Chapters This was a challenge. The hardest yet. What made him so powerful?
He, could destroy the world with this power.
They all were fighting in one of many Eggman's secret bases, in the control room.
"I call it Black Mist. It's power is unmatched, possibly even more powerful than the chaos emeralds themselves! But speaking of those emeralds," Eggman held up the green chaos emerald. Except, it was a darker color. Sparks flying off of it.
Sonic gasped. "You were the one who stole the emerald!"
"Of course I did! I didn't want to waste the extra energy.."
"Extra energy?" Tails questioned.
Suddenly, Shadow jumped up from behind, and swiped the emerald from him. Eggman gasped, then grumbled. Tails, Knuckles, and Sliver were surprised. Sonic smirked. "Nice Shadow!"
Eggman yelled with anger, and pressed a button. "Fire!"
Lasers and missiles started shooting out of Eggman's mech, aiming for everyone individually. Sonic playfully jumped around a missile. Tails and Knuckles dodged lasers, and Shadow outran his laser, still holding the extra charged emerald.
He glanced around the room, and saw it.
Silver.
In seconds, time seemed to slow down for his thoughts.
'It's dead on his heart. And he doesn't have enough time to dodge. That beam would kill him instantly.'
He then thought about the emerald.
'...'
'No one is dying on my watch!'
"Silver!"
Sonic shouted to Silver, but it seemed he was too late. Silver closed his eyes, his life flashing before him.
Shadow jumped in front of Silver.
"AGHH!"
Silver opened his eyes.
The emerald had reacted with the laser, and Shadow was pulsating white from the reaction.
The laser had hit him.
He screamed in agony.
A bright light filled the room, blinding Sonic and his friends, as well as Eggman.
...
It was midnight. She was just out to look at the stars. But a rescue mission was what she would be doing instead.
Pinkie Pie reached the open, green fields around Ponyville when she herd something.
It... Sounded like pain.
She gasped, and saw a small figure in the distance. Her face turned into one of determination, and she ran towards it. Pinkie pie soon found Shadow, struggling to stand, holding his chest. A pool of blood was starting to collect on the ground.
Pinkie's eyes widened. She didn't know what this species was, but he was injured badly.
She ran up to the hedgehog. He began to fall again when Pinkie caught him in her hooves.
Shadow suddenly realized somebody had caught him.
He looked up, and saw the pink mare, her face full of worry. His eyes widened in shock, however, he did not have this time to be so.
"Sweet Celestia! What happened to you?!"
Pinkie helped him stand, and held him up with one hoof under his right arm.
Shadow grunted his words out. "I was fighting... An enemy... And.."
He removed his hand to look at his injury. The huge gash ran across his chest, blood seeping out onto the floor. bruses were abundant on his forehead, arms, and legs.
Pinkie gasped loudly with concern.
"You need immediate attention!"
She bumped him onto her back, Shadow laying horizontal. He groaned in pain in response.
"Oh! Sorry! Come on, I'll take you back to Sugarcube Corner! We can fix you there!" In a flash, Pinkie pie galloped back to Ponyville, and to her house.
To Shadow, everything was a blur. Was he dreaming? Hallucinating?
He felt his hand brush the pony's soft, magenta pink mane.
No. This was real.
He let his arms wrap around her neck softly, holding onto her.
Pinkie seemed to not mind this, as she was driven by urgency to save him. the door of Sugarcube Corner was in her sights.
She bust though the door and ran to the stairs leading up to her room.
When Pinkie got to her bed, she threw her blankets on the floor, and carefully laid Shadow down.
"I have some big bandages and an emergency kit downstairs." She ran to the top of the stairway. "Keep pressure on it!"
Shadow nodded. "I know. It slows down the rush." He replied to her, pushing his hand on the injury as she ran down the stairs.
She came back with the supplies. First, she put a towel on his gash. Second, she poured rubbing alcohol on another towel, and placed it on the injury.
"Keep it there."
Pinkie was working frantically.
She wasn't no doctor, but she had to do something! There was no way she could get a doctor here in time before his demise.
Out of the emergency kit, Pinkie Pie took out a numbing solution, a bag of ice, and some medical string, with the needle.
"we have to deal with this now."
She looked up at him, with concerned eyes. Shadow finally got a good look at them. Big, sky blue. Full of emotion.
