this mess and have a nice picnic right here, before your nap?"

The twins nodded their heads, their tears starting to dry.

As Shadow stared at Pinkie, the more the gult grew heavy. But he'd have to wait to apologize. Right now, the Twins needed both of them.

...

Pound and Pumpkin cake settled into their respective beds. As part of their daily routine, they look naps in the afternoon and woke up before dinner, about the time the cakes would be home.

"Now you two get some good sleep in, okay?" Pinkie smiled as she tucked Pumpkin in, then went to Pound.

Shadow stood outside the room, near the door.

"Yes unite Pinkie."

She tucked him in, and walked to the light switch, and turned off the light.

She closed the door, and turned to look at Shadow.

Shadow had a huge amount of guilt and regret written on his face. He frowned, and looked down to the floor, closing his eyes. His ears drooped.

"Pinks... I'm sorry. What I said... It was inexcusable."

Pinkie's eyes widened a little at his abrupt apology.

Before she could respond, Shadow looked back up to her, with a stone face. It was clear he was trying to hold back his emotions.

"I'll be in the party cave, if you need me."

Shadow turned, and started to walk away. Pinkie lifted a hoof to follow, but her thoughts interrupted.

Her hoof went back to the floor, and she looked down in thought. She walked away. Pinkie entered the kitchen, and stared at the cake. She sighed, and turned, her destination: The party cave.

As Pinkie entered, she could only gasp. Shadow had organized every nook and cranny; even the party supplies were neatly tucked away in the comers of the room.

Then, she saw him.

Shadow sat at the party planning table, his head resting on it. It was clear that he was still very upset with himself.

Pinkie smiled softly.

"Shadow."

Shadow's head raised up from the table. He didn't turn.

"I thought you'd never want to see me again."

Pinkie took a few steps towards him, smiling.

"Well, we kind of live together, you know? I just can't do that."

Shadow's ears perked up at her chipper mood. He turned his head to hear. Pinkie's smile faded.

"On a serious note, what you said... Really did hurt me."

Shadow frowned, and looked down.

Pinkie walked up to him, and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"But I forgive you."

Shadow's eyes shot up to meet hers.

"But, how can you when I-"

Pinkie placed her hoof on his mouth, and smiled softly.

"I know you, Shadow. You're going to have these irritable off days, when your worst side shows."

Pinkie suddenly hugged Shadow, making him blink in surprise.

"But that's okay. You get over it, and life continues on. We'll become stronger through it."

She slid into his lap, and sat on him.

"Now, watcha working on?"

Shadow was stunned. He thought it would take a while to get on her good side again.

'She's really just going to let it go?'

He glanced down at her.

He smiled softly.

'Yeah. That's like her.'

He placed his arms around her, and gave a sigh of relief. Pinkie sunk into his arms, and the two enjoyed the moment.

After a minute, Shadow had a thought.

His hands detached from her, and he started at his hands.

Pinkie looked up to him.

"Shady?"

Shadow was silent for another moment, before his gaze met hers.

"Can I show you something?"

Pinkie nodded, and slid off him, Shadow standing.

They both made their way to the middle of the room, and sat. Shadow sat in front of Pinkie.

He placed his hands in front of himself, and her.

"You've.. Never seen my hands or feet before."

Pinkie was intrigued.

"Can.. I see them?" She asked, knowing the answer would be yes.

Shadow nodded, and moved his left hand to his right inhibitor ring.

"Unlike Sonic, I do take my shoes and gloves to wash them sometimes."

He slowly twisted it off, a golden light coming off of it and his wrist.

Pinkie looked on in awe. She had never seen him take off his inhibitor rings before.

He twisted the other off, and gently pulled his right glove off, then his left.

The red streaks on his arms went down his hands, and his ring fingers.

Pinkie reached out to grab his right hand. She didn't expect how smooth and soft they were going to be.

On his palm were the initials P.S. and the numbers 002.

Pinkie squinted.

"P.S.? What does that stand for?"

"Project Shadow."

"Oh yeah. I remember you telling me about that."

She turned her attention to the numbers.

"And the 002?"

Shadow looked away.

"I was not the first Ultimate Lifeform project. There was a prototype... But that's a story for another day."

Pinkie nodded, and turned his hand over.

She then noticed a yellow ring of energy around his wrist.

"Is that your blood?"

Shadow shook his head.

"Sort of. It's the chaos energy that flows through me. These parts where the rings are, they tell me how much energy I have in my body right now. I.. do bleed it if someone manages to make me bleed while I'm using Chaos energy."

Pinkie stared at his hands.

"They're beautiful Shadow."

Shadow was surprised to hear this.

"R-Really?"

He didn't mean to stutter, it just really caught him off guard.

"Yeah. And.. I like the way they feel."

Pinkie smiled softly at him, and Shadow gave a small smile back.

He slowly raised his hand to her cheek, and rubbed it with his thumb. Pinkie closed her eyes, and let him pet her.

Shadow moved his hand behind her ear, and scratched it.

Pinkie began to hum, clearly enjoying it.

Then, Shadow began to touch her upper neck.

Pinkie suddenly gave out a pleasure-filled moan, and tilted her head out of instinct.

Shadow immediately blushed, and retracted his hand.

"Did... Did you just moan?"

Pinkie blushed, realizing. She looked down.

"...Yeah. That's never happened before."

Shadow suddenly smirked, and came up close to her, booping her nose.

"Looks like I found your sweet spot."

Pinkie smirked back, and put a hoof to his chest.

"Not so fast, Ultimate Lifeform. You have to wait. Besides, we have a cake to make, and, you haven't shown me your feet yet."

Shadow immediately knew what she was implying by that first sentence, and blushed, scooting away. He began taking off his inhibitors on his ankles.

"Sorry. I'm only a guy after all."

Pinkie spoke as he took off his shoes and socks.

"It's okay. When I feel ready, then I'll tell you."

The red streaks down Shadow's legs went down his feet and to his pinky toe.

Shadow sighed.

"Happy?"

Pinkie stared at his feet. Then she smiled, and stood.

"Very."

Shadow reached to grab his sock when Pinkie stepped on it.

"Hey!"

Pinkie smiled.

"Oh, you're not putting your shoes or gloves on just yet."

...

Shadow finished piping a black, antiquate flower pattern on top of the white fondant of the cake.

Shadow and Pinkie were almost finished working on the black and white tier cake. Shadow was doing the bottom layer, and Pinkie was doing the one above that. They were on opposite sides of the cake.

Shadow was free of his gloves and shoes, taking in the feel of the things around him.

"You know, I almost forget what things really feel like sometimes."

Pinkie giggled.

"You must be glad I got you out of those shoes and gloves then!"

Shadow chuckled. "Yeah." Suddenly, he had a mischievous thought.

He abruptly walked around the cake, and to Pinkie. He dabbed some black icing on her cheek, making her surprised. Before she could say anything, Shadow kissed her cheek, licking it clean. This made Pinkie blush severely.

"S-Shadow!"

Shadow said nothing, he only smirked.

Pinkie soon smiled back, and the couple went back to work.

Soon, the two took a step back to gaze at their marvelous creation.

"Great work Pinks."

Pinkie smiled at Shadow.

"Oh, you helped a lot too Shady, don't shortchange yourself."

Shadow smiled at her complement.

"Thanks, but it's always you."

Shadow patted her head, and Pinkie giggled.

Just then, the couple herd the front door open.

"Pinkie Pie! Mr. Shadow! We're home!"

Mr. And Ms. Cake had arrived back from the competition.

Pinkie smiled, and yelled back.

"I'm coming!"

She turned to Shadow.

"Hey, since our job is done, how about you go out for a run? It's probably been a while since you've felt the ground below your feet."

She nuzzled him, and Shadow smiled. Pinkie walked out the kitchen as Shadow began to think, a smirk appearing on his face.

Pinkie beamed at Mr. And Ms. Cake.

"Hi Mr. and Ms. Cake! How was the competition?"

"We got third." Ms. Cake answered.

"We'll get first place next time."

Pinkie smiled, and nodded.

"You are free to go, Pinkie." Mr. Cake nodded his head, and Pinkie grinned and nodded again.

But before she could say anything, she was swept off her hooves and quickly brought to the front door.

When Pinkie realized what just happened, she looked up.

Shadow held her in his arms, and he smirked.

Pinkie cracked a huge grin.

"So, you are actually fast without those shoes."

Shadow rolled his eyes with a smile, and he ran off, with her in his arms.
> She's Yours, You're Hers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

As these letters are getting fewer and far-between, you can tell I've been content with life.

Today an old friend of Pinks is coming into town. She wants to introduce me to him.

Yes, I said him. And yes, I'll not be jealous of her friendships.

You know me. I'm better than that.

Love,

Shadow



Pinkie Pie and Shadow were standing on a road outside of Ponyville. They were waiting for a close friend of Pinkie's.

Shadow was wearing a hot pink hoodie, made by Rarity, and had his hands in his pockets. Winter was coming, and Cloudsdale was about to make it snow over Ponyville. Pinkie was wearing her usual winter outfit, blue and yellow beanie and scarf.

Shadow had been told by a really excited Pinkie Pie all about him.

Her friend was what she described as a "professional party planner", and traveled across Equestria, planning and hosting parties. He had a company, but had left it to continue perusing the party planning lifestyle. He was energetic, funny, and had a sense of positivity to him.

He was a lot like her, apparently.

Pinkie was quietly humming, bobbing up and down next to Shadow, who now had his arms crossed.

After all her bouncing and talking on the way there, Shadow assumed she would have shown more excitement at this time.

Well, she was bursting with excitement, but now she looked slightly anxious, and Shadow even detected some nervousness coming from her.

He'd have to put a pin in that for now, as he saw a skinny stallion walking up the path.

The yellow stallion wore a black poncho, and hat to match. He was tall, and his poofy mane and tail were brown. His eyes were green, and a yellow rubber chicken was sat on his back.

He smiled as he noticed Pinkie first. Pinkie couldn't contain her excitement any longer, and ran to greet the stallion.

Shadow quietly trailed behind, with his normal stone face.

The yellow stallion ginned back at the pink mare, and Pinkie gave him a joyful hug.

"Cheese! It's so good to see you again!"

Cheese hugged her back with a smile.

"Good to see you too."

The stallion then noticed Shadow standing behind Pinkie. He had his arms crossed, and was looking down. Shadow had a face that was emotionless, but Cheese suddenly felt an aura about him.

Cheese broke the hug, and motioned his hoof to the hedgehog.

"Uh, who is that?"

"Oh, he's an anthropomorphic hedgehog that talks and walks, he won't bite."

Cheese showed slight confusion as he walked up to Shadow. "Oookkkayy... Sorry, I've just never seen someone like you on my travels."

Shadow looked up, and nodded,

"I'm used to that."

The yellow stallion smiled big at the ebony figure.

"I'm Cheese Sandwich. Nice to meet you."

Shadow nodded again, not moving his stance.

Before he could respond, Pinkie jumped in between the two of them, and put a hoof around Shadow, giggling.

"Cheesy, this is Shadow the Hedgehog, my boyfriend!"

Cheese tensed up at that statement. His pupils grew small, ever so slightly.

Shadow noticed. He mentally raised a brow at this, but didn't comment on it.

Pinkie took a step away, and motioned her hoof to follow.

"Now come on! I have a lot of things planned for today!"



Walking through the streets of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich quickly caught up and conversated, while Shadow walked beside Pinkie, silent. He had his hands in his pockets, and was listening in on their chatter, being inconspicuous. Pinkie noticed how Shadow had not contributed to the discussion, and spoke.

"Shady, did you know that Cheese here has planned over 1000 parties all over Equestria?"

"Yeah. I heard." Shadow said no more. Pinkie frowned, and glanced at Cheese. He also seemed unwilling to talk to the hedgehog, and avoidant of him. Cheese kept his eyes away from the ultimate lifeform.

Pinkie was silent for a quick moment, before she got an idea. She grinned wide, and started bouncing.

"If you two could excuse me for a second, I have a personal errand to run at Sofas And Quills."

The trio stopped in front of the shop. Pinkie turned to the two males.

"You both conversate while I'm gone. Get to know each other better!"

Shadow only nodded, and Cheese smiled.

"Of course Pinkie!" Cheese answered cheerfully.

"Thank you!"

Pinkie turned and entered the shop, leaving the two alone.

Silence followed, as both didn't talk. Shadow crossed his arms and Cheese looked away, whistling. Shadow noticed Cheese's avoidant eyes, and began to ponder.

When Cheese glanced at Shadow, he saw Shadow staring questionably at him. Cheese gulped.

"What?"

"What yourself?"

Cheese blinked, and realized.

"Sorry, I'm just little taken aback by your- ah, relationship with her."

Shadow kept his arms crossed.

"I get that a lot. So, how long have you known Pinkie?"

Cheese laughed nervously. "For a while now. Actually, we met when we were only foals, but we never talked afterwards. She's the one who inspired me to become a party pony you know. "

Shadow didn't know that. He uncrossed his arms. He stayed stone faced.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Cheese was silent for another minute before continuing. This time he asked Shadow something.

"When did you and Pinkie meet?"

"About 3 to 4 months ago. I was trying to figure out where I was when I ran into her. I gotta say, I was a little floored by her personality."

"Uh-huh..." Cheese had many questions, but he would have to save them for later.

"So... You're really Pinkie's boyfriend?"

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. It's not that complicated."

Cheese looked away. Shadow could see that he looked sad, and a tad jealous.

"You seem to have a distaste for my relationship with her." Cheese blinked, and turned to look at Shadow. "Is there anything I need to know about you and her?"

Cheese looked down and sighed, slightly with relief, but mostly of nervousness.

He then chuckled nervously. He rubbed the back of his head with his hoof.

"We kinda dated awhile back."

Shadow's brow deepened, and he felt his hands become heavy. He then remembered what he had told Maria this morning. He exhaled through his nose, and calmed his nerves. Cheese continued.

"After the honeymoon phase of the relationship, things slowed down to a crawl. Because I traveled so much, I couldn't make time for her. We started talking about our relationship less and less. Finally, one day, Pinkie wrote to me in a letter that she wanted to break up. She said she just didn't feel the same connection she had when we started. When we met in person, she told me I wasn't the one she was waiting for. It kinda hurt for a few weeks. But she said we could still be friends, and well, here we are."

Cheese suddenly slightly panicked.

"We didn't have a nasty breakup, or anything, we're okay. -I don't feel like getting beat up anytime soon."

Shadow breathed heavily, but quietly. He was relieved that nothing bad happened between the two ponies, but he was thought it unwise for Pinkie to introduce her ex to him.

He then had a question.

"How?"

"What?"

"How can you continue on with your friendship just like that? Where I come from, breakups lead one to not speak to the other for a good long time, perhaps even forever. And, most of them do end up going real badly."

Cheese stared at Shadow for a moment, before smiling politely.

"Welcome to Equestria Shadow. Things like this just happen."

Shadow blinked. Even with all he had learned about Equestria, there was still new things that surprised him about it.

Pinkie trotted out of the shop, bags in her mouth. Shadow took initiative and took the bags from her. Pinkie smiled. "Thank you Shady!" She kissed his cheek in graduate.

Shadow nodded, and felt a small smile trying to escape. Cheese seemed to notice, and Shadow stopped. Cheese seemed to understand that this was an occasion. He smiled at him and Shadow rolled his eyes.



As the day went on, the two males noticed things about each other. Shadow noticed that Cheese really was like Pinkie; They both were so positive together, and got along even more than he and Pinkie did. He also noticed how much time Cheese spent just talking to her only. Shadow had a hunch about that, but it would have to wait.

Cheese was impressed by Shadow. He was a full-on gentleman to Pinkie, even ordering her extra hay-fries at the café when she had no more bits on her at the moment. When it showed, he could see how much Shadow loved her, and how much she loved Shadow. He was pleasantly surprised at this, but kept his jealousy to himself. Mostly for Pinkie's sake.

At the end of the day, He had made his decision about Shadow.



The trio made their way down the path, soon approaching the end of it. The sun was setting, and it was starting to snow lightly. Shadow was listening to Cheese and Pinkie talking in-depth abut the business of party planning.

"Sans says his resent research has indicated that slapstick humour is falling, and relatable humour is skyrocketing."

Shadow smirked. "Sounds like the modern humour where I come from."

Pinkie giggled, making Cheese laugh as well.

They all stopped at end of the path. Shadow turned to Pinkie. "Hey, can I talk to Cheese alone for a moment?"

Pinkie nodded, but seemed a little anxious. She gave them some space, and Shadow turned to Cheese Sandwich. Shadow's voice lowered.

"You still love her, don't you?"

Cheese's ears drooped. He looked down. "Yeah."

Silence came from Shadow.
But, I can live with it."

Shadow tilted his head, waiting for Cheese to continue. Cheese raised his head to look up at Shadow.

"I haven't seen her this happy with someone else before, even me. She looks at you, talks with you in a way she doesn't to anypony else. I can see the love in her eyes. And, I can see the same in yours. How much do you love her?"

Shadow looked down.

"Without her, I wouldn't be as open as I am right now. She gives me so much love, love I haven't felt in a long time."

Cheese blinked in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Shadow put his hands in his pockets.

Cheese sighed.

"Well, as long as she's happy, and you make her happy, I can live with that. I just want to know that she's in good hooves, er, hands."

Shadow nodded.

"I've promised myself to give her all my love, show her all my sides. So don't worry. I've got it covered."

Cheese smiled.

"So we're cool? No grudges?"

"No grudges."

Shadow took as step back, indicating the conversation was done. Pinkie took notice, and trotted over to say goodbye.

She hugged Cheese. "So long Cheese! I can't wait to see you again!" Cheese hugged her back carefully.

"Yeah. Me too."

They broke from the hug, and Pinkie took a step back, standing next to Shadow.

Cheese stared at the couple for a moment. Then, he smiled.

'Yeah. She's going to be just fine.'

Cheese tipped his hat, and walked away.

"Bye!" Pinkie waved him off, and Cheese called back.

"Tis' next we meet, Pinkie!"

Pinkie smiled, watching her friend go.

Shadow turned to Pinkie.

"You never told me you had an ex-boyfriend."

Pinkie winced, and her smile became crooked.

"He told you, didn't he?"

Shadow nodded. "Yeah, but we worked it out."

Shadow patted her head with a small smile.

"Next time, just tell me the truth before hand, alright?"

Pinkie smiled small.

"Yes. I will."
> This Can't Be Goodbye
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Sonic and his friends have found 5 chaos emeralds. Eggman has 2. We have to take them back to Earth. But, in doing so, we will also have to go back to Earth along with them. And we don't have a way back to Equestria.

I'm... Dreading it.

I don't think I can live without Pinks.

But...

I can't stay here. I have duties back on Earth. I'm one of the top commanders for a reason.

I don't know... I'm feeling conflicted...

I know what I must do. And it hurts so much.

Maria. Please. Help me.

Your brother,

Shadow the Hedgehog





Eggman's newest base stretched high into the Equestrian sky. Sonic and co. were standing around near the base with the mane 5, minus Twilight. She was in Canterlot during this time, getting lessons about the boring side of ruling from Celestia and Luna.

It was lightly snowing. The ponies wore their winter gear.

Sonic, Tails, Silver, Knuckles, and Shadow all held an emerald in one hand. 

"So all we have to do is get the seven emeralds to react to each other?" Silver asked, looking down to the emerald he held.

Tails nodded. "If we can get Super Sonic and Super Shadow to create a big enough Chaos Control, we, including Eggman, will be taken back to Mobius."

"It won't be taking us with it, right?" 
Fluttershy was the one to have asked, the 5 ponies standing behind the group. Pinkie was looking down at the ground, feeling a little blue.

The anthros broke out of their circle, and turned to the ponies.

Shadow was definitely feeling depressed, but you couldn't really tell. He stayed silent, eyes down to the powdered patches of snow and grass.

"The chaos emeralds turn your thoughts into power. If Shads and I only think about sending us home, you guys shouldn't be effected." Sonic answered her, and she signed with relief.

"I guess this means goodbye then." Rainbow Dash frowned, and the others frowned too. 

"I'll be trying to find a connection back to this world as soon as I can, and Twilight told me she will do the same." Tails reassured the ponies, but Pinkie wasn't listening. Shadow noticed. He could always tell. Shadow looked up at her.

He gave a small sigh, and walked up to her while the others said their goodbyes.

She had tiny tears falling out of her eyes. She raised her hoof to her nose to wipe it.

Shadow put on a small smile for her.

"Hey, where's your smile hiding?"

Pinkie looked up to him. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She gave out a chuckle, and smiled.

"There she is."

Pinkie looked away, and started to blush. Shadow put his hand on her cheek, and looked to her with sincere eyes. She looked back into his.

"I won't be gone for long, okay?"

Pinkie's hoof raised to hold his hand against her cheek. The heat emitting from his glove gave her comfort. Pinkie nodded slowly.

".. Okay. I love you."

Shadow gave her the biggest grin he could, and hugged her.

"I love you too."

Pinkie beamed, and hugged him back tightly.

Rouge had witnessed the ordeal, and was smiling the whole time. It was wholesome seeing Shadow act this way.

The couple departed, and Shadow returned to his resting face.

"Alright Shadow, it's time."

Shadow turned, and looked at the group of Mobians. Sonic had called him, and waited patiently as the others started to walk. He nodded, and turned back to Pinkie.

He gave a nod to her. Pinkie nodded back. And, Shadow ran off, the rest of the anthros not far behind.



Sonic bust through the doors of the control room.

"Alright Egghead! Where are you?"

Silver and Tails ran in after Sonic, searching the room for the doctor.

The ground shook, and Eggman appeared in his newest mech, powered by the two Chaos Emeralds he had in his possession.

"Here to spoil the fun Sonic?"

Sonic glanced over to Tails, then Silver, and both nodded. Sonic smirked.

"As always. But this time, you're coming with us."

The robot swung an arm at Sonic, but like always, Sonic dodged it with ease.

"Is that all you got Eggman?"

Eggman laughed.
"I'm just getting started!" 

With a press of a button, hundreds of Eggman robots fell from the ceiling.

Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, and Shadow fell onto a circle as the robots encircled them.

"Eggman never makes it easy, does he?" Knuckles smirked, and readied himself for a fight.

"Guess he wants one last good fight in." Rouge spoke as Amy pulled out her hammer.

"You mean one more crushing defeat."

The four broke out of the circle, and started tearing up robots.

Meanwhile, Tails was sneaking around the back of the big mech Sonic was currently fighting/distracting. They just didn't come in without a plan. They had one.

Silver got in position.

Knuckles knocked out 3 robots at once, and moved to the left to punch one that aimed a lazer at him.

Amy smashed one after another in a row, hammer swinging fiercely.

Rouge kicked in robots faces while Shadow speared multiple rows.

Everything was in position.

Suddenly one of the arms and legs of Eggman's mech powered down.

"What?!" Eggman yelled, trying to regain control of the lost parts.

Sonic smirked. From somewhere in the room, both Tails and Sonic shouted out,

"Now Silver!"

Silver used his telekinesis on the mech, and Eggman was stuck.

"What are you doing?!" Eggman yelled once more, but to no response.

Sonic smirked as Amy and Rouge came up behind him.

Sonic glanced at them, his smirk not leaving his face.
"Ladies?"

They nodded, and each went to grab the last two emeralds from the mech.

Amy smashed into the leg, and the emerald fell out from above. She catched it with her right hand.

"Hey, no fair! That's cheating!" Eggman yelled with frustration.

Rouge flew up to the right arm, and took the emerald from it.

"Sorry Eggy, but it's for everyone's good this time."

Rouge landed, and the two walked up to Sonic and handed him the emeralds, one emerald already in his possession.

Knuckles and Shadow emerged from the pile of wrecked robot parts, and walked up to the group.

Knuckles handed his emerald to Sonic. Shadow collected Silver's emerald, and came to stand next to Sonic.

Tails gave his emerald to the two hedgehogs, and everyone took a step back.

Silver grunted, gritting his teeth.

"I can't hold him for much longer!"

Sonic and Shadow looked to each other and nodded. Sonic noticed how Shadow's face had not one hint of emotion in it. Except, maybe, uncertainty?

The two closed their eyes as the emeralds started to float around them. They themselves floated up into the air with the emeralds. Faster and faster they moved around them, until the room was filled with a bright light.

Two words were shouted.

"CHAOS..."

"CONTROL!"

In the next few nanoseconds it suddenly hit Shadow all at once. He was about to leave the person he loved the most behind, perhaps even forever. Just as the ball of light was enveloping everyone, Shadow teleported away.

He needed to do one last thing.

The mane 5 watched from a distance, light emitting from the base.

All were melancholy, and Pinkie was the one standing in front of the group. She put her hoof to her chest, feeling tears trying to form alongside her slowly sinking smile.

All of a sudden, Super Shadow appeared before her.

She gasped through her nose, but before she could say anything, Shadow took off his inhibitor rings and grabbed Pinkie's hoof, placing them in hers.

"Please, take them. For me."

Pinkie gasped.

"But Shadow, these-"

She didn't get to finish as Shadow aburptly kissed her, one full of sadness and longing. Pinkie kissed back, but the kiss was shortlived.

Shadow broke off, and turned to teleport back to the induced chaos control. But suddenly, Pinkie grabbed his hand. She had something in her left hoof.

"Shadow!"

She handed something to Shadow, and he closed his hand. He looked to her.

She smiled softly, and gave him her Pinkie promise, his rings pinned to her chest by her right hoof.

Shadow smiled back, and returned the gesture, before teleporting away.

The mane 5 suddenly shielded their eyes as the bright flash filled the area.

When it died down, they unshielded their eyes to look out over the landscape.

Eggman's base was gone, and all looked normal now.

Pinkie looked down to the inhibitor rings she held against her chest.

"I can't believe he left those to you."

Rainbow Dash spoke, the friends now surrounding Pinkie for reassurance.

Pinkie's eyes watered.

"I know..."

She couldn't hold it in any longer, and broke down in tears. Her friends hugged her, giving her comfort. They all understood how hard it was for her to see him go. Fluttershy and Rarity spoke together.

"Don't worry Pinkie. Everything's going to be alright."



Sonic and the gang appeared in a forest, minus Shadow. Silver let Eggman out of his grasp, and Eggman took the opportunity to run away. He flew his pod out of the decommissioned mech, and flew off.

"I'll defeat you next time Sonic, next time!"

Sonic looked up and shouted back at him.

"Not very likely!"

Silver was suddenly concerned, looking around.

"Where's Shadow?"

Shadow suddenly teleported in, and landed on two feet. But then, he aburptly fell, landing on his knees, fists following suit.

Sonic and Rouge immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Shadow!"
Silver, Sonic, and Rouge ran up to him.

Shadow's fists were planted firmly on the ground. He didn't seem to be suffering from injury, or even exhaustion.

He was rocked emotionally.

He was missing his rings on his wrists, and his head was facing downward.

Sonic put his hands on his right shoulder and arm. Rouge held his left arm. Sliver stood next to Sonic. Sonic spoke.

"Shadow, are you alright? Where are your rings?"

"I... Gave them..."

Shadow couldn't finish, but he didn't need to.

They all knew.

Shadow could feel it coming.

He shakily raised his left hand, and opened it.

In his hand, was a necklace. The necklace was a silver chain, and had a light blue Sapphire gemstone and a pale yellow Topaz gemstone.

Sonic and Rouge looked at each other with curiosity, then at Shadow.

He felt himself tear up.

He started to cry. He his tears were silent, but were sorrowful.

Sonic and Rouge were deeply concerned for the ultimate lifeform, but could do nothing for this moment.



The next few months would be hard for the now septated couple.

But, that brings up a point even Cheese Sandwich couldn't get past...

How could they hold on to their love for one another while so far apart?
> Extra Notes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie was looking through Shadow's drawers when she found something interesting. She opened the first page.

...

Shadow, this is the diary we can both share, alright?

Alright. I don't really see how this could be more fun than just talking, but I'll go along with it.

You're going to love it, trust me! Maybe one day you'll use this for yourself!

Okay then.

...

Flipping to another page she found him telling Maria about his first impressions of herself. And, Pinkie decided to add something to it...



Edit 1:

Hi Maria! It's me, Pinkie Pie! Looks like Shadow accidentally left your guys' diary in Equestria, oops! Buuut since I found it, I might as well leave my own thoughts in here about some of the times he's mentioned. Hopefully he doesn't mind. Alright! First one.

First time I saw him, I was doing to do what I did to Twilight when I first met her, but his appearance stopped that for me.

He really looked all confused at me at first, but then I stopped talking, and he seemed to snap out of it! He asked me about a Chaos Emerald, and since at the time I knew nothing about them, I said I didn't know anything. I then invited him to my house the next day. I didn't know he saw a lot of you in me! I mean, he talked about it to me later, but he had this thought from the start? So sweet!

Edit 2:

I'm glad he saw me as a close friend even only after a week of being friends. He probably has trouble making friends, huh? Well, I know you're probably thrilled to hear all about us from Shadow. Also, I didn't know he was that concerned about the emerald! He could at least said something about it!

Edit 3:

Dawwww, Shadow! I make you feel all fuzzy inside? That's adorable! Oh, and for the record, I started falling in love with him when he moved in. He was always mysterious to me, and then he got me hooked. Of course, I didn't know it until, well, I'll tell you later.

Edit 4:

He's really passionate about his love for me, ain't he? Even before we got together! Aww! Hehe, I did realize I fell for him that baking day. It was kinda hard to hide I guess... Hehe.

Edit 5: Okay, can I just mention how defensive he is for me? It's really gentleman like of him. But you probably know that already. ^^

Edit 6:

I am so happy to have made him so happy. Daw, he sees me as an Angel. I hope that if you and me meet someday, you could tell me more about the things I don't know about him. We would probably have a lot of fun! I love him a lot too, he's my rock (sorry Maud), my shoulder to cry on. He's insanely sweet and kind to me. And, he loves me very deeply. I'm glad he's entered my life. I just wish we could see each other again...

Edit 7:

I love how he uses his nickname for me a lot. It's soooooo cute of him!

Edit 8:

Shadow, I'm sorry you felt so conflicted about leaving. I was too busy wallowing in my own sadness to see how much you were hurting. But, I thank you for your gift. Your rings mean a lot to you, and giving them to me... It's just so selfless.

You agree with me right Maria?



Dear Maria,

Okie, I'm finally writing an official letter to you! Life's been great actually, and today was the Hearth's Warming Eve party! I had so much fun singing carols with my friends! But I do wish Shadow was here to watch the snowfall with me. *Sigh*, I can see it now. Shadow has his arms cuddled up around me, I'm melting into his embrace, and laying down with him. We would be drinking coca, and watching the world pass by on my balcony. Ha, that really doesn't sound like a thing I'd do, does it? Well, I guess he makes me feel that way. There are so many things I love about him, almost too much to list! He's forever caring, he's strangely good with foals and fillies (I think you guys just call them children), he's passionate yet gentle, he can be very aware and astute, he knows a lot about literally everything, not to mention his voice! Oh, what only his voice does to me!

Hehe, yeah, I love him a lot too.

I hope you're doing well, Even though you're kinda dead and somewhere in the afterlife. X) I can't wait for spring. That's when Twilight said she'll be trying to help us, even though she'll be ruler by that time! She said after a few first weeks ruling, she'll look into it. Ooohh, I'm so excited!

I hope Shady's doing alright. Tell him I'm doing okay for me, will you Maria? Thank you!

I'll be writing to you later Maria, byiiii!



Later that night... In a dream...

"Pinkie Pie..."

"Huh? Who's there?"

"It's me, Maria."

*Gasp* "Hi Maria! Oh wow, we're meeting sooner than I thought! But, uh, where are you?"

"Give me a second, I'll be there."

"Okie dokey lokey!"

Nothingness formed into a room. The room was dimly lit by the huge window in the front of the room.

There was an escape pod in the middle of the room.

Consoles were scattered around. Everything seemed abandoned.

"Glad to have finally met you in person."

Pinkie turned, and in front of her was a blonde-haired girl.

She was wearing a short pale pink dress that was dotted with pastel yellow and sky blue hearts. She wore a long white skirt, and simple sneakers.

She smiled at the pink pony.

"Hi."

Pinkie beamed, and her eyes lit up.

She gasped happily.

"So you're what humans look like!"

Maria giggled softly. "Not all of us Pinkie."

She turned her head, gesturing Pinkie to the window. Pinkie trotted up to the window, and gazed out. She gasped loudly in shock.

Maria smiled softly, and walked up next to the pink mare.

The green and blue marble floated there, illuminating brightly. Its white, whispy clouds slowly passed around the Earth.

Pinkie started at the Earth in wonder.

"It's so pretty..."

Maria smiled.

"I know."

Pinkie grinned from ear to ear. "Shadow wasn't kidding when he said this was a view!"

Maria grinned big. "I heard."

Pinkie giggled, and turned to her. "Have you spied on all of our conversations?"

Maria giggled back, and looked out of the window.

"I watch over my brother when I can, to see where he goes in life."

The two had a moment of silence.

"How's he holding up?"

Maria frowned.

"He was...Okay for a few weeks, but it's Christmas time right now."

Pinkie was curious. "Christmas? What's that?"

"It's sort of like your Hearth's Warming holiday." Maria explained simply, then continued with the previous discussion.

"Sometimes during the holidays, he gets a little depressed because of my absence. But this year, he's missing you as well. And it's gotten worse. But, I think someone's consoling him about that right now."

Pinkie frowned.

"I wish I could see him."

Maria looked to her newest friend.

Pinkie's ears drooped, and she was looking down. Their separation not only hurt Shadow, but it hurt Pinkie too.

Maria started forward, and closed her eyes.

The scene around them changed. The ARK dissipated, and they were suddenly standing on a rooftop. They were in a city, and it was snowing. Pinkie realized that she was somewhere else. She looked up, and around her.

Maria beamed as she stared at the scene in front of them.

Pinkie turned to see what she was staring at, and gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth.

Sonic and Shadow were sitting on the edge of the roof. Shadow was wearing the pink hoodie he received in Equestria. He was singing.

Pinkie quickly realized that he was singing about her.

She felt herself blush a vibrant pink. Her hoof fell to her chest. The two stayed silent, letting Shadow sing. Sonic stared at Shadow with respect and awe.

When Shadow finished, Maria spoke to Pinkie.

"You know, it took numerous pleads from me to ever get him to sing. Yet, here he is. He has sung in front of Sonic of all people, about you."

Pinkie turned to her. Maria just smiled.

"You're pretty special Pinkie."

Pinkie beamed back, and then looked back to the hedgehogs. Sonic was standing, and said something about a party.

Pinkie smiled, and took a small step. She then turned her head to Maria.

"Can he see us right now?"

Maria shook her head.

"No, he can't."

Pinkie turned her head back, and walked over to Shadow. He seemed surprised by something, but it was quickly disappearing.

Pinkie put a hoof on his shoulder, and kissed his cheek. He seem to have reacted, Pinkie noticing his hand come up to his right cheek.

He suddenly stood.

"Sonic!"

Sonic turned as Shadow looked down.

"I'll... Come say hello."

Sonic smirked, and waved at him to come along. The two hedgehogs raced off the building.

Pinkie smiled as she watched them race away. Maria came to stand next to her.

"If you let yourself, he can sense your presence. I can talk to him in his dreams too, and even let myself be seen and heard by him, because of a special connection we share."

Pinkie let out a few tears.

"He is pretty special."

Maria chuckled, and the scene around them changed again.

They were back in a dreamscape, this one being huge clearing full of different types of flowers. The flowers illuminated light, and seemed to stretch on forever.

Maria grinned at Pinkie.

"I love nature."

Pinkie seemingly knew what she was incinerating.

"Do you like to play in these fields?"

The two played and socialized until it was time for Pinkie to wake up.

Maria did leave a message for Shadow though.

"Pinkie says happy Hearth's Warming."
> An Aching Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Maria... Why must I feel so helpless without her? My mood has not been good lately. I even have Rouge worried. Omega doesn't seem to understand exactly, but he does what he can to leave me alone. I am glad to be back on Earth with my friends and my job, I really do. But... Pinkie's changed me.

I want to look forward to life with her. I want to be happy now, now that I can secure good for the world. ...I'm sorry I lost the diary.' He gave a sigh. 'What a beautiful gift...'

Shadow sat at his desk in his office at GUN. He had been thinking these thoughts for the past thirty minutes while dangling the necklace Pinkie had given him in his left hand.

It had been about 2 months since they left.

He still had no inhibitor rings on, as the scientists could not figure out how to make a copy of them.

His gaze was transfixed on the light blue sapphire and the pale yellow topaz gemstones.

It was Christmas Eve, and today, Shadow was really feeling down.

He briefly wondered where she got the gemstones, when he remembered she worked on a rock farm. A certain conversation came to mind, and made his hand shake slightly. He sighed, and closed his eyes, keeping his feelings down.

"Uh, Commander Shadow, sir?" Shadow opened his eyes and looked forward.

A nervous young man stood at the doorway. When Shadow looked to him, he immediately saluted.

Shadow slowly set the necklace down. "At ease solider."

The man dropped his hand.

"Sorry to interrupt sir, but, um, can I be relieved from my duties for the night? I promised my wife I'd help wrap my son's presents tonight."

Shadow exhaled heavily. He was silent for a moment, making the man even more anxious.

"You may take your leave solider. Have a good day off tomorrow."

The solider was surprised.

"R-Really?"

"Yes solider. Now go, before I change my mind."

The solider beamed. "Thank you Commander Shadow sir! Have a Merry Christmas!"

Shadow didn't reply, he just waved the solider out, and picked up the necklace again.

He stared at it for a long moment.

Abruptly, he sighed heavily and stood from his desk. He gathered up the nessecary paperwork for the night, and walked out.



Shadow stood on a rooftop, arms crossed. He wore his hot pink hoodie, hood over his head. He wore Pinkie's necklace around his neck. He looked over Central City with a stone face.

Sounds of feet landing on the ground was made, but Shadow was too deep in thought to notice.

"Ah, there's my favorite humbug."

Shadow's eyes popped open, a little startled.

He immediately recognized the voice. He sighed.

"Sonic. Who told you?"

Sonic smiled jokingly.

"Rouge."

Shadow sighed again.

"Of course she did."

Sonic slowly walked up to Shadow, and smiled nervously.

"Well, Shadow, everyone is having a get together at Amy's this time around, and we were wondering-"

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Aw come on Shads!" Sonic walked up next to him.

"It's Christmas Eve! And Amy said she'd be disappointed if you didn't come."

Shadow looked down to the city below.

"Tell her I appreciate it, but I'll pass."

Sonic groaned. "Shadow, please? I know you're not the type, but it's just one party! What's it gonna-"

Sonic stopped mid-sentence. Shadow was looking away, hurt by something. Sonic suddenly realized what he had brought up in his mind.

Sonic gave a short sigh of guilt.

"Ah, hey, I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to-"

"It's... Okay Sonic."

Both stood in silence for a while. Shadow slowly sat down on the edge, and Sonic followed suit.

Sonic looked at Shadow.

His eyes were shiny, but he had not cried yet. He put his hands on something around his neck. Sonic hadn't fully registered until now that Shadow was wearing the pink hoodie he got from Equestria, and that he also wore the necklace Pinkie gave him.

Sonic gulped, and his eyes came back to Shadow's. Shadow noticed and glanced away. Sonic spoke slowly.

"Shadow, I need to know. What do you see.. In her?"

Shadow turned his head to look down on the city.

The street lights blended in with the light from the stores, mashing opposite colors into a collage of beauty and light.

It was snowing, and light flakes refracted that light, bringing it across the entire city.

He sighed, and let his hands fall to his sides.

"She's... Everything I could ever want. She's compassionate, she's caring in her own little ways, she's positive, bringing smiles wherever she goes. It's her life purpose to make people happy. She's so passionate about it too. She will do anything just to make somepony smile. She wants others to know they're not alone, as all her friends do. She's the Element of Laughter. She's not afraid, she's strong, she's understanding, although that can be hard for her sometimes. She's got spunk, she's bubbly, she's beautiful. She's..."

Shadow inhaled, and got the courage to look up at Sonic.

Sonic was surprised that Shadow had this much to say. But Shadow wasn't done yet.

Shadow chuckled, and gave a small smile to emphasize his point.

"She makes me smile. She makes me want to smile. She knows me. She is a light in the darkness of my life. She makes me feel normal, safe, okay to... Be me. She makes me happy. "

Sonic stared at him with wide, empathetic eyes.

"Shadow..."

Shadow looked away from Sonic, and started to blush.

He couldn't wipe that stupid smile off his face.

"I love her. I love her so much. I love her the way the clouds love the sky, the way that oceans and beaches touch. When our lips meet, I can feel my heart soar, and I can taste our future together."

Shadow inhaled through his nose slowly, and let it out his mouth. The air was cold and crisp, and his breath visible. His blush was pink.

"I've already told you Sonic. I truly and deeply love her."

Shadow frowned, and his ears drooped. The blush faded.

"I can't live without her... If I could give everything up just to see her one last time, I'd... I'd do it."

Sonic was blown away by Shadow's speech. Never before had he heard something so deep, so true, so...

Full of love.