"Can you handle it?"
Shadow closed his eyes. She had...
Blue eyes.
'... A Beautiful Soul.'
He exhaled.
"Yeah. There's always a little pain in life."
"Okay." Pinkie took the whole roll of string to her mouth. She held the needle with her curl of hair, The numbing medicine in her hoof.
'Just stitch like rarity did. We didn't take those lessons together for nothing.'
She worked though the night, carefully stitching Shadow back together. It was painful, and her hooves her caked, but it was worth it. At the end, she wrapped bandages around his torso, then his head.
It was still night fall as she finished.
They both stared at each other in disbelief.
"You... saved my life."
"I...did."
Silence fell. Pinkie stood up slowly, and walked over to her bathroom to wash up.
Shadow was dumbfounded. He looked down at himself. She didn't do the stitches precisely, but she did it. Enough to... Save his life. Pinkie walked back over to Shadow.
"Why?"
"Hm?"
He looked at Pinkie. "Why did you save me? A Stranger?"
Pinkie Pie beamed. "You needed help, and anypony who needs help will always have my side!"
Shadow blinked. Her personality was overly cheery. Bubbly.
"...Thank you."
Pinkie Pie picked up the blankets, and laid them over Shadow.
"It's no problamo, besides, this is the most excitement I've had in a while."
Pinkie hopped to the stairs.
" Oh, I'm Pinkie Pie by the way!"
"Shadow." He replied back, before Pinkie hopped downstairs again. "I don't want to see you move a muscle!" She yelled.
Shadow just stared up the ceiling.
"Did I... Chaos control with that emerald? Hmm... Eggman said it had extra energy..."
'-!'
"from that Black Mist. I guess... I'm in a new world."
Suddenly beside him, something was glowing. He looked over.
It was the chaos emerald. Still powered. By what?
He gasped.
When he touched the stone, the glowing softened to that of a nightlight.
He hid the emerald under the blankets. He didn't want to worry that cotton candy colored pony, of the powers the emerald held.
Pinkie came back up with an extra blanket and pillow for herself.
"You need to rest for as long as you're hurt." She walked next to the bed and placed her things down.
"So, you can stay in my bed 'til then!"
"Thank you. Really."
Pinkie Pie smiled at him.
"Like I said, It's no problem. Just trying to do the right thing." She went over to the light switch.
"Try to get some sleep Shadow. I'll have the perfect thing for you in the morning!"
"Okay."
The lights turned off, and Pinkie went and laid down on her spot.
"Night Shadow."
"Night. Pinkie Pie."
Shadow turned his head away from Pinkie and rested his hand on the pillow.
'The luck I have.'
Author's Note
ShadPie is my OTP, and i have no shame in it. I Hope you all enjoy! Write you later!
Shadow's eyes popped open. The sweet aroma of cupcakes and candy wafted into the room, emanating from the floor below.
He inhaled though his nose heavily, and exhaled.
After he did, Pinkie came trotting happily up the stairs, with three cupcakes resting on her head.
Shadow sat up slowly. Pinkie Pie beamed at him."Morning, Sleepy head!" She walked over to him. "I baked these cupcakes this morning especially for you!" She set them on his lap, beaming proudly.
Shadow stared at the cupcakes.
They were vanilla, with light blue frosting. Pink sprinkles dotted the frosting's swirl, making it look most decedent.
"So?"
Shadow looked up to the bubbly pink mare. She was about to burst with excitement.
He directed his eyes back down to the cupcakes.
'I should at least try them for her. Vanilla is my favorite flavor, after all.'
He picked up the cupcake, and took a bite.
The taste of vanilla, blueberries, and strawberries exploded onto his taste buds, pleasantly surprising Shadow.
"Wow. This is really good. Like, really really good."
Her smile only got bigger.
"It's my Blue Skies Surprise!" She spread her hooves out wide, her smile just the same.
Pinkie Pie leaned next to Shadow, and whispered into his ear.
"The surprise is strawberry." She grinned at him.
Shadow blinked at her.
Pinkie snickered with satisfaction, and hopped back down the stairs to continue her morning shift.
Shadow allowed himself to smile. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"Huh."
He finished the cupcakes, and moved his legs to the side of the bed. He sat here for a few.