Sonic sighed, and looked down to the city.

"I'm sorry we had to leave so quickly."

Shadow blinked, and turned to Sonic.

"To be honest, I never really did understand the connection between you two, even after you told me how you fell for her. But I can see now that she means the world to you. ..You... Must be suffering without her right now."

Shadow's ears drooped again. "You hit the nail on the head Sonic."

Shadow breathed heavily, but quietly. He was upset. More than upset. He had lost a piece of himself to her. As she did to him. Shadow looked down.

Sonic gulped. He frowned, and looked to the sky. He knew he shouldn't ask this question, but it was one Sonic wanted to be answered.

"...She reminds you of Maria?"

Shadow nodded, but didn't turn to him.

A tear escaped the ultimate lifeform.

"You know,"

Shadow spoke softly.

"She would ask me to sing for her. Both of them would. Pinks loves it. She said she loves my voice."

Sonic suddenly smiled. He stared forward.

"Too bad I wasn't there for it. You probably have a great singing voice."

Shadow blinked, surprised. He turned to look at Sonic, who eyed him with a smile.

Shadow glanced down, and looked left, then right. He sighed. He inhaled a breath of courage.

Sonic's head snapped over to Shadow. He was singing.

Sonic looked on in surprise and awe as Shadow continued delicacy showing a part of his fragile heart. Sonic would have never expected him to do this. But Shadow was. Sonic listened closely, and realized that this really was the voice he heard that day running through the woods. Pinkie was right. His voice was amazing.

When Shadow had finished, the air was light and warm. His breath stuck to the air. He took off his hood, put his hands in his pockets.

He looked away.

"You will never speak of this to anyone."

Sonic smiled.

"Of course."

Sonic stood.

"Well, I'll leave you to your brooding."

"Shame really. Pinkie has said that your cooking would be a hit at parties if you ever did attend one."

Shadow started at Sonic in surprise. Sonic started to walk away. Just as the surprise had worn down, he felt something on his shoulder, even though no one was there. He recognized the presence.

He suddenly felt lips touch his cheek. Her lips.

His eyes widened, and his hand went up to his cheek.

It had to be a sign.

Shadow aburptly stood up and called to Sonic.

"Sonic!"

The blue blur turned, and looked at him with a smug smile.

Shadow glanced down, and put his hands in his pockets again.

"I'll.. come say hello."

Sonic's smile turned into a smirk, and he waved to follow. Shadow followed him off the rooftop.

As they ran through the streets, Sonic came up next to Shadow.

"So, what made you change your mind so quickly?"

Shadow felt his heart skip.

He inhaled, and looked away from Sonic, struggling not to smile.

"Just a feeling."



That night, Shadow had a dream. Maria was there. They talked for a little bit, before Maria said to him something that made his heart hurt.

"Pinkie says Happy Hearth's Warming."

As Shadow stared back at Maria, he began to smile softly. A smile of sadness.

"Tell her I say Merry Christmas. And, I'll try to be back during spring."
> Back To You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,
Pinkie here! It's spring, and Twilight's just became ruler of Equestria! Ooohh, I'm so excited for her! That means we're not going to be seeing her a lot though, sadly.

She left some of her dimensional studies behind in the castle, so maybe Starlight or somepony else can help me find a way to help them get back to Equestria.

I'm going to do everything in my power to see Shady again. I just know they're working just as hard as us too!

From, a best friend, Pinkie Pie!



Tails worked in his workshop for weeks after the new year. He was dead set on finding a way back to Equestria, since Eggman was not doing anything world ending at the moment.

One spring day, Tails was working hard on his machine when Sonic walked into the shop. Behind him, a very reluctant but stone-faced Shadow followed.

Tails had completed the frame for the portal machine, now he needed assistance in finding the ponies' dimension.

"Sonic, Shadow! Glad you could make it."

Sonic smiled. "Anytime buddy!" Shadow stayed silent, until him and Sonic walked up to the frame.

"Make it quick, I have an assignment to get back on. Why do you need me exactly?" Shadow questioned as Tails came to stand next to Sonic.

"Well, I have a theory of how I can get a portal to appear exactly in Equestria, but to do that I'm going to need an item from there."

Shadow quickly catched on, and his hand came up to hold the gemstones.

He gritted his teeth.

"So you're saying that I need to give you something."

"I was thinking something small."

Tails and Sonic's attention went to the necklace Shadow was currently clutching in his left hand.

Shadow looked down.

"...I..."

"Come on Shadow, please?"

Sonic spoke, putting a hand on his shoulder and gesturing to the machine.

"This is what you want too, right?"

Shadow looked up to the contraption. Sonic spoke again.

"You promised her."

Shadow blinked, and looked over at Sonic.

'How could have he known that?'

Shadow sighed, and he brushed away Sonic's hand. His grip loosened on the necklace.

"Fine. But you better not break it."

Shadow went behind his neck and unhooked the necklace. He gestured to Tails. Tails walked over to him, and reached out his hand when Shadow hesitated. He looked away, and bit his lip.

It was only a moment, but Shadow gave Tails the necklace.

"Thank you Shadow."

Tails held it up.

"If I can figure out the particles of it, I can find out what particles their universe is made out of, and in turn, find their universe and make a connection back to their planet!"

Shadow nodded. He had attempted to stay stone faced this whole time, even through the moment he just had.

He turned.

"If you find anything, let me know immediately."

He began to walk away, and Sonic let him go. Shadow had work to do.

Sonic turned, and saw Tails already clearing a table that was nearby. Sonic walked up next to him. He smiled.

"You got your work cut out for you this time, eh buddy?"

Tails smiled back.

"Nothing a little bit of genius can't figure out."

Sonic kept smiling. He pointed to Tails' hand which held the chain.

"Hey Tails, can I hold that for a second?"

Tails answered sure, and handed it to Sonic. Sonic brushed the gems with his thumb, and turned them over.

On the back, there were words etched into the gems. Sonic turned them in the light until he could read them.

You Are My Shadow, Forever and Always.

Sonic blinked with surprise. He turned them over again.

He gazed at the blue and yellow gems.

He hoped that, for Shadow's sake, Tails would have a lucky breakthrough sooner rather than later.



Pinkie Pie sat in the library of Twilight's previous castle. She was staring intensely at the mirror to the other world Twilight used to visit. It was still running, the purple-ish pink swirling around.

Outside the room, five ponies had poked their head just out of the doorway.

The mane 4 and Starlight had found Pinkie there in the library, and wondered what she could be doing.

"How long's she been sittin' there for?" Applejack asked with concern, glancing at the friends, then at Pinkie.

"Almost 2 hours now." Starlight answered the question.

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie with saddened eyes.

"We need to help her somehow." Fluttershy pulled away from the spying spot.

"Or at least, give her some comfort."

Rarity glanced at her friends, and she started to walk into the room. The others followed, not sure how Pinkie was feeling.

Pinkie Pie felt a heavy weight on her heart as she stared at the portal. But at the same time, she felt determined.

"Pinkie darling, are you alright?"

She snapped out of her gaze, and blinked. She turned to see her friends' concerned faces. Pinkie stood, and glanced back at the mirror.

"If Twilight can use a book's magic to go to that world, shouldn't there be a similar magic to make a portal to Shadow's and Sonic's world?"

Her response pleasantly surprised the group, and they were pleased she wasn't feeling upset.

Starlight thought about it.

"Well, that book is a direct link to Canterlot High, since someone has the other book in that world. Maybe if there is an object that Sonic or his friends left here, it has to have a strong connection to their world. And maybe we could use that."

The 5 nodded, and Rainbow flew up to the top of the portal.

"Hey, yeah. All we'd have to do is copy this mirror portal."

"I can send a letter to Twilight and ask her for some directions on this." Starlight suggested. Pinkie beamed at her friends.

"Alright then everypony, let's get to work!"

Both Mobians and ponies worked on finding the gap between worlds throughout the week. Twilight sent a letter of instruction and encouragement to the girls, and they were able to create a replica of the mirror. But it was gold instead of blue-ish-silver.

Tails had found their dimension, and was working on a stable connection to it. Slowly but surely.



Pinkie Pie was visited by Maria one night.

"How have you all been getting along?" Maria asked, referring to the mirror project.

They were in the Ponyville café, ponies and humans all sitting around, in comfortable and busy silence.

Pinkie Pie and Maria had worked on numerous dreamscapes together, and had become good friends.

Maria sat in a chair, in front of their table. She was wearing a purple dotted white blouse, and black stretchy pants. Pinkie was sitting on a cushion filled with candy, some of which would be eaten by her throughout the dream.

"We've finished the portal!" Pinkie beamed, and took out two chocolate bars. She handed one to Maria, and ate the other in one fell swoop. Maria giggled as she bit into her chocolate.

"But now, we need something."

Maria was curious. She cocked her head, and swallowed.

"What's that?"

Pinkie stood, and moved her hooves around.

"Well, we need an object from their world, that they left in this world, so we can use the magic from that to get to their world."

She put her hoof to her forehead, then back into the air.

"But we have no clue what to do for that!"

Maria set her chocolate down.

"That is quite a predicament."

She stood, and suddenly she was holding a coffee cup.

Maria walked up to Pinkie Pie as she gasped happily.

"Hey, you communicate to Shadow to through these dreams right?"

Maria nodded.

"Yes, I can."

Pinkie gasped again, her grin spreading across her face.

"Then maybe you could help us!"

Maria shook her head.

"I don't think I can, Pinkie. I'm a ghost, not an object."

Pinkie skipped around her.

"But you can read Shadow's diary!"

Maria suddenly realized what Pinkie was saying.

"And it's still in Equestria..."

Pinkie stopped bouncing and came to a stop in front of Maria.

"Soooooo, if some of your presence resides in this diary-"

"-It could be used to open up a portal to my world! " Maria finished Pinkie's thought with enthusiasm.

Pinkie bounced up and down.

"Yes, yes, yes! My thoughts exactly!"

The coffee Maria held disappeared.

"It's worth a shot!"

The café around them dissipated.

"I can't wait to tell Shadow!" Maria exclaimed happily.

"And I can't wait to see him!" Pinkie gave a huge smile, and began to wave.

"Bye Maria!"



Starlight placed the book in its place.

"And you're absolutely positive it's going to work?"

Pinkie nodded her head immensely.

"Abso-tlutely-luty!"

Applejack came up next to Starlight.

"Let's hope you're right."

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity stood beside Pinkie and Starlight. Pinkie and Starlight were in the middle, staring at the mirror.

Starlight readied her magic.

"Here goes nothing."



Tails was putting the coordinates to their dimension into his machine, when he herd something. 'A.. teleporting sound?'

Something was in the machines' outline. He took a step back, and looked up. A blue portal was forming. Tails' eyes widened.

The portal finalized, and was stable. He immediately scurried to the side controls. The portal was to Equestria. It came from there.

Tails was shocked. He looked up to the portal again. He slowly picked up his phone, and called someone.

"Sonic, get over here. I think we've done it."



Shadow walked into his office, exhausted. He had just come back from a five-day stake out. This one was especially draining; it was a trafficking case.

He had managed to find some new leads, and sent a few officers to check them out.

For his office work, He had started wearing clothes more often. It felt appropriate to him, and even though he didn't need the extra clothing, it felt more comfortable in a professional setting. People took notice of this recent trend, but Shadow didn't care.

Mainly, he often wore jackets and hoodies.

Today he wore a blue denim jacket, his phone in its pocket.

He sat down, and set his phone on his desk.

He had the rest of the day off, thankfully. But he was probably going to keep working anyway.

Shadow stretched his arms, and yawned.

He suddenly remembered what Maria told him last night.

'I should probably check up on it.'

He tidied his desk, preparing to leave. Then, his phone started to ring. he picked it up, and the screen showed Sonic's profile.

Shadow sighed, and reluctantly answered, bringing the phone to his ear.

"What is it Sonic, I'm busy."

"Oh, well, I guess you don't want to know that Tails connected to Equestria-"

Shadow abruptly stood, his eyes wide.

"He did?"

Sonic chuckled. He got him.

"Yeah. So, you know, if you're not busy or anything-"

"I'll be there in 5 minutes."

Sonic laughed with relief.

"Good, because we kinda sent a letter through the portal, saying you would be the first to test it."

Shadow walked towards the door, and sighed with annoyance.

"You're so predictable hedgehog."

Sonic gave the same amount of snark back.

"So are you."

Shadow hanged up, and began walking out of the building.



Shadow walked into the workshop, Tails and Sonic waiting for him.

Sonic noticed he was wearing the jacket, and he smirked, arms crossed.

"Ah, there he is, the lovestruck lifeform of the hour."

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Shut up faker."

Sonic handed him his necklace back, and Shadow took it, not saying a word. He put his necklace around his neck, and the three began to walk across the shop. Sonic smiled smugly. He reveled in Shadow's newfound embarrassment. It was so much easier to find things to tease him about.

"I mean, seriously Shads, could you just marry her already? You've seriously got something fierce, and it's starting to scare me."

Shadow growled low in his throat, and stared at Sonic with unamusement. His hands tightened into small fists. Hints of red had appeared on his cheeks. He looked away.

"F-Faker."

Sonic continued teasing him, and poked Shadow's shoulder. "Awww, is that a blush I see on the ultimate lifeform? And stuttering too?"

"Sonic, I'm going to kill you!"

Tails got in the middle of them.

"Okay, calm down you two, we're here."

Shadow looked up to the portal.

Tails explained what happened. "Starlight and the main 5 had completed a portal on their world, and managed to create a path to this one."

Shadow didn't need to hear the details, he already knew, thanks to her.

"So, you going?"

Shadow turned to Sonic. Shadow quipped back.

"Wherever I go, you and your friends always tend to find me."

Sonic gave a genuine smile.

"Of course."

Shadow's face turned neutral, and he gazed at the portal. This was it.

He looked to Tails, whom gave a nod. Shadow slowly walked through the portal.

A room came to him. He walked out. He was in Twilight's old castle.

In front of him, a group of ponies.

He knew them.

The one in front of all of them, was her.

The pink mare. The one with the poofy fushia mane and tail. The one who's smile could give world peace. The one who loved him.

She began to smile, tears forming in her eyes. Shadow felt himself beginning to smile, also tearing up.

The two couldn't hold it in any longer, and ran to the other. Pinkie pounced on him with a hug.

"Shady!"

They fell to the ground, holding on to one another.

"Pinks."

They sat up, never wanting to let go of their embrace.

Pinkie pulled her head back to speak.

"I've-"

She was silenced by a long-awaited kiss from him, and she took it gleefully, sinking into the warm feelings she had kept kindling.

Finally.

Together again.
> Life in G.U.N.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Looks like Pinkie and I are going to be sharing this diary from now on.

Yep! And today we're doing something extremely fun!

Firsts things first, though. We don't have to put this book in the machine to keep the portal to our worlds open.

Tails has managed to establish a stable connection through both worlds, so it can stay open 24/7! Shady even said he'll try to practice teleporting from his world to mine using his chaos control!

Yeah. So, today Pinkie wants to meet Omega.

Oooohhh, I'm so excited to visit Shady's world for the first time! Even if it's only his workspace. ^_^

I'm more than a little concerned that I have to bring her through the building. Pinkie, you owe me one.

Ha, if you say so!

Hopefully the trip won't be too boring for her. (I know it is for me sometimes.)

Oh It'll be fun, I know it!

Love,

Shadow

And Pinkie Pie!





Pinkie looked on in awe at the streets in front of them.

They were bustling with busy cars, buses, and bikes. The sidewalks were less busy, but still populated, mostly by humans.

Pinkie had seen humans before thanks to Maria, and was more than excited to meet some of them, as well as more Mobians.

Shadow and Pinkie Pie stood on the other side of the street from the G.U.N. HQ building. The building stretched high into the sky, and felt like it went on forever.

The buildings around it were smaller in size, but added to the atmosphere to the biggest street in Central City.

Shadow was anxious about this. He was hesitant about the idea of anyone coming into his workplace, but Pinkie pressured him into it. Curse her puppy dog eyes!

Some people on the street had stopped to stare at the pink mare, as they had never seen anything like her before.

"Now Pinkie, people have never seen somepony like you, so you're probably going to attract a lot more attention to yourself, even more than you do already."

The traffic slowly halted as the red light switched on.

"They are a lot different from the ponies you know in your world, so try keep your touchiness to yourself please."

The two walked across the crosswalk.

"And that includes objects. I don't feel like getting fired today."

Pinkie giggled. "I know Shady. I'll really really really try not to touch anything."

Shadow sighed with a smile, and rolled his eyes.

"Okay then."

They stopped in front of the doors. Shadow turned to Pinkie, and put a pass around her neck.

"I'm going to need you to wear this. They're really stingey about visitors. Fortunately, you're with me today, so you won't be kicked out if we go out of the visitor boundaries."

"Okie dokey lokey!"

Before heading in, Pinkie gave a gasp.

"I almost forgot!"

Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out Shadow's inhibitor rings.

"You're probably going to need these back, since we're together again."

Shadow was pleasantly surprised. He didn't know she had carried them around with her. It actually warmed his heart that she was thinking of him so much during their time apart. Shadow grabbed his rings from her, and clicked them back onto his wrists. He nodded.

"Thank you."

Pinkie only beamed.

"Let's go!"

Shadow and Pinkie entered the building.

Many soliders stared at the pink pony as she trotted next to Shadow. Some started to whisper to each other, and Shadow took notice. He glanced at Pinkie. She was too excited to notice others' reactions to her. Shadow sighed, and they continued on.

"I'm only going to introduce you to Omega. He should be training in the armory today."

Pinkie was bouncing, being her normal self.

"I can't wait! I've never met a robot before!"

Shadow noticed that a small group were following them. They both stopped in front of two metal doors. "He's not just any regular robot though."

Pinkie squeed. "That just makes this even more exciting!"

Shadow aburptly gave a heavy sigh.

This was one of the things he had worried about.

He turned, and the group of men stood straight.

"She's with me. Now all of you, get back to work right now!"

The group of soilders jumped and slightly panicked, fanning out from the hallway.

"Do you really have to be this mean to others here?"

Shadow turned to Pinkie.

"As a commander, I must stand firm and stay strict on the lieutenants and soilders I train so they can stay focused, and ensure successful missions."

Pinkie giggled.

"Ooohh, of course! And that's also probably one of the reasons why you're more crabby around our friends!"

Shadow opened the metal doors.

"Exactly."

The training room was busy, with soilders lifting weights, practicing drills, and stealth training.

To the left of the facility, there was a shooting range set up so that no normal soldier could hit its multiple targets all at once.

The last remaining E-series robot, one of the smartest and shrude recruits. E-123 Omega was blasting away at the targets, a few people with clipboards taking notes as he did.

Shadow came to stand next to them, the 3 men not noticing the small hedgehog. Pinkie bounced up next to him, and was about to hop over to Omega when Shadow put an arm in front of her.

"Wait Pinkie. He needs to finish his assessment."

Shadow's voice startled the man next to him, and he glanced to see Shadow standing there.

The man also noticed the pink pony now next to Shadow, but said nothing as he was still recovering from his shock, and continuing to take notes on Omega.

Finally, Omega's arms lowered, and the 3 officers completed their observations. As they walked off, the one previously standing next to the ultimate lifeform whispered to the two. They all looked back at Pinkie.

Shadow glanced behind him, and saw the act. He gave them a glance of disappointment, but they saw one of anger. They quickly walked away, making sure not to look behind them again.

"Shadow."

Omega spoke and Shadow turned to him.

"Greetings Omega."

Pinkie stared at Omega in wonder.

Omega finally saw her. He turned slightly.

"You must be Shadow's romantic partner."

Pinkie giggled at the wording.

"Yes indeedy! Shadow's mentioned me to you?"

"I had never seen him cry that badly, or smile that big."

Pinkie looked to Shadow. He suddenly blushed, and glanced down.

Pinkie beamed.

"Well, I have that effect on him."

Pinkie turned her head back to Omega.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! Shadow told me you're Omega."

"That information is accurate."

Shadow observed that even though Omega wasn't expressive, Pinkie was still excited talking to him nonetheless.

Shadow smiled small, one of approval. It was cathartic to see them both getting along in their first meeting.

After they talked a bit, Omega noticed Shadow smiling at them. He raised his hand.

"Look. He's doing it again."

Pinkie turned, and Shadow rolled his eyes, still smiling ever so slightly. Pinkie giggled. She beamed at Omega.

"It was really fun meeting you Omega!"

"Likewise."

Omega pointed to her, talking to Shadow.

"She's good. I wish to conversate with her more in the future."

"And you probably will." Shadow answered, Pinkie bouncing over to him.

Shadow nodded to Omega, and the couple turned to walk out of the facility.

Pinkie skipped around Shadow. "So, what's next on the list Shady?"

"I really only took you here to meet Omega, Pinks." Shadow replied simply, opening the doors, letting them both out into the hallway.

"Awww, but I really wanted to see morrree!"

"Pinkie..." Shadow said sternly.

Pinkie walked in front of him, and pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"Please Shadow, please?..."

Shadow tried to keep a straight face against the cuteness of the pink mare in front of him. This staring contest went on for a solid minute, before Shadow broke. He sighed, and reluctantly walked.

"Fine. You can come with me to my office. But that's it."

Pinkie grinned happily, satisfied with her victory.

She hugged Shadow tightly.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Shady!"

Shadow blushed, and politely pushed her off.

"Pinkie, not in public!" He told her in a hushed voice, feeling many pairs of eyes on him now.

Pinkie giggled.

"You know I can't help it!"

Shadow exhaled heavily, and grabbed her hoof, before teleporting them both away.

They both appeared in an office. The room was a standard size for an office space.

The walls were a bluish off-white color, and had a few awards mounted on them.

There was one metal organizer to the left of the door, and next to that a small side table. On the right side of the room, was a bulletin board hanging on the hall, papers hanging on it. There were several small drawers under it, including a large comfy sofa. At the back of the room was a window out to the city. In the left corner, was a mini fridge. The right corner had a vase with a lavender plant growing in it.

In front of the window, was Shadow's desk, complete with a chair that you could move up and down. The papers on it were neatly organized into three piles. A couple of pens and pencils were also next to these papers.

Also on his desk, was a picture frame of Maria and Gerald Robotnik, but Pinkie had yet to see it as she let herself tour the room.

"Cool place! It's surprisingly spacious, even with all this stuff around!"

Shadow walked forward.

"Yeah. Surprisingly."

Pinkie bounced onto the sofa.

"It's awfully quiet in here though. You must must get pretty lonely."

Shadow turned to her.

"Often. But I always have Rouge coming around to talk with me."

Shadow walked up to her, and put a hand on her head.

"And I'm always looking forward to coming home to you."

Pinkie smiled, and Shadow moved his hand off her.

The head commander had suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Shadow, I've been getting reports that you have an unoth-"

Shadow turned, and stood straight. The commander noticed the pink pony on his couch.

He looked at Shadow.

"Shadow, you better have a good explanation for this."

Shadow glanced at Pinkie, then the commander. He sighed with defeat.

"Sir, this is Pinkie Pie. She's.."

Pinkie decided to finish for him, and hopped off the couch.

"His girlfriend!"

Shadow's eyes went wide, and he suddenly blushed with embarrassment. He wasn't really prepared for her interjection.

The commander was surprised.

"You never told me that you had a girlfriend, Shadow."

Shadow's blush stayed on his face as he rubbed the back of his head.

"We met at that place I disappeared to a few months back. That other world."

The Commander blinked, and finally nodded.

"I see. She isn't a liability to this force, is she?"

Shadow had gotten over his embarrassment just enough to keep his arms by his side.

"No sir. She wouldn't really care about that anyway."

Pinkie decided to chime in.

"I asked Shady here to show me around where he works mister! That's all!"

The commander looked at the mare again.

"..Very well. Welcome to GUN, uh-"

"Pinkie. Pinkie Pie." Pinkie reminded him.

"Yes, Ms. Pie. As long as commander Shadow is here to watch you, you may be free to observe this facility."

Pinkie beamed, and nodded.

"Yes sir!"

Before leaving, the commander smirked at Shadow, making Shadow look down bashfully, and grumble.

"Take care Shadow."

The commander walked out, Shadow now fully embarrassed.

Pinkie laughed, making Shadow look at her.

She winked. "I embarrassed you didn't I?"

Shadow smiled in defeat.

"Yes. Yes you did. I just hope they don't start teasing me too."

Pinkie hugged him, Shadow returning it this time.

"Oh, they probably will."

That made Shadow laugh.

One of the only people in this building to make him laugh.
> Sick Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

I knew it. I knew something bad would happen today. And last night.

Pinkie's sick. Last night I told her she needed to be taken back to Equestria, but she stubbornly refused. She said she wanted me to take care of her. Problem is, I have to work all day. So, she's staying at our flat. Omega and Rouge have some time off, so they'll be looking after her. I'll come check up on her throughout the day, if I can of course.

Hope she gets better soon.

Love,

Shadow



"Ugnh...Uuuh..."

Pinkie was laying down on a bed. The sheet was black, the blanket was red and gold. The two pillows were white, with dark magenta flower patterns.

She felt miserable.

The previous night she had barfed in the kitchen, which proved Shadow's worries that day. She refused to go back to Sugarcube Corner, and wanted to stay on Earth. Shadow was avidly against the idea, before a point popped up in his head. If this sickness came from his world, bringing Pinkie back could cause it to spread all over Equestria. So he guessed she was justified in staying on Earth.

Shadow walked into his room, where the sick mare was being housed.

There was a bucket with a trash bag in it near the head of the bed. Pinkie's body was under the covers. She was sniffing bad, and coughing a few.

He walked over to her, and sighed.

"You should only have this sickness for about 2 days, maybe 3 if you're unlucky."

He put his hand on her right cheek as she frowned. She spoke low, and slowly.

"I'm not going to be able to see my friends for a few days? Do they even know that I'm here?"

Shadow sat beside her, brushing his thumb across her cheek.

"I told them everything, not to worry. They said to get well as soon as you can."

Pinkie smiled warmly, and nuzzled his hand.

"Thank you."

Shadow smiled softly back, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"I have to get to work now, alright?"

Pinkie nodded, but whined slightly as he pulled his hand away.

Shadow stood.

"Rouge and Omega will be checking up on you throughout the day. If you need anything, call for them. I'll try to be back as soon as I can."

Pinkie sighed, and snuggled under the covers.

"At least I'll have your smell all over me."

Shadow smirked, and gave a silent chuckle.

"I love you."

Pinkie smiled back.

"I love you too."

Shadow walked out of the room, leaving Pinkie to herself.

Pinkie began to cough, feeling lonely.

She groaned.

'I wish my friends were here...'



A little while later, she herd chunky, metallic footsteps approach the room. Pinkie tried to look up from her sorry state.

She could see Omega entering the room.

"Hi again Omega." Pinkie said, trying to sound more cheerful.

Omega stopped near the right side of the bed.

"Shadow has informed me of your condition, and requested that I assist you with anything you require."

Pinkie smiled.

"Thanks. I could use a glass of water actually."

Omega stood stoically, and for a second did nothing. Finally a glass of water dispensed from his chest cavity, and presented itself to Pinkie.

Pinkie was amazed. She gasped, and sat up, beaming.

"You have storage space in your chest?"

"That is accurate."

Pinkie grabbed the glass of water, and sat back down, taking a sip from the glass.

"So what else is in there?"

"Ammo, storage for chaos emeralds, wires, spare magazines and comics,-"

"Oooh, you have some comics?" Pinkie but in excitedly.

"You like comics?" Omega asked questionably.

"Well my best friend Rainbow Dash really likes comics more, but I think they're fun enough!"

Omega was silent for a minute.

Pinkie set the glass of water aside.

"Could we read some right now?"

An hour or two later, the two were deep into the comic collection Omega collected, consisting of mostly superhero comics.

"So why do you collect these anyway?" Pinkie asked, flipping through the pages of the previous comic they read.

"I feel compatible to the characters."

Omega answered bluntly, and Pinkie gave the comic back to him. She chuckled.

"Well, that's understandable."

Pinkie suddenly coughed hard as Omega put back his comics into his compartment.

"Are you in need of assistance?"

Pinkie shook her head, still coughing.

"Nah,*cough* just *cough*coughing."

Omega was still for another few seconds.

Suddenly, a bowl of soup appeared from the cavity.

"This should lower your temperature."

Pinkie giggled.

"Aw, soup for me Omega? You're too kind."

Pinkie took the soup and sat back down.

"Would you like anything else?" Omega asked.

Pinkie shook her head.

"No, it's okay. You probably have something else to do right now, so you can leave."

"Understood."

Omega turned, and left the room, leaving Pinkie to eat her soup.



Pinkie was throwing up into the bucket. It turned out her stomach couldn't hold down the soup. But it was better than vomiting on an empty stomach.

She held it against herself, head over the bucket. She stopped momentarily.

Rouge came walking into the room, and as she did, Pinkie puked again.

Rouge grew concerned.

"You okay there hon?"

Pinkie coughed. She seemed to be shaking.

"N-not as we speak."

Rouge walked over to her, and put a hand on her back. Pinkie continued shaking.

"You done?"

Pinkie sniffed.

"For now."

Pinkie set the bucket aside the bed and laid down, Rouge taking the bowl and spoon away from her.

"Sush a shame. That soup was really yummy too."

Rouge smirked at her remark.

"It wasn't really anything special."

Rouge set the bowl and spoon down on a dresser.

"If you're finished puking for now, I had a fun idea."

Pinkie sat up a little bit.

"Really? What is it?"

Rouge found a spare chair in the room, and pulled up next to the bed, near pinkie.

"Have you ever heard of prank calling?"

Pinkie was intrigued. She shook her head. "No, I haven't. What is it about?"

Rouge took out her phone.

"Well, it's when you call someone, make a joke, and hang up on them."

"That does sound fun!" Pinkie smiled.

Rouge pulled up her contacts.

"And I know just who to start with."

The phone hummed quietly, as Pinkie sat up a little more.

Rouge put the phone on speaker mode. "You're going to yell "Well then you better go catch it" with me after Knuckles answers my question, alright?"

"Okay."

The phone was answered by the one and only Echidna himself.

"Oh Knuckie~"

Knuckles sighed heavily.

"What do you want Rouge?"

"What, can't I call to check up on my favorite Jewel?"

Knuckles groaned.

"For the last time, it's not YOUR emerald! But, yes, it's safe with me. You're not planning on trying to steal it today, are you?"

"Nooo... maybe. By the way, is the Master Emerald running?"

Rouge winked to Pinkie, and Pinkie nodded excitedly.

"Uh, it's always running." he answered with irritability.

Pinkie held in a giggle.

Rouge and and Pinkie yelled.

"Well then you better go catch it!"

The two started to laugh, Rouge aburptly hanging up the phone.

"That was fun!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Let me try one!"



Laughter was held for the next 20 minutes as the two pranked a Couple more of Rouge's friends, with some actually funny jokes from Pinkie.

And after that was done, Pinkie Pie was introduced to the wonders of the phone.

"This is the app that allows me to text my friends directly. It's like sending a letter or a message, but it's instantaneous." Rouge was explaining. She held the phone for both females to see.

Pinkie was intrigued.

"Oh, Shady has one of those on his phone too! Though, he hasn't really shown me what his phone actually has on it, apart from some games he's taught me how to play."

Pinkie glanced at rouge, then to the phone.

"Do you have any games on yours?"

"Oh yeah, plenty." Rouge started scrolling through her apps, looking for one they could play together.

"Which one's your favorite?"

"I don't have a personal favorite per say, but I do like tycoon and MMO games."

Pinkie pointed to an app.

"What about the one that looks like a cookie?"

Pinkie played for a few minutes before Omega joined in. Soon enough, pinkie was being instructed on how to play a popular MMO.



Shadow walked out of the GUN building, and into the parking lot. He gave a heavy sigh.

Today was a stressful time at the office, and on top of that, he was worried about Pinkie's health.

He walked across the parking lot, keys to his motorcycle fidgeting in his right hand.

'Did she get better or worse? Is she okay? Are Rouge and Omega taking care of her?"

He noticed his walking speed accelerating, and he aburptly paused his walk.

'What am I so worried about? She's with my friends, and I can trust them.'

He shook his head.

"What am I going to do with her?"

He blinked, realizing he said that out loud.

"Or myself, more likely."

He got on his motorcycle and turned the ignition.

'Let's just focus on getting back to the house.'

He rolled out of the parking lot, and onward.

Yet he couldn't stop worrying about her.



Shadow opened the door to the mini mansion.

He didn't see Rouge or Omega anywhere.

He blew out a breath, and went upstairs to his room, the room where Pinkie was staying.

When he got there, he stopped at the doorframe.

Rouge was telling Pinkie about something in the game they were playing on her phone.

"Alright, so, you've entered a battle."

"What, a battle? I was just trying to type hello!"

"You press that to enable chat."

"Oh. What do I do now?"

"Well you have to fight them now. "

"But, I didn't want to that!-"

Shadow leaned on the doorframe, and smirked. Of course they were fine.

Suddenly Pinkie beamed.

"Come on Shady, don't just stand there, come look at this!"

He rolled his eyes, and joined the group.
> Late Nights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,
Hi! Yes, I've been doing well, thank you. The cakes have gone out for the week, so I have sugarcube corner to myself! Eee, I'm so excited! But, I am a little worried about Shady. When he went off to work today, he was more... unemotional than he usually is. I hope he's okay.
He hasn't gotten home yet.
Hm..
Well, I'll worry about it later!

Later Maria!



..2 days later...



The quiet creaking of the door seemed to echo around the room as the door opened.

Shadow silently closed the front door, hand on the door. He pressed his forehead against the door, and sighed with relief. He closed his eyes, and thought over the day.

"Shady."

Shadow's eyes popped open. He slowly turned his head to see Pinkie Pie standing at the bottom of the stairs behind the counter.

He crossed his arms, neutral faced.
"What are you doing up?"

Pinkie smiled at him.
"Waiting for you."

Shadow sighed, and closed his eyes.

"Not getting enough sleep will hurt you Pinks."

Pinkie giggled, and walked out from behind the counter.

"Says the guy who never gets enough sleep."

Shadow chuckled, and gave a smirk.

"Touché."

Pinkie hugged him tightly, and Shadow returned the hug. Pinkie inhaled the scent of his quills.

"I've missed your lavender smell."

Shadow chuckled again.

"It's only been 3 days Pinks. Although, I won't lie: I've missed your sugary smells too."

Pinkie laughed quietly, and she pulled back slightly.

"I'm just glad you're home Shady." She kissed his cheek, and Shadow gave a small smile to her. Pinkie departed from the hug, and beamed.

"So, are you gonna tell me how your day was?"

She began to walk back to the stairs, Shadow following suit.

"Of course."



The couple sat on Pinkie's bed, Shadow talking about his latest shutdown operation. Pinkie was engrossed in the story, soaking every detail in.

"So, I get to the kingpin, right, and there Sonic is, having gone into a state we have named Dark Sonic."

Pinkie gasped.
"No way! Uh, I assume that can't be good."

Shadow nodded his head. "It isn't. When Sonic turns dark, all the negative emotions in him go haywire. There's usually a few chaos emeralds in play as well, but curiously, this time there wasn't."

Pinkie was very curious as she scooted closer to him, making Shadow instinctively pull her onto his lap.

"He could have destroyed everything around him!" Pinkie commented.

"That's what I'm thinking at that point, and so I quickly restrain him in a hold, and I inject him with a knockout agent."

Pinkie gasped again. "Shady! How could you do such a thing?"

Shadow responded flatly. "It was the only way to calm him down in this situation."

"Is he okay now?"

"Yes, I brought him to his friends and they woke him. He's alright."

Shadow sighed. "I want to say this is the last time I'm ever going to let him partake in one of my missions, but I know that's not true."

Pinkie Pie nodded. That was understandable.

"So what happened to the bad guy?"

"He saw me take Sonic down, and realized who I was. Before he could react, I pulled out my pistol, and I spooked pretty bad. We detained him, and the building. Every victim there is now safe, whether that's back to their families or being watched over by GUN."

Pinkie sighed with relief.

"That's a relief. That story was heavy."

"Yeah."

Shadow looked down to the ground.

"But so is life. On my planet anyway."

Pinkie suddenly hugged Shadow tight, making Shadow blink.

"I'm just so glad you got home safe today."

Pinkie's voice sounded worried, a little less cheerful.

Shadow hugged her back tightly, closing his eyes.
"Oh baby, I'd never ever let you experience the things I do on a day to day basis. I will always come back to you. Nothing could ever take me away from you. And that is the pure truth."

Pinkie was blushing at his comments, and felt loved.

She pulled her head back to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank you."

Shadow smirked.

"You missed."

Pinkie rolled her eyes, and grinned before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

Pinkie quickly departed, making Shadow smirk.

"You're deliberately teasing me, aren't you?"

Pinkie only giggled in response. She was.

Pinkie nuzzled him under his muzzle, and shadow played with her mane.

"So, how was your day?"

Pinkie waved her hoof.
"Oh Shady, you know, the usual."

"Come on. What happened today?"

Pinkie beamed.
"Well, after you left I went to plan a party in canterlot, per Twilight's asking! It was spring themed, and celebrated the natural flower types that grow in canterlot! Fluttershy helped me a lot with it, and the party went off without a hitch! But you know, those canterlot elites really need to loosen up."

Shadow smiled.
"Really?"

"Yeah! They really don't know how to have fun! But since I'll be head of entertainment and Equestria's national host soon, you can bet they will know how to have a real party!"

Shadow was surprised.
"Wait, you didn't tell me you were going to be Equestria's national host."

Pinkie chuckled nervously and backed away, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.

"Really? I could have sworn I did." She giggled nervously, not sure how Shadow would react.

Shadow felt himself grin.

"That's amazing Pinks."

Pinkie beamed, blushing. Her nervousness dissipated immediately.
"I know! It's really exciting!"

"Now you'll get to spread your happiness across all of Equestria!"

Pinkie nodded in response to Shadow.
"It's going to be so fun!"

Shadow was smiling. He was proud of her for gaining this prestigious title, and was happy for her.

Pinkie suddenly gave out a loud yawn.

Shadow chuckled.

"Okay, it's time for some sleep. It sounds like you need it."

Pinkie whined. "But Shady, I'm not tired. Honest!"

Shadow layed her down on her bed, and stood up.

"Didn't you say I needed more sleep too?"

Pinkie sighed.
"Yeah."

"Then goodnight Pinks."

He gave her a kiss, and walked over to sit on his bed.

Pinkie turned her head to stare at him as he began to take his shoes off.

Pinkie suddenly had a heavy feeling in her gut. Her stomach was fluttering with butterflies.

There was something she had to tell him.

The problem was, she didn't know how to begin.

"...Shady?" She began.

Shadow took off his socks, but kept his rings on. Usually when he went to bed, he kept his inhibitor rings on just in case of emergencies.

"Yeah?" He didn't look up to her, as he was still in the process of taking his last sock off.

"Could you.. Sleep with me tonight?"

Shadow quickly looked up to her. She was avoiding his gaze. Shadow licked his lips, and was going to speak until he noticed her emotion.

She looked nervous.

'Why is she so afraid to ask?'

Shadow thought it over, Pinkie suddenly gazing up to him with light eyes.

Shadow started taking off his gloves.

She sighed, and closed her eyes. She turned her back against him.

"Forget it."

She talked to herself, looking down at her sheets. "It was a stupid question anyway, I shouldn't have-"

She stopped mid sentence. She felt her covers move, and the heat of someone next to her.

Her eyes widened, and she turned to see Shadow laying next to her, staring at her with sympathetic eyes.

His ruby red eyes shone though the dimly lit room, and were instantly comforting. There was so much emotion in those eyes. His left hand laid in front of his chest.

"Are you okay?"

Pinkie blushed. He was right there.

"I-I'm f-fine. I just... Would like to cuddle more with you."

Shadow blinked, then smiled softly. He would have melted from the adorableness if not for his hardened shell.

Shadow slid his arms around her, and pulled her close. Pinkie gasped lightly. Shadow whispered into her ear.

"You're cute."

Pinkie couldn't help but grin, burying her face into his soft, white chest fur.

She giggled, snuggling up against him.

The two enjoyed their company, and the close quarter cuddling/snuggling. However, that was not what Pinkie wanted to tell him about.

A long moment of silence came, closely together.

Shadow suddenly whispered a thought to himself.

"You fit me perfectly."

Pinkie blushed. Shadow realized what he had just said, and he blushed. Shadow and Pinkie looked at each other at the same time.

Pinkie realized, she had to get it out now. Now or never.

"Um, Shadow?..."

Shadow stared at her curiously. He waited patiently for her to continue.

Pinkie felt herself blush a vibrant pink, more pink than her coat color.

"... I'm ready."

Shadow was confused.

"Ready? For what?"

Pinkie blinked numerous times, trying to get him to remember something.

Suddenly, what Pinkie Pie was insinuating hit Shadow.

His cheeks flushed a wine red.

"Ar-Are you sure?"

Pinkie nodded her head slowly.

Shadow slowly and carefully climbed on top of her. He stared down at Pinkie. Both were blushing a marron color.

Pinkie's eyes were wide, staring at her love above her. She was really anxious.