'This Pinkie Pie... She's... Just like Maria. Only... a little different."
Shadow put his hand on his heart, and looked down. "Please..."
He looked over to the blanket. The green emerald remained the same color, but, no longer shining. He closed his eyes.
'If this emerald is here, could the other ones be here too?'
Shadow examined his surroundings.
There was a balcony, near where the bed laid.
'Maybe I could get over there.'
He slowly stood, using the bed frame as a crutch. It still hurt to move, but not as bad as yesterday.
He walked along the wall slowly, grunting here and there. He was only halfway, when Pinkie came bouncing up the stairs, a satchel on her. She giggled, Shadow realizing that she had caught him.
"What are doing, silly?" She giggled again, and hopped over to him.
"I just wanted to get some fresh air, and, maybe look around, but my body can't move. I can stand just fine, But-"
"Oooh, use me, use me! I'll give you a ride!" She hopped around for a moment before crouching next to Shadow, beaming wide.
Shadow wanted to smile at her. She was just so...
Cute.
Shadow blushed at the thought, and mentally hit himself.
He accepted her offer, and sat on her back, still using the wall to help him.
She walked over to her balcony.
"This is my home,"
Shadow gasped.
"Ponyville."
The morning sun shined onto the land: the place was practically glowing! Small, multicolored, pastel ponies wondered everywhere, greeting each other, playing, talking with friends, and smiling. Birds chirped their own greetings onto the sunny day, and her village was alive.
It was colorful, bright, peaceful.
"It's beautiful."
Pinkie chuckled. "I had a feeling you would say that!"
Shadow sighed, and smiled little.
"Maria would have loved it here too."
"Who's Maria?"
He froze. He didn't know he said that out loud.
"Just somebody I used to know." He finally answered with a heavy sigh, gazing out to the town.
They both watched the morning sun together, and Shadow found his eyes wandering to Pinkie's face.
Pinkie Pie finally noticed the hedgehog's gaze toward her.
"Staring at me?" She giggled, feeling red coming to her own cheeks.
Shadow snapped out of his daze, and blushed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I kinda zoned out there for a second and-"
"It's alright. I get a lot of weird stares from new creatures."
Pinkie walked back to her room.
"What? No, no, no, not like that! You're just-"
Shadow stopped himself. Pinkie looked up at him, curious.
Shadow sighed. "I apologize. It was rude of me to stare."
Pinkie was not expecting that. She blinked.
She stopped near her bed.
A smile spread across her face.
"Well, thank you. But, like I said,"
She helped Shadow off of her and back on to her bed.
"It's alright."
The pink mare beamed at the hedgehog. Her smile turned small, and she turned away, whispering. "I... kinda liked it."
Shadow blushed, dumbfounded. Pinkie Pie walked away from him, and to the stairs.
Shadow stared at her.
Pinkie Pie returned the stare.
"...I'm going to go now. Have to see Zecora for a remedy for your body pains."
Shadow slowly nodded. Pinkie was just about to head down the stairs when Shadow blurted out something.
"Beautiful."
Pinkie stopped. She looked up to Shadow, whom was blushing, with wide eyes.
"You're... Beautiful. Pretty. Cute."
Pinkie Pie blushed red. No pony's called her that before.
"Thank you."
She said no more, and walked down the stairs. Shadow looked down at the bed, still wide eyed.
"oh... My... Gosh..."
...
Pinkie Pie melted with joy shortly after she left the stairs.
"Beautiful! He called me beautiful!" She started out the front door, and started bouncing. "Oh I knew there was something about him! Maybe that dream I had last night was telling me something..."
...
Shadow layed, staring at the ceiling.
"I... Just said that. I really just said that. And she didn't freak out."
He was silent for a moment.
"She said she likes it when I stare at her..."
A thought rippled through his mind.
"Could... that mean... She likes me?"
...
"Bye Zecora!" Pinkie waved bye to Zecora, and trotted away onto the only path through the Everfree.
"This remedy will fully heal shady for sure!"
She hummed to herself, sunlight finally approaching the path in front of her.
"Maybe it would be easier to take if I got something to mix it with."
She noticed Fluttershy's cottage nearby, and got an idea. Pinkie smiled.
"Tea! That's it! Pinkie, you're a genius!"