Shadow could tell.

"Hey."

Pinkie listened. Shadow's voice was low, caring, and comforting, even though he was nervous as well.

"It's both our first, so we'll take it one step at a time. Alright?"

Pinkie was put at ease by his care, and she nodded.

He bent down and kissed her gently, and she returned it.

A lot happened that night. Luckily, the house was empty, and no one was around to overhear how heated it would become.
> The Undeniable Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Oh man. I can't believe I'm really going to do this.
Pinkie's out right now, so it's just me.

Tomorrow's Pinkie's birthday. There's going to be a big party in Ponyville, planned by her friends of course. They asked me to help, and I will, but I have something different planed after the party. It would have been only Pinkie and I, but I let it slip to the others. (Pony and Mobian)

I'm going to take Pinkie to visit the ARK. And, while I'm there...
I'm going to propose to her.

God, I'm so nervous. Wish me luck sister.

Love, Your brother,
Shadow the Hedgehog



The party seemingly went off without a hitch. Shadow had managed to keep Pinkie distracted while the main 5 decked out the front of the bakery with party supplies. The Cakes baked a huge cuke with Shadow, and also created other sweet treats for the energetic party pony. This was a surprise party Pinkie was actually surprised for. It was around late afternoon when all was said and done.

Pinkie was excited to go visit the ARK in person for the first time, and was excitedly telling the happy but clueless Cakes about it.

Outside, Shadow was helping Twilight and Fluttershy take down the party decor, while Applejack and Rarity handled tables, and Rainbow Dash was on trash pickup.

"That was a fun party." Fluttershy commented as Twilight levitated a streamer down to her.

"Fun? It was more than fun, it was awesome!" Rainbow Dash flew by with a bag half full.

Rarity put a dirty plate in the wash bucket, Applejack cleaning it.

"Ah but the day ain't over yet, is it?" Applejack responded, looking over at Shadow.

Shadow nodded, bringing down a balloon. "Shame you can't join us Twilight, I know you're the pony most interested in the human world."

Twilight sighed. "Yeah, but royal duties can't be stopped. Which reminds me," she looked up to the sky. "I'm going to be late for a meeting in Canterlot if I don't get going."

Twilight handed the last of the party supplies to Fluttershy, and gave her a hug.

"See you around Twilight." Rainbow Dash said as Twilight hugged her. Twilight made sure to hug all her friends.

Shadow stepped down from the ladder he was on and turned to Twilight. "You better let Pinkie know you're leaving."

Twilight nodded, and walked into Sugarcube Corner to say goodbye.

Everypony was about finished with the cleanup, and put everything in one pile.

Rarity spoke to Shadow. "You know darling, we don't have to go with you two to this ARK place."

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. I know. Honestly I'd prefer us being alone together."

Shadow abruptly turned to look at Sugarcube Corner's doors, smirking. "But that doesn't seem to be my decision, does it?"

Twilight came out of Sugarcube Corner, followed by a talking Pinkie Pie. "I really wish you could go with us too Twilight! It would have been extra fun!"

"I know. But I have to attend to being a princess." As Twilight replied, the royal chariot stopped near the area. She sighed, looking at the chariot.

She hated riding around in it.

All her friends said goodbye, and Twilight waved Shadow over to talk as she approached the chariot. Shadow wondered. 'What's this about?'

"How nervous are you?" Twilight whispered to him, looking back at the pink mare excitedly talking to rainbow dash.

Shadow shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I'm doing this no matter what."

"Alright. I would wish you luck, but-"

"She's probably going to say yes anyways." Shadow said this to himself out loud, Twilight being cut off.

Twilight smiled.

"Reassuring yourself?"

Shadow shrugged.

"Maybe."

He took a few steps away to let her take off. She waved to her friends, and they waved back, watching her take off. After the chariot was well off into the sky, Pinkie turned to her friends excitedly.

"So, who's ready for an adventure?"

Her friends looked excited, but hesitant.

Applejack sighed, and took a step to Pinkie. "Pinkie, as much as it would be a trip to go, I will say, I'm just not too comfortable with going. I mean, this trip was originally just for the two of you. I don't think it's my space to intrude."

Pinkie grew a little disappointed. "Oh."

Shadow didn't say anything yet.

"I'm going to have to agree with Applejack, Pinkie. And, I don't know if I'd want to go to space." Fluttershy revealed reluctantly.

"But I'm still coming! Space sounds really cool!" Rainbow cut in, not wanting to spoil her mood. Pinkie exhaled, and beamed. "Thanks Dashie! Are you still joining us Rarity?"

Rarity was hesitant, but Pinkie gave her puppy dog eyes. She sighed.

"Well, I don't have much to do today. I'll join, if Shadow's okay with that of course."

Pinkie turned to Shadow.

Shadow nodded. "Whatever Pinkie decides. It's her day after all."

Pinkie beamed and gave a hug of appreciation. "Thank you thank you Shady!"

Shadow smiled at her reaction, and Pinkie bounced out from the hug.

"Now, are we all set?"



The ARK started out as a project proposed by the government body GUN. It was originally created as a lab for classified experiments and weapon testing, and slowly evolved into the world's first ever space colony.

A few hundred scientists lived and worked on the colony, including Gerald Robotnik.

This place became home for both Maria and Shadow.

Now it was abandoned, although not forgotten. Restoration efforts have been put forward, but it seemed only those who had gone up to the space colony once before were willing to help.

Shadow, Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash walked into a research room. It was once filled with many glass cases of specimen and plant life, but now glass was shattered, remnants of fire damage stained across the room, and only the memory remained.

"Many mutations and experiments were run both on plants and animals. It was always busy here. Maria and I weren't usually allowed in this room, but sometimes the professor would let us come observe what other scientists were working on as well."

"That doesn't sound like a glamorous profession." Rarity carefully stepped around the pieces of glass.

"Science is often not pretty. And the lengths we go to sometimes is quite disturbing." Shadow stared at an empty containment tube.

"But that's just how it goes."

"That reminds me, you once told me that you weren't born, that you were created. Do you have a birthday?" Pinkie asked.

Shadow chuckled, walking away from the containment tube and to a small row of retro computer equipment. "I was created on June 8th. Can't really recall the specific year from my files though."

Rainbow Dash hovered around the table, very intrigued. "Did they ever work on other fully living lifeforms like you?"

Shadow became quiet, and walked past the panels.

"One prototype was created for Project Shadow. It was imperfect, chaotic. It didn't really have a free thinking mind."

Pinkie trotted over to him, reaching the forcibly opened metal doors.

"Is that the one you vaguely told me about a long while back?"

Shadow nodded, the group leaving the room and out into a large hall.

"It was unstable, and couldn't live on it's own. It was just an animal, it had no nuance on life. The scientists apparently nicknamed it the Biolizard."

They all walked down the hall, halls stained with bullet damage. The ponies trotted faster than Shadow was walking, the girls taking in atmosphere.

"I wasn't really told about it when I lived up here, I had to later learn about the previous prototype from Rouge."

In a little while as he walked through this particular hall, they passed by a room Shadow took a moment to stop and look into. It was a training room. Made specifically to test the limits of the ultimate lifeform. He remembered the numerous tests, the discovery of his powers, how proud the professor was when Shadow perfected a skill.

His memory was interrupted by the sound of the 3 ponies in awe.

He looked forward, to see that at the end of the hall, they were staring out the window.

The vast emptiness of black and purple space was decorated by thousands of stars, although not very bright at the time, but still very breathtaking.

Shadow walked over to the 3 mares, whom were all still looking out with wonder.

Shadow stole a glance at Pinkie, and realized that now would be a good time to pull her away from the group. He tapped Pinkie on the back, Pinkie snapping out of it to look behind her.

Shadow gestured her away from her friends. She looked to them, then to him realizing what he was asking. Pinkie mouthed an "oh" and went to follow Shadow.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity realized they were leaving, but knew what he was planning, simply smiling at each other.

Shadow and Pinkie Pie walked into a room that Shadow held the upmost familiarity in.

Pinkie also recognized the room. It was the one she met Maria in, during her dreams.

"Maria loved this room."

Pinkie stared forward, and saw the sight through the large window.

Earth's blue hue shone radiantly, the sun and the moon casting shadows on parts of it, brightening other pieces. She was awed once again at the sight, walking up to the glass.

"It looks even prettier than in my dream!" She put a hoof up to the glass.

"I'm glad you enjoy it as much as she does."

Shadow walked up next to Pinkie. For a moment he said nothing, admiring Pinkie's wide eyed wonderment and her full bright smile.

She turned to him.

"Shady, thank you for bringing me up here."

Shadow smiled slightly, but his eyes shone with a hidden sadness.

"Yeah."

Pinkie was attuned to his shifting emotions and quickly took notice.

"Shady? Are you okay?"

Shadow turned to stare out the window, and exhaled heavily. "Pinkie... I need you to know something about me that I should have told you sooner."

Pinkie smiled, and stood closer to him. "Tell away!"

So Shadow did.

"When I was created, besides being endowed with my chaos abilities, I was created with immortality."

"So you'll be able to live forever?" Pinkie blinked, still chipper.

Shadow eyed Pinkie, then gazed away.

"Yes.. It hasn't scared me too much, until now..."

Pinkie got the gist, and she quickly became sympathetic.

"Shadow.."

Shadow aburptly turned to Pinkie.

"Pinkie, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I don't want to imagine a life without you. Would you... be okay with that?"

Pinkie smiled, blushing and invisible pink. "Oh Shady. I understand where you're coming from completely. Since Twilight's an alicorn, she's immortal too. But I'm not worried about that. We're supposed to enjoy the here and now whenever we can."

Shadow was silent for a long moment, before closing his eyes.

"... Thank you."

Pinkie closed her eyes happily. Shadow opened his eyes and gazed at her face. He inhaled to himself.

"Pinks, I have a very important question to ask you."

She got curious.

"What is it?"

Shadow exhaled. "I'd never thought I would say what I'm about to ask, but you are that precious to me."

He got down on a knee, pulling a small box from his quills. Pinkie gasped, seemingly knowing what. He opened the box and held it with one hand, extending his open hand to her.

"May I take your hoof in marriage?"

In the little box was a diamond ring on a string.

Pinkie Pie began to beam brightly, getting giddy. She shook her head immensely, quickly hugging Shadow tightly. "Yes, yes, yes, yes! A billion times yes! I've been waiting for you to ask!"

Shadow hugged her back, smiling. He exhaled with relief.

"I'm glad to hear you say so.."

Pinkie detached from the hug first, looking to the ring box.

Shadow lifted the string out of the box, and placed the necklace around her neck.

Pinkie hugged him again, causing both to sit down.

"This is the best birthday gift ever."

He couldn't believe it.

Pinkie kissed him sweetly with great appreciation, and Shadow returned the same emotion.

It was only a matter of time now. And planning. So much planning.
> Date Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

The work week's been pretty long winded and draining for me. Investigations have slowed, and everyone at the office is getting pretty tense.

Well, they would be, if Rouge hadn't announced my proposing to Pinkie. Everyone's been congratulating me and it's been kind of annoying. But I guess you'd be right there with them too, huh?

I need to get out more with Pinks, do stuff together. She's told me it's been frantic with her work too, and I think we both deserve a break.

Love,
Shadow



It's been a busy work week for Pinkie Pie, as the start of summer brought many parties to be hosted, the Cake twins were old enough to be sent to daycare, and the Cakes were making plans to expand their catering business.

Pinkie and Shadow had announced their engagement two weeks ago, and everypony was buzzing with the news and future plans. But for now, everything went on as usual.

In the kitchen, Pinkie was helping Ms. Cake decorate a lollipop fixture while Mr. Cake was preparing cupcake frostings.
"Should the concessions be at the Castle of Friendship, or should it be in Ponyville park?"

Pinkie answered Ms. Cake's question while placing a bundle of blue swirl pops into their place. "We're not really sure yet. What me and Shady do know, is that we want to have an outdoor wedding."

Mr. Cake poured some frosting into a piping bag to be used for later. "Who's shopping for the rings?"

Pinkie Pie answered with enthusiasm. "We wanted to do that together, maybe with Rarity or Rouge. Actually, we could get them to go spelunking with us to find some jewels so we could get custom made."

"Sounds like you have a lot on your plate." Mr. Cake noted. Ms. Cake stepped back from the fixture, and pondered what colors to place next.

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah. Shady too, including all he has to deal with at his job in his world."

When they finished the fixture, Pinkie trotted over to the stairs.
"I'm going down to the party cave to plan some wedding things."

Ms. Cake set the lollipop fixture aside, moving on to the next task.
"Okay, dear, just don't tire yourself out. Take a break."

Pinkie bounced up the stairs, finishing the conversation.
"I know, I will."



Shadow sighed exhaled heavily as he entered Sugarcube Corner. It was evening, and he was still wearing his denim office jacket. This one had the GUN logo stitched onto the right shoulder.

The Cake twins were playing with their parents in the front, and Shadow smiled slightly at the scene.

Mr. Cake noticed him first. "Hello, Shadow."

The twins got excited to see Shadow.
"Unkl Shady!"

They trotted up to him quickly, and Shadow lightly chuckled at their cheeriness. He bent down to let them hug him.

"Hello little ones."

"How was your day?" Ms. Cake stood as Shadow stood. He started walking across the room.

"A little more than exhausting." Shadow answered honestly.

"Pinkie's downstairs working on wedding preparations." Mr. Cake let Shadow know as Shadow walked behind the counter.

"Can you tell her we've already fed the twins?" Ms. Cake asked.

Shadow began walking up the stairs. "Got it."

"Oh, and one more thing."

Shadow momentarily stopped and glanced at Ms. Cake.

"Tell her to come upstairs. I haven't seen her this busy in a while."

He nodded, and climbed the stairs.

..

Shadow's feet landed on the ground of the party cave with a hard thump.

"Knock Knock."

Pinkie was going through a box when she heard him speak. She looked up to him, smiling.

"Hi Shady. How was it?"

Pinkie bounced over to him and they shared a hug as he spoke.
"Very, very tiresome. I don't think I want to look at another document again."

Pinkie giggled, both sharing a quick kiss before Pinkie trotted back over to the box.
"So I was thinking, what theme should we go with?"

"I thought we would go with just a traditional wedding?" Shadow walked over to her as she turned back to him.

"Well, isn't that kinda boring? I want this to be the best wedding it can be!"

Shadow nodded, sighing lightly.
"I know, I know you do. I want you to be happy."

Pinkie chuckled. "Don't forget about yourself Shady, I want this to be the best experience for you too."

That made him smile.

"For the both of us."

Pinkie pushed away the box and turned her attention to him.

"So how was your day?" Shadow asked, putting a hand on her head, petting her mane.

Pinkie giggled lightly, but sighed. "Less busy than the last few days, but still pretty packed."

He sighed to himself.
"We've both been a lot busier."

"You can say that again."

For a minute both of them were silent.

Shadow suddenly had an idea. "Hey, you doing anything this evening?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope." She suddenly gasped happily. "You wanna go do something together?"

Shadow gave a small grin.
"Stole the thought right out of my head."

Pinkie got excited, and started to jump around. "Oh where should we go? What should we do?" She stopped abruptly, remembering something. "Wait, I have to feed the twins first."

Shadow pointed back at the slide.
"Ms. Cake got it covered. Looks like we're both free."

Pinkie stretched a hoof around his shoulder. "Soooo? What do we wanna do?"

Shadow thought for a minute, before having an idea.

"Well, we need to do something fun, but not too exhilarating. Do you want to do something here, or in my world?"

Pinkie was pleasantly surprised.

"Outside of your work?"

Shadow shrugged.
"Eh, it, couldn't hurt. I don't think it would be too much trouble."

Pinkie squeed happily, giving him a side hug. "Yay! Do you have a place in mind?"

Shadow nodded.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Do you like to roller skate?"

Pinkie gasped, smiling. "I love to!"

Shadow quickly chaos snapped the two of them to Pinkie's room, bottom floor.

"Go get your roller skates. I don't think they'll have any in your size."

Pinkie excitedly trotted to her closet, and came back with her white and purple roller skates. She yelled down the stairs.

"Mr. and Ms. Cake! Shady and I are going out!"

Ms. Cake's voice travelled up the stairs.
"Alright dear, you two have fun! Just come back before midnight!"

Pinkie held out her hoof to Shadow, and he teleported them directly to the mirror portal.
"Hey, you're getting good at far distances." Pinkie complimented.

Shadow concurred. "Yeah, but I don't think I'll be able to snap directly to my Earth. Way too long of a distance."

"You'd need a Chaos Emerald for that?" Pinkie guessed.

They both walked to the portal as Shadow answered.
"Sure. If I wanted to go from Ponyville to Canterlot in one teleportation, I'd need a chaos emerald for that too."

"Oh, that's very interesting!"



The two conversated casually as they walked out of Tails' workshop. Shadow was given a key by Tails to his workshop, so Shadow could use the portal whenever he needed.

Outside, Shadow had parked his motorcycle. Pinkie Pie smiled, trotting up to the bike. "Nice shine!"

Shadow got out his keys, walking up to the bike.

"Sometimes I let Tails work with me on my motorcycle when it gets damaged or when it needs a tune-up. Recently he wanted to try out this polishing spray he bought online."

He turned to Pinkie. "Do you need a helmet?"

Pinkie shook her head, pulling out a helmet out of nowhere. "Nope! I got one right here!" She pulled her helmet over her head.

Shadow climbed onto his bike, and put the key in the ignition, turning it.
"Alrighty then. You remember how to ride with me?"

"Of course!" Pinkie hopped up behind him. She wrapped her hooves around his waist. "Squeeze onto you, and hold on tight!"

Shadow smiled a little, and kicked up the kickstand. They drove off to their destination.

..

Soon enough they pulled into the parking lot of a decently sized, retro building lit up by neon florescent tube lights, spelling out the word "SKATE".

Pinkie got excited, seeing the bright colorful lights.

"Oh wow!"

Shadow turned off the motorcycle, and put his keys in his jacket pocket.

Pinkie Pie got off the bike first, taking off her helmet.

"It looks like a lot of fun!"

"I knew you would say so." Shadow got off the bike, and took Pinkie's helmet from her, strapping it onto the bike.
"Now Pinks, remember the rules I told you about my workplace?"

She waited for him to finish so they could walk together. "Yeah?"

They walked side by side to the building.
"Those still apply. People in my world don't like to be randomly touched or annoyed by someone they don't know. They have less tolerance for it, I should say."

"Got it!"

Shadow opened the door for her, Pinkie walking in, and turning around to face as him as he walked in. "You know Shady, you should also remember we're here to have fun. Don't go all stoic on me because there's others around you."

Shadow let a small laugh. She was right.

"Okay, sure."

Shadow walked up to the vendor, taking out some cash from his wallet, and placing it down on the counter.
"Two skaters please."

The vendor didn't look twice, and cashed in the money. The vendor sounded tired. "You want a receipt?"

"No, thank you."

Shadow and Pinkie walked over to the doors to the indoor rink.

"What you're about to experience is remnants of a bygone era in human history. Still this place protists, even after all this time."

"So it's like we're going back in time?" Pinkie spoke excitedly.

"Well I wouldn't say that."

Shadow and Pinkie walked through the doors.

"They play modern pop songs over the speakers nowadays."

Pinkie Pie gasped in awe, her eyes and smile growing huge.

In front of them was a little food stand tucked onto the right wall, with a couple of hard plastic picnic tables and 2 person seating arrangements periodically placed. In the far right corner, was the skate rental counter, boxes upon shoes boxes lined the back wall in the rental, in all sorts of sizes. To the left of them, was a huge oval rink, half walls outlining the rink and keeping both the skaters and those not skating safe. A railing ran on the inside of the wall for beginners. Colorful lights spun down on the rink, while the music played.

Pinkie was getting more and more hyper. Shadow spoke to her.

"I have to go get a pair, so wait for me before going out into the ring."

Pinkie began trotting around as Shadow walked across the building to the skate rental.

As Shadow was getting his skates, Pinkie couldn't help it.
As Shadow grabbed his skates off the counter, he heard her shout happily.

"Woohoo!"

He abruptly turned around to see Pinkie had quickly made herself free on the rink, skates already on her hooves.

"Come on Shady, get out here!"

Shadow sighed quietly, hoping not to many people were staring. He walked over to a bench to take off his shoes.

"You just couldn't help yourself huh?" He spoke quietly under his breath, continuously glancing up at her.

Pinkie rolled up to the railing a few feet in front of the bench, and rested her front hooves on the wall. Somehow, Pinkie knew what he said. She beamed. "You know I can't! But you love that most about me right?"

Shadow silently chuckled, finishing lacing up the roller skates.

"You could say I tolerate it." Shadow put his air shoes away.

Pinkie chuckled back, and pushed herself away from the wall.

"Let's see if all that sliding around on air actually translates to a grounded pair of skates."

Shadow smirked, standing.
"I can't tell if you're challenging me or not."

Pinkie skated off.

"Well get out here, you're so slow!"

He gave another silent chuckle, and effortlessly glided out onto the court.

There were only a few people in the rink who weren't skating on the beginner railing before Pinkie had entered the ring, so the middle was pretty much left to her and Shadow.

Shadow skated with his hands folded behind his back. He watched Pinkie get a quick start, then jump elegantly into the air, landing back on the ground effortlessly, skating over to him.

"I never knew you were this good at roller skating Pinks." Shadow complemented her as she matched his picked up pace.

"I learned how to ice skate when I was a filly, so picking up roller skating was easy-peasy!"

"I can see that."

Pinkie started to skate in circles around Shadow as they talked. "Can you do any tricks?"

Shadow slowed. "I'm not sure. Probably, but I prefer to calmly skate around."

Pinkie stopped in front of him. "Well?..."

Shadow exhaled audibly, and smiled to her.

Quickly he skated to an empty spot on the wall rail and jumped up onto it, grinding a fair distance, and jumping back onto the ground. Pinkie excitedly skated over to him as he proceeded to skate backwards.

"Wow Shady, that was really impressive!"

"Nah, Not really." Shadow acted nonchalant about it.

"Where'd you learn to skate on rails like that?" Pinkie was curious.

Shadow glanced around, before looking back to her. "Don't tell anyone, but I learned by watching Sonic grind down rails shortly after I had awakened from stasis."

"Oh really?" Pinkie tilted her head slightly. Shadow gave a "mm-hm" and they were quiet for a moment.

Pinkie beamed, and raced off in front of him.

"First around the rink 3 times wins!"

Shadow silently chuckled, and followed after her.

The two had a fun time racing, dancing and skating around the rink, having the down time they needed. It was good to get out; even Shadow was letting his usual thick walls around the public fall, if for a moment.

After a long while on the rink, the two changed out their skates, and decided to get something at the snack stand.

"Do they have chocolate? I hope they have chocolate! Ooh! With whipped cream, and sprinkles, and-"

Shadow chuckled, interrupting her tangent. "Pinks, I'm sure they have it. Do you want to share one, or get two?"

"I want to share with you. I heard it's more romantic."

Shadow rolled his eyes, smiling.

They walked up to the counter, and a red armadillo wearing a blank white apron came to the counter. He recognized Shadow.

"Shadow the hedgehog, I'd never thought I'd see you here without Rouge."

"Well, it was a spontaneous choice." Shadow lightly nudged Pinkie's side with his elbow.

Mighty the Armadillo gave the pink mare a welcoming grin."Oh? And who's this special lady? I've seen you two absolutely tear up the rink tonight."

Pinkie giggled. "My name's Pinkie Pie! And, believe it or not, cause you might not at first, I'm Shady's fiancé!"

"Really?" Mighty blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, we get that a lot." Shadow admitted.

Mighty was quiet for a second before remembering something. "Oooh, you must be the mare Rouge told me about."

Shadow sighed in annoyance. "She told you too?"

"Actually, she told the rest of the team, and they told me."

"Team?" Pinkie grew curious.

They suddenly heard a clang from the back of the stall.

"Charmy! I told you to clean the pots, not leave them on the ground!"

"Ops, sorry vector. *Hehe* I guess i should be more careful."

"You better be, you almost ruined my sandwich too."

"Some things never change." Mighty shrugged at their antics, turning his attention back to the two.

"Now, what can I get the special couple?"

Shadow almost rolled his eyes at that, but Pinkie saw something on the board above that made her gasp with excitement.

"THEY HAVE COTTON CANDY HERE?"

Shadow couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle at her excitement. "It looks like she's found something."

Mighty politely smiled, nodding. He went to ready an order in the tablet in front of him.

"We'll have one large chocolate milkshake, all the stops, and two pink cotton candy sticks." Shadow relayed.

"If you please?" Pinkie added.

"Of course. We'll have to you shortly."

Shadow turned, and gestured his hand to the tables. "You pick one."

Pinkie went to sit at one the tables, and Shadow joined her. Their order got to them soon enough, delivered by Espio. Both of them thanked him in their own ways, and he went back to the small kitchen.

For a minute, Pinkie was starting at her cotton candy, and Shadow noticed.

"What is it?"

Pinkie blinked. "Oh, I, was just, waiting for you."

Shadow smiled. "Go ahead. Just don't try to make a mess, okay?"

She took a big bite of the floss, and her eyes lit up.
"This is soo sweet!"

Shadow chuckled plucking a piece off of his candy and popping it into his mouth.
"I'm glad you enjoy it."

Next Pinkie tried a sip of the milkshake. "Mmm! How do they make it so tasty?"

"I don't know. I guess they just have a knack for milkshakes."

The two casually talked while eating/drinking, making little jokes, and having light to more blatant flirtations towards each other. They finished their milkshake first. And as they talked, the more their love started to show.

Shadow had a hand out on the table, the other hand resting his right cheek. Pinkie was doing the same thing, and placed her hoof on his hand. They were being watched however, from the snack bar.

Mighty had crossed his arms on the counter, watching the happy couple.

"Hey, what show are we missing?" Vector, Espio and Charmy come out to the counter to see what Mighty was staring at.

"Just look at those two." Mighty said, keeping his eyes on the romantic interaction.

"Is that who Rouge mentioned?" Vector inquired.

"Yep." Mighty nodded.

"Well they certainly look close." Charmy noted.

Vector scoffed. "Close, Charmy, do you see this?"

Espio started to speak. "The long soft grins, the love gazing stares-"

Vector interrupted, low-handedly pointing to Shadow.

"Look, Shadow's smiling publicly!"

Espio finished his point. "Whomever she is, she must be something special to do that to him."

"Indeed." Charmy agreed with the group and for a moment everyone was quiet. Suddenly Vector shouted towards the hedgehog and mare.

"Hey, you two should kiss!"

The shout snapped the two out of it, and they noticed the small audience they gathered behind the counter.

Shadow immediately blushed, his ears drooping down slightly in embarrassment. He looked away from them. Pinkie simply closed her eyes and giggled.

Suddenly, she had an idea. She gestured for his ear, and whispered something. Shadow suddenly chuckled, gaining a mischievous look on his face.
Shadow wrote something down on a napkin, and moved it to the corner of the table, plus 10 dollars.

"Way to spoil the mood Vector." Espio sighed with disappointment.

"What?" Vector sounded surprised. "It was a joke!"

Shadow and Pinkie both stole a quick look at Vector, then they focused their eyes on each other.

"Uh, guys?" Mighty suddenly realized that the couple seemingly didn't take it as a joke.

As soon as Vector's eyes shifted back over, it was to his, and the teams', surprise to see the two sharing a prolonged kiss.

The group started to freak out at the scene as Pinkie and Shadow departed. Pinkie was giggling up a storm, and Shadow was trying his hardest to hide a grin forming on his face. The two stood, and started walking away from the scene they created. Mighty noticed the tip on the table, and walked out from behind the stall. He picked up the tip, and saw the napkin note.

hope that was enough of a tip for you

Mighty chuckled, and walked back over to the counter. The Chaotix looked at the napkin as Mighty let it and the money flop onto the counter.

"There's the tip."



Their night came to an end as Shadow and Pinkie Pie were walking to Sugarcube Corner, Shadow having his arm around between her neck and back.

"That was pretty fun." Shadow stated, gazing up to the sky. Pinkie agreed, as they reached the building.

"It was."

The two shared a quiet moment, staring at the door.

"Hey," Shadow was speaking quietly to her. "We should remember to have these moments together."

Pinkie nuzzled his side. "We always are."
> Hurt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Today's mission went well. Well, except for me. They caught me off guard, and I have a pretty big gash on my forehead, including a sprained ankle. It'll heal quickly as they always do, but the head commander ordered me to take a few days off as a result. I was unfocused. I hate that.

Rouge's going to help me to Equestria. I promised Pinkie we'd have dinner with the Cakes tonight. I don't know how she's going to react.

Love,
Shadow



"Thanks Rouge, but I really didn't need this help."

Shadow thanked the bat helping him through the portal. Rouge was holding his underarm as Shadow had an arm on her shoulder. Rouge glanced at the strip of bandage around his head. "Hon, if I didn't you'd have more problems than that injury on your head."

Shadow chuckled, hearing the bouncing from the hallway. "Oh I know I will."

As Pinkie entered the room, she noticed the bandage on his head.

"Oh Shady!" She trotted up to him with concern."What happened?"

"He has a head injury, and a sprained ankle. A little mistake." Rouge explained.

"I'm fine. It's nothing to be concerned about." Shadow tried to brush it off, but Pinkie wasn't going to let it go that easily. Pinkie bumped him onto her back.

"Ow, hey!"

Pinkie looked back at him. "You aren't walking anywhere. I'll take you home." She smiled to Rouge. "Thank you for bringing him Rouge."

Rouge waved her hand, and turned back to the portal.

"No problem. Just don't rough him up too much."

Pinkie giggled at her light joke. "I won't. He'll be taken care of well."

With that, Rouge walked back into the portal, and Pinkie began trotting out to the hallway. "So, what exciting adventure did Shady the Hedgehog get up to today?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Shadow was moody when asked.

Pinkie made her way to the castle doors. "It doesn't sound like a good day, Shady. Tell me."

"The day was okay." Shadow didn't say more.

"But?..." Pinkie prodded, walking up to the castle doors.

Shadow went silent for a good minute as Pinkie walked out of the castle. She noticed his ignoring of the question and stopped. She looked to him. Shadow sighed, and spoke with a stone face.
"I was unfocused. You know how I feel about that."

Pinkie did know. "Oh..." This wasn't the first time Shadow had been down on himself for such a simple error in combat. She continued thinking as she started to trot.

"Were there bystanders in the crossfire?"

"No.." Shadow answered, lingering on the word.

"Did anyone in your battalion besides you get hurt?"

Shadow answered this question with more haste. "No... I'd-"

"Prefer it that way?" Pinkie interrupted, finishing his thought.

Shadow took another moment of silence before answering slowly. "...Yes."

"Then what's the problem? You accomplished what you needed to." Pinkie tried to reason him, and they continued to Sugarcube Corner.

".." Shadow didn't have anything to say to that. He kept silent.

Pinkie broke the silence. "At least you didn't fatality hurt yourself."

"It could have hurt someone else if I wasn't there!" Shadow suddenly exclaimed, frustrated.

Pinkie abruptly stopped. "Shady."

Shadow didn't stop. "The possibility even existing is-"

"Shadow the Hedgehog.'

He stopped at her stern use of addressing his name. She turned her head to him, and smiled.

"You put too much on yourself. Stop this self afflicted put down, and appreciate what you did. I know I do!"

Shadow blinked. "If you continue to sound like Sonic I'll cream you."

Pinkie laughed at this, knowing that it was a joke. She continued trotting, smiling. "Is it something Sonic would say?"

Shadow pondered. "..Maybe. If he knew as much about me as you do."

They finally approached Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie smirked, but it only looked like a grin. "Which he won't. I'm the number one Shady expert here!"

Shadow gave a small laugh for that as they entered the bakery.

"Mr. and Ms. Cake! We're home!"

Ms. Cake called from the kitchen. "We're just preparing the table dear, come in to the dining room!"

Pinkie chuckled to Shadow. "Would you like more assistance?"

Shadow slowly slunk off of her.

"I would like to walk by myself." He took one step forward, causing him to inhale through his teeth in slight pain.

"Looks like you still need a crutch."

Shadow put an arm on Pinkie, and she helped him to the Cake's personal kitchen. Mr. Cake turned to them first as was tending to the dinner. Mr. Cake was watching the twins play around.
"Hello you two."

"Hi." Pinkie greeted brightly. Shadow gave a wave. Ms. Cake turned, and noticed his condition.

"Oh dear, what happened to you Shadow?"

Shadow brushed it off. "It was a little accident. I'll be fine shortly."

Ms. Cake let his explanation slide. "Well, we're glad that you got back safely."

"Come, sit down. Pound and Pumpkin have been waiting for you in particular." Mr. Cake added.

Shadow took a seat as the Cake twins excitedly run up to him.

"Unkle Shady!"

"Hello little ones. What did you get up to today?"

Pumpkin held up a hoof.
"Wai ere!"

The twins ran into the other room, and Pinkie simply smiled at Shadow.

"They've been waiting all day for you to get home." Mr. Cake said, adjusting their high chairs.

The twins aburptly ran back in with papers in their mouths. "Look wut we made!"

Shadow picked the papers from Pound and Pumpkin. The twins had drawn a picture of Shadow holding a cupcake. Shadow chuckled lightly at the children's drawings.

"Wow, they look so much like me. You two did a really good job."

The two were really happy to hear that from him. "Play after dinner?" Pumpkin asked with eagerness.

Shadow sighed lightly. "I would've loved to Pumpkin."

Pinkie elaborated for him. "But sadly uncle Shady here sprained his ankle, and suffered a concussion. He needs to heal some before he can play again."

Both Pound and Pumpkin were disappointed. "Aw..."

"Don't worry- When Shady's done healing, he'll be able to play with you." Pinkie reassured them.

The twins perked up quickly. "Okay!"

"Pinkie, can you help the twins up into their high chairs?"
______
Pinkie was helping Shadow up the stairs after a time, as the sun was setting.

"Take it slow now Shady."

Shadow nodded slightly, taking the steps one at a time. When they reached the top, they noticed Mr. and Ms. Cake taking the children across the hallway to bed.

"Oh, Shadow, the twins wanted to give you another drawing." Mr. Cake stopped to let the twins run to Shadow as Ms. Cake took new blankets into the room.
They showed off their work proudly.

"Get better soon!"

The pictures were get well cards. Shadow lightly chuckled as he bent down with Pinkie's help to pick them up.

"Aw, thank you two, really."

They took the opportunity to hug Shadow, and he hugged them back gently. They broke from the hug, smiling.

"Night night Unkle Shady!"

Shadow smiled for them. "Good night little ones."

Mr. Cake followed the kids into their room, and Pinkie continued helping Shadow across the hallway to the next flight of stairs. She smiled softly to him as the climb up the stairs continued.

"You certainly have a way with foals and fillies."

Shadow shrugged. "Kids just seem to like me."

The two went up the next flight stairs, entering Pinkie's loft.
She led Shadow to her bed, and he sat down on the side edge of the bed.

"Don't move!" Pinkie held up a hoof to him, and trottied back down the stairs.

"Not like I really can." Shadow replied, Pinkie giggling at the comment.

As Shadow was left alone, he took the time to take his shoes/socks off and set them aside. He layed down on the bed, and stared up to the ceiling.

The day was now dark, and the lights in the room was what kept the area nice and bright.
Shadow noticed a slight chill pass by his surroundings, and glanced around of what he could see on the second floor. The doors to the balcony was seemingly left open. He closed his eyes. The cold waft made his fur stand and the chilly air refreshed his mind.
It wasn't too cold for a summer's night, but it was cold enough.

Pinkie hopped back up the stairs with some sort medicine in hoof, along with a small bag.
Shadow didn't notice her presence until he felt the bed shift.

He opened his eyes and glanced in front of him to see Pinkie gently touching his right leg with her hoof.
"I'll help this sprained ankle and your forehead feel much better!"

Pinkie set the small plastic circle container beside her, and opened it.

"Pinks, you don't have to-"

"Too bad, I'm helping you."

Shadow chuckled, and slid his arms back to raise his upper body slightly.
"What are you using?"

She rubbed the rub on his ankle.
"It's a cooling, soothing lotion. It's supposed to numb your pain, and make it less noticable."

"So it's Vaseline." Shadow observed.

"It's what?" Pinkie asked.

Shadow decided to brush it off.
"uh, nevermind."

She put a clean sock over his foot, and kissed his injury.

Shadow smiled. "Do you have to do that everytime I get a injury?"

Pinkie Pie scooted up to his face. "It helps it heal faster, silly."

She stood on the bed, and positioned to crouch over Shadow so she could help him get the head bandage off, to put on a new clean one.

When she saw the gash she gasped lightly.

Shadow sighed slightly in response. "That bad huh?"

Pinkie grabbed a new bandage. "Oh, uh, I just wasn't expecting the long cut."

Shadow kept silent as she wrapped the bandage around his forehead. She finished her work and pushed aside the supplies.

"There, all better."
She kissed his forehead, and before she could pull her head back Shadow stole a kiss from her lips.

She didn't mind however, and gladly kissed him back. She started to depart again, but he kept capturing her kisses.
Pinkie started to giggle. "Shady.."

Shadow playfully bantered. "Let me keep kissing you~"

He kissed her again while she giggled once more. After a few more, he let her pull away, a cheeky smile on his face.
Pinkie grinned bashfully back. "What was that for?"

"A thank you."

Pinkie let her body sink onto him, and he put his arms around her. Pinkie breathed through a chuckle. After a minute or two, Shadow shifted, the movement asking her to move off.
As she did, Shadow spoke. "Hey, before we go to bed, we should go look at the stars from your balcony. It's a nice night."

Pinkie got off the bed, and picked up all the injury supplies. "Sure, that sounds fun. Let me put away these supplies first."

Shadow sat up as Pinkie trotted down the stairs with the bag and bandage wrap in hoof. He turned his body and dangled his legs on the edge. Abruptly Pinkie came back up the stairs.
"Another flight of stairs to climb huh?"

Shadow chuckled lightly at her comment as she walked over to him. Pinkie pointed to her back.

"Hop on this time. I don't want you walking anywhere else tonight."

Shadow nodded slightly, and slid onto her back. She walked over to the incline stairs and trotted up. She walked past balloons, blank banners, among other things. She got to the balcony, closed the balcony doors, and let Shadow climb off of her, his hand staying steady on her back. His eyes scanned the now quiet town, lit by moonlight and tinted windows. It was peaceful.

He looked up to the stars, and Pinkie did the same.

"Just.. wow."

Shadow whispered quietly, admiring the painted speckled sky. The moon shone brightly, a testament to Luna.
The two slowly sat down and leaned on each other, drinking in the sky's beauty. The slightly chill but calm wind teased their skin to shuffle closer.

The two cuddled as Pinkie spoke.
"Maria said she and you loved to look at the stars."

"We did. I still do."

Shadow observed something about the sky as he remembered. "The stars here... They don't look too different from the ones you could see on Earth."

"Hm." Pinkie didn't have much to say, as she soaked the moment in. She was comfortable in his space.

Soon, Shadow could feel Pinkie slowly start to doze off. Shadow chuckled, and gently rubbed her side.
"Hey. Come on, if you want to sleep you have to take me back inside too."

Pinkie stirred, pausing her drowsiness to stand, and helping Shadow up onto her back.
She opened the balcony doors to come back inside and closed them again, the room now a normal temperature.

She went down the stairs and to their bed. She let Shadow get off her and climb into bed. Pinkie followed suit and the two fell asleep soundly. Shadow had forgotten all about the injuries he had sustained, just in peaceful bliss with his soon-to-be.
> Parents' Blessing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Pinkie's parents are coming to see us, and apparently have some askings. I'm not sure what, but I'll stay cordial and respectful. For me, I'm going to specifically ask for their blessing, because that's the gentlemanly thing to do, correct? Pinkie's excited to see them. Though she's probably already told you that in person.

Love,
Shadow



The couple was waiting at the Ponyville train station, Pinkie being very excited.

Shadow had never met her parents, but he'd heard plenty about them from Pinkie. And apparently Pinkie had told them all about him. He made his personal mission that day to gain the approval and respect of her parents, as he knew how important this would be; for her parents and for Pinkie.

"You know, my family's a lot like you." Pinkie stopped her nonsense ramble to say so.

"Hm?" Shadow glanced at her, then out from the station.

"The monotone dialogue, the way you show care, how they appreciate their privacy."
Pinkie giggled, commenting on herself with a light joke. "I'm think I'm starting to realize why I fell for you."

The sound of a train whistle was heard.

Shadow chuckled, playfully nudging her side. "Silly."

The two watched the train glide into the station, and Shadow reverted back to his neutral expression. The steam hissed, and the breaks eased the train to a stop.

Pinkie's grin was practically glowing as the doors opened and ponies streamed out of the coaches. She managed to hold back her excitement long enough as the couple saw her parents exit the train. At first Shadow wasn't sure of that assessment based on the colt and mare's appearance, but then Pinkie excitedly bounced over to her parents, and hugged them both with enthusiasm.

Her parents looked less than pleased at her ecstatic welcome, but also wore an expression of tolerance. Shadow remembered how he reacted to her hugs when they first met. He walked over to Pinkie and the grey coated horses.

Pinkie Pie introduced them excitedly. The two quickly looked at Shadow with slight surprise, and a little confusion, though a knowing confusion.

"Mom, dad, this is my fiancé Shadow the hedgehog! And Shady, this is my dad, Igneous Pie, and my mom, Cloudy Quartz."

The grey mare managed a quick upturn on her muzzle, while the colt simply nodded, staying stone faced. Shadow nodded back.
"It's a pleasure to meet you in person."

Igneous spoke dryly, and kept emotions out of the formalities. "Likewise."

"Did you two bring any luggage along with you?" Pinkie asked, looking around them. Cloudy pointed to the luggage cart on the other side of the station, being carried out by a station master.

"Only two."

Pinkie recognized the two small greyish-green suitcases as her parents' and bounced over to the cart. Before she could reach for one with her muzzle, Shadow politely stopped her. "I'll take them."

Pinkie appreciated it. "Aw, thanks Shady!"

Shadow slid the cargo off the cart, and turned back to her parents. They nodded in thanks, and Shadow did the same back.

"Now come on, there's so much to talk about!"



Pinkie was doing most of the talking while the group walked down the street. Igneous and Cloudy were planning to stay in Ponyville for two days, to visit Maud and of course see how Pinkie's preparations were going.

Shadow kept respectfully quiet, only speaking to answer questions and elaborate on things when Pinkie asked him to. Pinkie's parents took note of this, and glanced at each other a couple times.

Soon they arrived at the local diner in Ponyville, and Shadow paid for their table. Cloudy noticed that. As they went to sit down, Pinkie realized something. "Oh! Shady, I haven't let you talk about yourself yet, care to converse?"

Shadow became more attentive and looked to her parents. They all sat down, and Shadow gave himself permission to speak.

"As Pinkie has told you, I am a government agent from where I came from. Pinkie here is one of the main reasons I've come back to Equestria time and time again, that and it's a lot less complicated here."

Ms. Quartz inquired about his place of origin.
"Could you tell us more about where you come from?"

Igneous followed up that question, staring at Shadow with a slight quirk of an brow. "Yes, Our Pinkamena here has told us that you're from "another world?""

Shadow nodded as the waitress walked up to the table. Pinkie started ordering while he spoke.
"That is true. I regularly & routinely travel from my world to this one using a portal in princess Twilight's friendship castle."

"And what is the hedgehog having?" The mare waitress asked, looking to Shadow.

Shadow gestured with a hand to Pinks. "Whatever she's getting is fine with me too."

Quartz was slightly surprised by that, knowing what Pinkie usually gets.

Igneous and Cloudy ordered, and Shadow elaborated on his answer afterwards.
"My earth is not as pure as Equestria, nor as peaceful, I'll admit. But I protect it all the same. This land gives me hope for a better life for anyone."

He nudged Pinkie with a arm tap.
"Which is one way I could describe Pinks here."

"Oh, Shady.." Pinkie Pie chuckled in response to his complement.

"Your daughter is really special. And I admire you both for letting her express herself."

The Pies were stunned for a second, but regained their composure. They felt flattered. Cloudy Quartz began to smile small. "Well thank you Shadow. We both wish for our mares to live long, happy lives. Right dear?"

"Of course."

"So, tell us about this agent job..."

Shadow plainly and bluntly dud so, leaving out unclassified work, the brutal violence he sometimes gets into, etc. He was starting to get into how he met Pinkie when the waitress came around again, with the table's orders. She set them down next to them.

"Two creamy potato soups, one rock cooked flatbread, one basket of plain hay fries."

Cloudy Quartz noticed what Pinkie had ordered, the soup, and was intrigued at why.
Pinkie noticed her mom's expression, and lightly giggled, glancing at Shadow.

"Hey, I can't eat sweets all the time, right? Though, Shadow can cook this a thousand times better."

Cloudy looked really pleased at this new information.
"You cook?" She asked Shadow. He shrugged.

"A little. Can't bake though."

That made Pinkie chuckle, and Ms. Pie smile. Igneous wore the same stone-faced expression.

Shadow noticed, but didn't think much of it.



"Who did you go with to these gem caves to get the gemstone for the rings?"

The group was at the jewelery shop, watching the jeweler fit a custom gemstone to one of the wedding rings. Igneous Pie had asked this question. Pinkie, as always, was delighted to say so. She moved her hoof off the counter.

"Rarity and Shadow's friend Rouge, they really know how to find the most perfect jewels."

This interested Igneous, and he glanced once again at Shadow, whom was setting a bag of bits down on the counter, waiting for the ring to be fitted.

"Hmm.."

Cloudy was impressed with the hedgehog. "You seem to live a very respectable life Shadow."

Shadow shrugged, humble and straightforward. "I just do the best I can to ensure the happiness of others. And making sure that Pinkie is satisfied and comfortable."

Pinkie Pie giggled lightly, giving him a peck on the cheek. "And you've been absolutely wonderful to me."

Her complement made Shadow chuckle meekly, hinting at the light pink on his muzzle.

As the day was coming to an end, Shadow decided he was going to ask her parents this favor. He whispered to Pinkie, who nodded and let Shadow take a few steps away. He gestured to the Pie parents, mostly to Igneous. "Can I talk to you and Ms. Pie for a solitary moment?"

The parents looked at each other. Ms. Quartz answered. "Sure."

The three exited the shop, and stood at the doorway.

Shadow relented a thought.
"I wished I could have met with you both beforehand. Unfortunately my work hinders a lot of leisure time."

They understood, and Ms. Pie nodded. "You seem to work very hard Shadow."

Shadow validated the claim.
"That I do. Before I proposed to her I meant to visit the rock farm first."

Igneous decided to speak. "For what reason?"

Shadow took a quick second of silence and answered.

"Well. I would like to especially ask you two for your daughter's hoof in marriage."

That really surprised the married couple. And for the moment, Shadow could see the shock on the parents' faces.
"I wasn't expecting you to ask us." Cloudy was presently surprised. And apparently, so was Igneous.

"Thank you for saying so."

Igneous began to talk. He had some things to say. "I can see that Pinkamena deeply cares for and cherishes you. You've made an impact on her."

Shadow nodded slowly, taking in a breath, holding it for a second, then letting it go.

"And after what I've seen, she has made a big impact on you." Cloudy added, smiling.

"Yeah. She has." Shadow quickly glanced at the ground, but rebounding back swiftly.

Igneous continued, glancing into the store to see Pinkie excitedly talking to the jeweler, whom was getting a little impatient with her. "I am grateful that you have taken care of her, protected her, and given her your feelings. It's clear to me that you love her with all your heart." He turned to Shadow, giving a nod, and his blessing.

"So, I will allow you to take my daughter as your wife. As long as you can promise us that you will never turn your back from her."

Shadow smiled. "That's impossible sir." He did the Pinkie promise movements as he spoke. "Breaking promises is something I take seriously."

Cloudy Quartz chuckled lightly at the usage, and Igneous' lip upturned slightly. Her little gesture.

They headed back in to collect the rings, and to ensure that the jeweler wouldn't be driven nuts any longer by Pinkie's endless talking.

Shadow had proved himself to her parents, and gained their trust. They now had full belief that this was the one for Pinkie, that they could live a long life. But still, the wedding day was approaching and things needed to be done.
> Today Is The Day, United In Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Hi! Guess what today is?

Our wedding day?

That's right Shady! Ooh I'm so excited! We have so much to do!

Yeah.

So much so, we're gonna have to tell you more later. Let's get to it!

Today's a busy day. I'm what Pinkie's called "nervoucited", both nervous and excited. I have a few last minute things I want to do, and plenty to recap over. When the day is done, I'll be glad to share it with my one and only.

Thank you. Love, your brother,

Shadow the Hedgehog



Shadow really wasn't expecting to do this. But he had to cut the faker some slack, he had done many things to gain Shadow's respect over the years.

And really, besides Silver and Omega, he was someone Shadow could ask this favor from.

This was a few days before the wedding.

On Mobius...

Shadow was running along the sidewalk on a slow day, mid-morning. He was searching for someone. Shadow suddenly caught a glimpse of the blue blur, and headed towards him. Shadow cought Sonic running along the beach.

He ran up beside. "Sonic, I need to talk to you."

Sonic chuckled. "Sure. After I see if you can still match me in a race."

"Sonic-"

Before Shadow could object, Sonic boosted forward, running towards an abandoned pier. Shadow sighed, but followed after, gaining ahead a little from Sonic. Sonic matched him, and the small race consisted mostly of matching speeds and dodging obstacles.

The race ended at the end of the pier, Sonic barely managing to keep steady against the edge of the pier.
"Yep, you still got it."

Shadow sighed begrudgingly as Sonic walked over to Shadow. "Okay Sonic, can I talk?"

Sonic chuckled, resting his arms behind his head. "Nobody was stopping you."

"Sonic, this is serious. Take me seriously."

Sonic immediately did, and dropped his arms. He didn't let his smile leave however. "Ok Mr. Serious. What's up?"

Shadow elaborated. "Pinks and I's wedding is coming up soon. And with that, I was thinking of who would stand with me while at the alter."

Sonic's smile grew a little, before sinking into a small one. That's when the realization hit.

Shadow sighed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't believe I'm asking this, but would you like to be my best man?"

Sonic was surprised, and even a little flattered at his asking. He was silent for a good long second. But he quickly regained composure and chuckled. "Of course I will! And let me guess, Silver's up there too?"

Shadow nodded simply. "I can trust you two."

Sonic smiled lightly, turning back to look at the ocean.
"Glad to hear so."



Wedding Day...

Busy. If there was one word to describe today, it would be busy. The wedding was scheduled for late afternoon, and everypony was scrambling.

The Cakes (and the Apple family) were baking/cooking like crazy for the reception, Twilight managing seating arrangements and the guest list, which for an event hosted by Pinkie, was a lot of ponies. (and other creatures too! maybe some from different franchises, ooo) The ceremony would be held at the park, and the reception at the Friendship Castle.

Right now, Pinkie was on her way from the wedding seating to Carousel Boutique, as Rarity was the one putting the finishing touches on Pinkie's dress, and Shadow's suit. As Pinkie entered, she found Rarity scrambling as well. She was running around busily, adding details to numerous dresses and tuxedos.

Pinkie waved, trying to get her attention. "Rarity, Rarity I'm here!"

Rarity heard her voice and blinked once, finally seeing Pinkie Pie standing at the doorway. "Oh! Hello Pinkie, sorry I didn't see you there."

Pinkie looked around at all the sowed clothing covering the front of the store. "Wow! You have so many orders to make!"

Rarity nodded and turned around, adding a small jewel to Rouge's dress. "Well besides you and Shadow's attire, I took charge for the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and just a few days ago Sonic and Silver came in here asking for suits as the best stallion- I mean men!" She quickly corrected herself and trotted over to RD's dress.

"It looks like you could use some help!" Pinkie stated chipper, picking up a roll of sowing thread and appearing next to Rarity. Rarity smiled, but took the thread away from her with magic.

"How honorable for you to offer Pinkie, but this is your wedding, I have to refuse help from the bride and groom."

Pinkie quirked a brow with a lighthearted expression. "And who said I couldn't help you?"

Rarity sighed sharply, setting aside the now finished dress, her glasses starting to slip to the tip of her nose. "Pinkie, I-"

"I think I can help with the finishing details."

Rarity recognized the smooth and sultry voice. She turned her head to the door to see Rouge fly in and land. Rarity pushed her glasses back onto her face, surprised to see her. "Rouge! I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon. The wedding's not until later today."

Rouge came over to the two mares, noting the formal wears. "I figured you'd need some help, and I would love to assist."

Rarity exhaled hard and sharply with relief, smiling and pointing to some other attire with her needle. "Alright, start on the bridesmaid dress for Amy, then work on Tails' suit."

Rouge smirked, walking over to them.
"And yours of course." It wasn't clear if she was talking about Rarity or Pinkie.

Pinkie chuckled knowingly. "Well that sorted itself out didn't it Rarity?"

Rarity felt a weight off of her shoulders and nodded in honesty.

"I guess it did Pinkie. We've got this here, why don't you go over to see how the food's going? You can come try on your dress afterwards."

Pinkie was already trotting towards the door. "Shady's got that! I'll check up on Vinyl and Octavia with the music!"

"Wishing you some good luck Pinks." Rouge bid some parting words to the mare as she began to bounce.

"Thanks Rouge!"



"We've got cupcakes, cookies, pies.."

Mr. Cake and Applejack were going over the food items with Shadow as they walked around the outside of Sugarcube Corner. There were lines upon lines of food being made, prepared, and presented. Shadow was looking at the lot as they walked past.

"Uh huh, what's not a dessert going on the concessions table?"

Applejack took a look at the list she has holding in her hat. "Well, besides the formal supper scheduled for this evening, Fluttershy and Discord are making cucumber sandwiches, they'll be salads, crackers, Sonic apparently fought tooth and nail for a generous helping of "Chili dogs" to be with the concessions."

Shadow nodded, then smirked. "Okay, alright. Heh, he just can't go one event without having a chili dog in hand."

Mr. Cake wavered the concerns with a hoof, pointing around him as evidence.

"No need to worry, we've got a variety, without the intention of filling anyone up."

Shadow tapped a hand on the side of his forehead, then holding it out as a gesture.
"Of course, we have to save room for the, main course."
He heard somepony groan at the joke, and another laugh.

"Did you just make a pun?" Applejack witnessed.

Shadow let a small chuckle slip. "It was too obvious to ignore."

Mr. Cake urged them inside the Sugarcube kitchen from the back door.
"Then I'd think you'd like what me and Ms. Cake have been working on for the multi-layered wedding cake."

Shadow and Applejack entered the kitchen, and saw the eloquent dessert. Applejack let out an audible gasp, while Shadow looked impressed.

It was a three tier black and pink cake with gold trim, with blue and white fondant/icing/frosting flowers. Ms. Cake was fitting on a pale blue rose near the top. On the top was a figure of a blue balloon tethered to a golden ring.

"Well if that ain't the most beautiful pastry I've seen in my life." Applejack complemented, looking up to Ms. Cake. She finished positioning the flower, and stepped down from her step ladder.
"It's almost done. Just a few more flowers to add."

"You've two done it again." Shadow admired the married couple's hard work as always as the Cakes took a step back to look at the product.

"Who thought of the centerpiece?" AJ asked curiously.

Shadow answered that.
"Me and Pinkie thought of it together. Then we asked Maud if she and her sister Limestone could sculpt a figure out of light rock, and they did. We painted them well and gave them to Ms. Cake to use."

"They fitted well with the vision we had for the cake." Mr. Cake put a hoof around Ms. Cake as she smiled.

"It's beautiful seeing how far you two have come."

Shadow looked away, smiling slightly. "It feels like it's been an eternity."

"Yet it's only been a few years."



The music was on point with Pinkie standards, and everything seemed to be going on schedule. This was going to be the biggest wedding event Equestria had seen, besides the bondage between Cadence and Shining Armor.

It was a few hours before everyone had to start getting ready, so Pinkie quickly took a stop at the Friendship Castle to snack on a hay slider.

Shadow came into the castle looking for her and found Pinkie staring at the portal to Mobius/Earth while finishing the last bite of the slider. He smiled, walking up to her. She heard his footsteps.

"Has it gotten to you yet?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope! Even with all the business going on right now, it's not stressed me out."

Shadow came to stand next to her. "Good to know."

Pinkie smirked turning to him.
"What about you?"

Shadow scoffed playfully. "Oh please, this doesn't even compare to the craziness of a busy GUN office."

The two shared a laugh, a quick moment of relaxation.

"They'll be arriving soon." Shadow abruptly broke the silence.

"Yeah, around anytime now actually." Pinkie noted the time.

Shadow turned to Pinkie.
"I wanted to give you something before the wedding starts."

"Oh?" Pinkie was interested.

Shadow handed her a picture of him and Maria before the raid, they were studying constellations in this one.

"Maria said to give it to you."

Pinkie gasped, and looked at the picture with some awe.
"Happy times..." She smiled small.

"Conciser it your wedding gift from Maria." Shadow's features lit up as he watched Pinkie hold the picture to her heart.

"One memory holds a well of endless hope."

The two simply smiled at each other. Pinkie put the picture in her hair. Shadow gestured to her.
"You should go on ahead to Carousel Boutique, I'll be there with the hedgehogs in a little bit."

Pinkie didn't object and turned to walk out.



'Okay..'

Shadow was taking in some big breaths while looking at himself in the mirror.

He was wearing a white tux with a crimson red dress shirt and golden highlights on the collar, arms, torso, and waist. Black bowtie. Pressed black dress pants.

'Calm yourself...'

He took in another inhale and closed his eyes. He was in the Friendship Castle.

Sonic, Silver, and Rouge entered the room he was in, and Sonic ran up behind him.
"How you feeling Shadz?"

Sonic's abrupt presence slightly startled him.
"Ah! Sonic! It's not very polite to sneak up like that."

Sonic chuckled as Shadow turned to see whom was in the room. Sonic, Silver, and Rouge were in their attire. Both the hedgehogs were wearing white tuxedos.

"Got the wedding jitters?" Sonic asked with a playful smile.

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"You're not getting cold feet are you?" Silver asked, recalling what he's heard about wedding jitters.

Shadow shook his head, confused as to why he said so. "What, no. Just a little mixed."

"So you are anxious." Rouge smirked, walking up to Shadow.

Shadow sighed, and relented. "Yeah, well, maybe a little bit."

Silver smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, turning them back to the mirror. "Well of course you're going to feel a little nervous, most grooms and brides do."

Shadow glanced at Silver's hand, then away from the group.

"It's just-"
He paused and gazed into the mirror.

"I never thought I would ever be getting married. I always thought, that because of who I am, and what I do, falling in love would be impossible. A determent even."

He closed his eyes, then opened them again, allowing a small smile to show.

"I'm very glad to be wrong."

Silver grinned at his words. "You should use that in your vows."

Shadow smirked. "I already have something cooked up for that."

Sonic put a hand on Shadow's other shoulder now, testing him.
"You're very lucky Shadow."

Shadow silently sighed, but let it slide as Rouge took a turn to speak.

"To have found somebody that loves you as much as you love them."



The audience was forming, it was time for the ceremony. The groomsmen (Sonic, Silver, Omega, Tails, Knuckles) and bridesmaids (Main 6, Amy, Rouge) stood near the alter.

Cadence was going to be the proprietor of the ceremony and stood in the middle of the alter.

Shadow stood to the left of Cadence, taking in silent, long breaths through his nose. It's been leading up to this. He glanced to his side, seeing his friends give smiles of encouragement. He nodded slightly as the music played, and he looked to the isle.

Flower pedals were thrown by the CMC and Cream the Rabbit (by Shadz request), behind them, was Pinkie Pie in her wedding dress.

It was a fluffy light pink and white dress, with sky blue and light lemon yellow curves complementing her curve. Her mane had a lot more curls in it than usual, and a cupcake earpiece holding the vale on her head. If you looked at the dress long enough, you would see imprints of balloons, sweets, and a couple of rings. She wore the necklace Shadow had given her when they first had to say goodbye.

She joined him at the alter, and when the music ended, Cadence started speaking.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, mares and stallions, and many other creatures alike, we are gathered here in harmony today to celebrate the unity of two different beings, two different worlds, brought together by trust, faith, and a few coincidences. "
"There's no denying the unorthodox happening into their lives, and it has been one of challenges, struggles, and triumphs."

As Cadence spoke, Shadow and Pinkie kept their eyes on each other, taking in the love and aspiration shining bright in their irises. Shadow stared at her longingly, memorizing the details to her face, her stare. Pinkie shared the deep and long gaze, getting lost in his ruby red eyes, floating in the moment.
They could hear Cadence speaking, but paid attention only as much as they needed to.

The mid summer sun was shimmering down on the land of Equestria, the worlds watching in baited breath.

"Now, if you'd please exchange vows."

Shadow nodded, and smiled lightly at Pinkie. "I know you like surprises, so my vows come to you in the form of a poem."

Pinkie smiled long, eyes attentive, excited, and appreciative.

He took in a deep breath, and began.

...

"His Vows"

Before I met you

I wasn't sure of what I needed, you see everything was fine enough on the path I have chosen to walk, but something was missing.

And then I met you.

In the beginning, I wasn't sure.

But when I held your light, a light I hadn't held in the palms of my shattered and fragile hands since that one dreadful day:

I realized that you were here to stay.

To take up my heart and my head in all the best ways possible.

You gave your laughter, your sweetness, your mirth, to me without even having to try.

And now, I give that to you.

My most sensitive pieces, you hold them gently, close to your heart, allowing them to blossom and bloom in full view of those who I would have never shown-

If it wasn't for you.

And for that, I pledge my heart and soul to you, an undying love that will live on after the sweet milk honey moments damper and life becomes mellow.

I know we will chase dreams

I want you to be soothed when the hard times thunder over and beat down on you, on us

I can't describe the correct words for how I feel about you; and I know you are the same.

I will, through life, death, sickness, health. For as long as I live, and for long after the serenity and bittersweet conclusions hush the world to sleep.

...
Once again, Shadow had stunned his friends and crowds. The poem was a heartwarming one, and really touched everyone gathered for this ceremony. Pinkie was tearing up, overflowing with happiness and gratitude.

It was now her turn to speak, and she chuckled, blinking the tears away.

"You know, in the beginning, when I first met you, it was like any other start for a friendship; to make a new friend, and to keep them smiling. What I didn't expect was for you to grow on me. To stick out so much, even when saying nothing at all. I want to thank you for coming out of your shell, for showing me the real you. And I too, will love you with all my heart and soul, the world watching, through sickness and health, through life and long after death.. a death I know that won't be bothering us for decades to come. And while my words may be simple and sweet, you especially know of their sincerity. I have hope for the laughter in our future."

Shadow smiled softly at her words and looked shyly at her. She was right after all.

Candace smiled, and nodded her head slightly.

"Shadow the hedgehog, do you take Pinkamena Diane Pie as your lawfully wedded wife?"

There was no doubt about it.

"I do."

She asked Pinkie the same.

"And do you, Pinkamena Diane Pie, take Shadow the hedgehog as your lawfully wedded husband?"

She closed her eyes with a large smile.

"I do!"

Candace looked to the ring bearer(s), who happened to be Pound and Pumpkin Cake.

"The rings, please?" Candace beckoned.

They walked over to Shadow and Pinkie with the pillow holding the rings on their heads.
Shadow picked up the ring on the string, and placed it over Pinkie's neck. Pinkie picked up the other ring and slid it on to his gloved left hand.

Cadence made her gorn glow to officialize the bond.

"It is done. I wish the longest lasting and happiest love for your future going forward. I now pronounce you husband and wife!"

Shadow held onto Pinkie and dipped her, ending the ceremony with a passionate kiss from the couple. Cheers and silent tears followed the effection, happiness filling the air.

And, one human girl was looking on, proud and honored.



The reception was a fun, filling, and slightly chaotic fashioned "Pinkie Party" and consisted of tears, jokes, romance, and admiration.

As the main 5 were cleaning up, Shadow and Pinkie took this time to go cuddle under a tree, watching the sunset.

"Hey Pinks?" Shadow looked down to her. She looked back up at him.

"Yeah Shady?"

He took a pause for thought.
"I think... no, I know... you're my soulmate."

Pinkie giggled lightly, nuzzling his chest fur.
"Hey, I was going to say that."

He let out a breath, setting his head on hers.

"Good."

The sunset colors stretched across the sky, awaiting for another new day in their lives.





"I'm happy for you Shadow. Take care."
> More Changes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

I just got some news from Ms. and Mr. Cake, and I honestly don't know what to think about it. It makes sense, inevitable really, as this building can only house so small, and they're growing up so fast...

They haven't told Pinkie yet as she's out in Canterlot for a Hostess conference. (Glad she decided to go to that, even if it sounded really boring) I don't know how Pinkie's going to take this... but I have a feeling it's not going to go over too well.

Love,
Shadow



"YOU'RE WHAT?!"

Pinkie was shocked to hear the news.

Mr. And Ms. Cake were playing with their children as an order of cupcakes were baking. They were all in the kitchen. Shadow was at work. Pinkie was about to go start her shift at the bakery.

Ms. Cake spoke until she was cut off. "Now I know this is going to be a big adjustment Pinkie-"

Pinkie interrupted her, at first still loud, but quickly changing her tone. "YOU'RE- You've both decided you're moving out?"

Mr. Cake picked up Pound. "This is still our main business Pinkie, but the twins are growing, and they need more space. We need more space."

"But there's plenty of space here!" Pinkie protested, waving her hoof around her.

Ms. Cake laughed lightly. She turned to Pinkie and walked up to her. "Pinkie, you'll still get to see us everyday." Ms. Cake put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "And besides, you and Shadow need this space too."

"But, I-"

Ms. Cake interrupted her. "It'll be fine deary. This is just a small change."

Ms. Cake turned around to get the cupcakes out of the oven, while Pinkie's expression fell.
"O-Okay. I understand."

She turned with defeat and solemnly walked out of the kitchen to start her counter shift.

As the day went on, Pinkie was less chipper than usual. The Cakes began boxing up their belongings, and one by one, the hallway became crowded with them.
When Pinkie finished her counter shift, she went to play with the twins. They were playing hide and seek, the twins hiding and Pinkie searching.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

She bounced up the stairs, hearing a silent giggle from one of them. She smiled, and looked around the hallway. Boxes were everywhere, some filled with kitchenware, some with clothing, etc. Pinkie ignored it as she searched for the kin. She didn't want to think about it too much. She noticed a tuft of orange hair in one box, and heard another giggle. Pinkie giggled, walking up to the box. When she did, the twins popped out of the box, giggling with glee.

"Found us!"

Pinkie smiled at them at first. "He he! I Did!"

She noticed the box they were in. She remembered that this wasn't going to last. She picked up the twins and hugged them. "I'm going to miss this."
She couldn't help but tear up.

"Untie Pinkie?" Pound Cake said, hearing a slight whimper from her.

Pinkie held the twins back to look at their faces. Pumpkin Cake looked sad. "Why cry?"

Pinkie quickly wiped her tears and put on a smile."I-I'm fine, Pound, Pumpkin."

She put the Cake twins down. "Let's go play upstairs alright?"



Pinkie was bouncing on her bed with the twins, trying to forget they were ever leaving. As they were, Shadow walked into their room, setting down a bag of paperwork, his quills were a little frizzled.

"What's happening in here?"

The twins got super excited to see their favorite unrelated uncle. "Unkl Shady!" They hopped off the bed and ran over to him, Shadow greeting them as he always did.

"Hey little ones."
He walked past them as Pinkie bounced off her bed and over to him, giving him a hug. "It's good to see you today."

She kissed his cheek, then noticed the slightly messy quills. She giggled. "What happened?"

Shadow sounded a little grumpy. "Go into a scuffle at GUN. Recently an insider's been stealing information. The place is now on high surveillance and everyone's being questioned. I brought some paperwork home for safety reasons."

Pinkie hugged him, lending him a light joke. "Heh, you have weekend homework now?"

Shadow sighed slightly. "I'm not planning on bringing them back until I can figure out who has the stolen information, and who is responsible."

He let go of her, and petted her head. "But, I probably shouldn't bother you with all that drama. Did the Cakes tell you the news?"

Pinkie's smile twitched. "They already told you?"

Shadow nodded. "Before I went to work."

He noticed her wilted grin. "Are you alright?"

She sighed, and glanced away. Pinkie looked at the twins with remorse. "The Cakes have been like a second home for me. I've watched the twins grow up so fast.. Ms. Cake has taught me so many recipes.." She held her tears back, abruptly hugging Shadow tight.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye!"

"Pinks.."

Pumpkin and Pound Cake were saddened at their Aunt's sadness. "Auntie Pinkie Pie?..."

Pinkie relented to her husband. "I'm trying to stay strong, but it's so hard! So many memories were made, but-"

Shadow interrupted her, taking a long sigh and hugging her back. "Pinkie. Drastic changes will always be hard to deal with. But it'll be okay. They may not always be with you, you may see them less. But that doesn't make you any less important to them."

He pulled her back to look at her. "Mr. And Ms. Cake trust you. That's why they're letting you stay here. You've run their business well, and have been a good-hearted mare. It's time for them to get some new experiences."

Pinkie smiled weakly at his advice, even though he really didn't need to. "Thanks." She glanced away.

"But it still doesn't help that I feel sad."

Shadow closed his eyes and thought for a moment. After a second, he brushed his hand across her front leg.

"Well, what would you do? This does seem like an occasion."

Pinkie blinked, for a moment she was silent. Suddenly she gasped, getting an idea. "Of course! Why haven't I thought of that?"

She grinned, and gave Shadow a peck on the cheek. "Thank you Shady! They're definitely going to need a proper send-off!"

For the first time that day, Shadow gave a smile as Pinkie let go of the embrace and started to bounce around. "Do you wanna help?"

Shadow pointed to his paperwork. "Apologies Pinks, I have some sloughing to do."

Pinkie brushed it off. "That's fine! You keep on saving your world!"

She hummed to herself as she scooped up the twins and hopped back downstairs. Shadow smiled as he watched her leave. For the time being, things were peaceful.



Through the night Pinkie set up a little surprise for the Cakes, excited and peppy about their reactions.

Shadow was already in bed when Pinkie finally clocked out for the night. He was in the process of falling asleep when the covers shifted and Pinkie immediately fell into slumber. He felt himself smile, just a little bit.

She did need to get up early.



It was morning, and the Cakes were moving their boxes of stuff out of Sugarcube Corner. They loaded them onto a cart to carry across town.

Pinkie silently sneaked into the kitchen, and finished setting up the little occasion.

Ms. and Mr. Cake came into the front of Sugarcube Corner, looking for Pinkie. "Pinkie! We need you to carry the main store keys!"

Ms. Cake came up to her husband, concerned. "Carrot, have you seen the kids dear?"

He suddenly became worried. "Uh, no. Not all morning since breakfast in fact. Where could they have gone?"

The two started looking around for their foal and filly.
"Pound! Pumpkin! Where are you?"

When they entered the kitchen, they found the lights to be off. "I thought these were on."

Suddenly the lights turned on, and there was Pinkie Pie and the twins wearing party hats and blowing party favors.

"Surprise!"

The room was decorated as an old fashioned Pinkie Pie party. Plenty of streamers, balloons, and a small cake.

"Oh! What's all this for?" Ms. Cake was presently surprised.

Pinkie beamed, throwing her hooves up into the air. "It's your moving party!" She placed two party hats on the Cakes, and the twins ran around their parents' legs.

"You got over your slump yesterday?" Mr. Cake asked, relieved she felt better.

Pinkie nodded. "At first I was really upset at the thought of you leaving, including the twins. I didn't know what to do! But Shady gave me some perspective, and I understand now."

Pinkie appeared in between the two, smiling.

"But, can we least have a little fun before it's time for you to leave?"

The Cakes smiled, picking up their kin. Ms. Cake spoke. "That sounds like a swell idea."

Mr. Cake walked over to the party cake. "Is Shadow joining us?"

Pinkie brushed him off. "He was some secret agent work to do, it's best I leave him to it."



Meanwhile, Shadow was upstairs, looking through entry logs, security scripts, and clock ins.

'At around 5:00 P.M, something jammed the silent alarms. Or rather, someone. A Mobian. He came to steal something... but what? Wait, one of my pages is missing. But not a G.U.N file. Was it...the research that Tails gave me on Equestria? No, it couldn't be. Surely no one could have even known about the portal.'

'Could they?'
> Nightmares, Reconciliation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Maria,

Sugarcube Corner's catering business is really taking off! Now with the Cakes living in a separate house, there's so much more room to bake and plan! I still see the twins when they need babysitting, and I'm planning a big luncheon for the School Of Friendship! (Since Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns does the same) But something's been bothering me..

Shady got back from a month long assignment, but he's been silent. He's been ignoring me. I'm worried for him. What happened? It.. is it something about me...?
Silly me, that's nonsense, he wouldn't hide feelings like that, we're married now. Would he?

A-anyways, chat with you later Maria!

From Pinkie Pie!



As Pinkie rolled out a large piece of pastry dough for a doughnut recipe she was trying out for the luncheon, she watched her husband pace upstairs. He had been repeating this routine for about 20 minutes; walking downstairs, through the front of the shop, sometimes stealing a glance at her, then going up the stairs again, only to be seen a few minutes after.

She was worried. Shadow had not said a word since coming back home 3 days ago, and Pinkie was starting to suspect something was wrong. Actually, scratch that, she KNEW when things were wrong with him. Only, this time, when she tried to confront him about it, he ignored her.

Pinkie sighed, looking back down at the dough.

The only thing she knew about his mission was that it had to do with the G.U.N infiltration two months back. She had also heard from Amy something about Equestria's portal almost being compromised in their world? That worried her even more.

As she began to cut out doughnuts, Shadow came back down the stairs. He stared at Pinkie for a minute. Pinkie stayed silent, stealing a quick glance at him.

Then Shadow did something different. He began walking to the kitchen.

Pinkie noticed, but intently focused on her work. When he walked into the kitchen, Pinkie put on a warm smile. She collected the extra dough and rolled it into a ball. Shadow stopped next to her, glancing at the doughnuts and doughnut holes she had made. She set it aside and looked at Shadow.
"Hi Shady!"

Shadow looked at her. He stayed silent for a minute, before his expression changed ever so subtly, to one of guilt.
He put a hand on her right cheek, and kissed her left cheek tenderly.

Pinkie blinked, smiling sweetly. Shadow looked away from her, and turned from her. He began to walk back to the swinging doors. Pinkie giggled lightly, still staring at him. "What was that for?"

Suddenly he froze. He turned his head slightly to look at her. His expression wore many emotions. He spoke quietly.
"I love you."

Pinkie felt how sincere his tone was."I love you too."

After she had said that, Shadow was once more climbing up the stairs.

When he was gone, Pinkie Pie sighed. She looked back to her ball of dough and rolled it out. There was something wrong with Shadow, and Pinkie wasn't going to take any more of it. For the past few nights she had also noticed him having night terrors. Nothing loud or bombastic, but quiet whimpers and avoiding her touch. Like he was afraid. As Pinkie cut out more doughnuts she made up her mind.

'I need to talk to him. whether he likes it or not.'



It was exceptionally hard to get under Shadow's skin, but when someone manages to, it left room for doubt. And he hated that. He was able to brush Mephiles and Infinite off, but this felt.. different. He wasn't the one in the conversation. Instead, it was the one he loved most...



It was nightfall as Pinkie trotted up the stairs, not too quickly but with some anxiousness. When she arrived to their room, Shadow was already laying down, back turned against her. She let herself briefly sigh, double checking all the lights were off. Pinkie then walked over to their bed, and for a minute she stood there, staring at Shadow.

He seemed to be sleeping already. Pinkie was disappointed. She never got to talk to him. She hadn't figured out what was bothering him. Why this period of avoidance had happened so abruptly after he returned from his mission. Pinkie had a light realization that his mission might not have gone to plan. But if that was the case, why wasn't he still on assignment? She figured that the situation had been resolved, because he didn't come home broody, but still..

She slid into bed next to him. He didn't move. Pinkie frowned, and turned the other way. It was starting to seriously upset her that he wasn't speaking out.

'Come on Shadow... Why won't you talk to me?...'



Metropolis. Noon. Or maybe midday. Or sunrise. He wasn't sure. The sky was a mix of colors, unable to be made out clearly.

He was on the outskirts of the city, in a green field. Maybe it was green.

He was looking all around when he saw Tails' portal to Equestria. It seemed to be running normally. He slowly walked up to the portal to pass a hand through it. But, as he touched the machine, it dissolved into sand slowly, panicking the ultimate lifeform. He gasped, hearing a familiar alien voice in the air.

"Shadow, it's you..."

He turned around, seeing a raccoon-like Mobian standing in front of the background of a burning Metropolis.

"You shouldn't have grounded roots there, in that perfect world."

When Shadow blinked, the Mobian was gone, a pool of white liquid in his place.

But instead of standing in the field, he was now standing on debris in the city, chaos around him. People running, screaming, buildings collapsing. Shadow gasped again, and tried to move. He found he couldn't. He looked down to see his feet and hands chained to the ground. He blinked again, and blood was spluttered on his gloved hands. His eyes began to widen. He heard Sonic's voice.

"IT'S ALL ON YOU..."

He blinked once more, and found himself in his super form, now in Ponyville. Things were on fire, maybe.

"It's ripe for the taking.."

He heard screaming. When he tried to close his eyes, his head started hurting. His eyelids fluttered open, and he was holding Pinkie by the neck. Someone was controlling him.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT! I SHOULDN'T HAVE-!"

He looked away from the situation, trying to push the horror away. When he looked back, he was on the ground, in his normal form, Pinkie a few feet away. She was injured heavily, and was laying in a pool of white liquid.

Shadow was horrified.

"PINKIE!"

He tried to run up to her, but was stopped by an invisible wall. He grumbled loudly, banging on whatever was separating him from her.

Pinkie tried to scoot away, tears in her eyes. "Please... s-stay a-away..."

She was gushing this white liquid, it was getting harder and harder to breathe for her.

His irises became small as he realized what was happening.

The same raccoon Mobian was here, holding a gun to Pinkie's head.

"I would have killed you first, but it seems he's done it for me." The strange Mobian chuckled, slowly walking away from the scene.

"I'll just continue my conquest forwards..."

Shadow was forced to watch her slowly slipping away to death. His voice was shrill at first.
"NO!"

His knees buckled as he fell to the floor.
"No!"

His voice became weaker.

"No..."

He hadn't heard one, but he felt a bullet go through his chest.
"Can't leave that stone unturned."
Shadow felt his vision slip.

"no..."

Before he felt a final breath..



"AH!"

He jolted up from bed with a start, terrified. He was breathing heavily, sweating, and felt his eyes water.

"Shady?"

He turned his head to see Pinkie sitting up, looking at him with those concerned sky blue eyes.
Almost immediately Shadow hugged her tightly, and began to cry. Pinkie hugged him back, surprised and worried.

"Shadow..."

He wept for a minute as Pinkie Pie calmed his nerves, rubbing his back, and whispering to him. "It's okay.. I'm here..."

His cries slowed, and Pinkie pulled herself back to look at him. "Please, talk to me."

He looked down at the bed, feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry..."

She lifted his chin with her hoof so he could look at her. "What happened with your mission to give you these nightmares?"

He sighed, and held her hoof. She was correct with the inference. For a moment he was silent, until finally speaking.
"There were documents stolen from the top secret G.U.N. headquarters a few weeks back. Only, they weren't G.U.N. files, they were my personal files. The ones that concerned me the most were Tails' notes about Equestria, and the blueprint for the portal he created to get here."

"Why did you have them?" Pinkie asked quietly.

Shadow elaborated. "Tails asked me to keep them close. He was concerned about someone stealing them, and finding out about your world."

He closed his eyes for a second, before opening them back up to continue.
"About a week or so later, Tails' home was broken into. They were looking for his portal. Fortunately Tails' managed to spook them out before they could. I told Tails what had happened to our files, and we figured out who was behind it. A raccoon Mobian, one that particularly had a disliking to me."

Pinkie put her other hoof on top of his hand. "Did you catch him?"

"We assumed he would be back, to find the portal and... presumably destroy it. So we waited. And finally, the day came when he found it out."
Shadow paused, taking note of how patient she was.
"We fought him hard, and he put up a good fight. All the while saying things to me, like how I wasn't worthy of living in such a place as Equestria. That I shouldn't have planted roots there. That it was only a matter of time before someone would destroy my home away from home."

He sighed, looking down to her hooves. "When he finally caught him, he kept saying these things. How he was going to take it all over. That I didn't deserve to be happy."

His ears drooped, and he frowned. "But the thing that hurt the most... He said.. that I'd destroy your world. That you were a detriment to me.. that before he could have k-killed you, I-i would have done his work for him. I'm ashamed to say..it spooked me."

Shadow refused to let himself cry this time, Pinkie gazing at him sympathetically. "I got scared. And normally something like this would just roll off of me, but the way he said it, with such fire and disgust towards me.. When he even entertained the possibility of him hurting you... of... me hurting you..."

A single tear fell from his eyes. "It hit a little too close to home.."

Pinkie embraced him warmly. "Oh Shady, I know you'll never let someone do something like that. You'll never do something like that."

Shadow hugged her back, resting his chin on her neck. He continued relenting. "I know. And I feel guilty. Guilty for crumbling so easily to his words.. I shouldn't be like that.."

Pinkie chuckled lightly. "That's why you have me. Some days it's dark, and certain things will bring you down. But remember,"

"We're in this together." Shadow finished, moving his head to look at her.

Pinkie smiled. "See? You know that."

She rubbed his arm gently, slowly leaning in. "You've always known that." She gave him a long, reassuring kiss and he returned it, thankful.

The two laid back down, Shadow holding her in his arms. He whispered to her.
"Sorry for ignoring you."

Pinkie understood. "It's- okay. You take the time and space you need Shadow, a job like yours isn't anything to scoff at."

He smirked, and the two fell into slumber, relieved.

Another night, another deep conversation.