...
Shadow stared at the emerald, holding it in both hands.
"That chaos control was larger than it should have been."
He kept his eyes on it intently.
"The others must have been sent here too."
Then, he suddenly remembered. Silver.
Shadow sighed.
"You're welcome Silver. Wherever you are."
He hid the emerald, and his eyes wandered.
They soon found themselves at the stairs.
'I wonder when she'll get back...'
Seemingly like magic, Pinkie Pie came hopping up the stairs, humming happily. She met Shadow's eyes.
"Hi Shady! I'm back! And I have an antidote that should get you up and walking again!" She hopped over to her dresser, took her bag off, and dumped the contents onto it.
"What's the tea stuff for?" Shadow noted the tea pot and cups she separated from the other numerous items stuffed in her bag.
"I figured that the antidote would go down better if you drank tea with it."
"You have to drink the cure?" Shadow questioned.
Pinkie turned to him, smiling. "Yep! It sure beats getting a shot, let alone a surgery!"
Pinkie laughed at her joke, and and Shadow quietly chuckled along.
She turned back, grabbing the pain reliever and the tea set, tea included, and got to work. The two made chit chat, a pleasant conversation as Pinkie worked. It was all quite nice, if Shadow was being honest to himself.
Pinkie Pie trotted over to Shadow, handing him his drink with the medicine in it. Pinkie grabbed her drink, and next to him on the bed.
Shadow took a drink, and hummed with thought.
"This tea's flavorful and bright."
"You can thank Fluttershy for that! She's one of my best friends, and makes the bestest tea!"
Shadow chuckled at her.
"Bestest isn't a word."
"Well it is to me." Pinkie giggled back at him. Now she started to stare. Shadow looked back at her.
After a while, Pinkie smiled softly, and Shadow... He had a small, soft smile.
Shadow handed her his cup, and Pinkie stood.
"Now in a few days, you should be able to get up and walk around." She turned to clean up the tea mess she had made.
"But until then you'll check up on me, and, take care of me?"
Pinkie Pie was silent for a moment.
"Yeah."
As the days passed, Shadow's injuries got better and better. Pinkie and Shadow's relationship was at an all-time high as well. And now, as Shadow could finally walk again, questions he had asked himself wanted to be known to the pink horse.
Right now, the sun was starting to set as Shadow walked through what the ponies called the Whitetail Woods.
Nature was the thing that relaxed him the most.
Up ahead, he noticed a small break in the forest, possibly leading to a field.
Suddenly, a blue blur was heading towards Shadow.
In an instant, Shadow knew who it was.
The blur stopped in front of him.
Now, in front of Shadow, the blue hedgehog, Sonic, stood with an optimistic smile.
"Shadow! You're here too? I'd knew you'd be okay!"
Shadow crossed his arms.
"Yeah. Of course I'm here."
Sonic pointed behind himself.
"Sliver and I were out trying to find Tails and Knuckles, but looks like we found you first."
Shadow let his arms rest.
Sliver was okay.
A huge weight was lifted off of Shadow's shoulders.
"He was really worried about you, actually."
Shadow entered the field.
It was a field of blue and yellow orchids, the sun's rays filling the clearing.
Sliver's eyes widened.
Silver started to smile huge.
"Shadow!"
Tears of relief started to seep from Silver's eyes.
"You're alive!"
Shadow smirked.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Silver slowly started to chuckle, wiping the tears from his face.
"I kinda thought you died."
Shadow and Sliver walked nearer to each other.
Shadow chuckled with his reply.
"Well, actually, I almost did."
Sonic came up to listen to their conversation.
"What? Then how?" Silver asked, noting his unharmed physique.
"I had the biggest gash."
He ran his finger across his chest indicating where the gash was.
"here to here. I was practically going to bleed out."
Sonic and Silver grimaced with displeasure.
"But a pink pony found me, and took me in. She sowed me up and saved my life."
"Oh, so you went down to that little village too?" Sonic asked.
"Well, actually, I'm staying there at the moment. I still need a little more time to rest."
"Really? We met a few ponies in particular down there." Sonic told Shadow.
"Come to think of it, we were greeted by a certain pink pony." Silver put a hand on his chin.
"Did she have balloons on her?"
"That's the one." Shadow confirmed.
Sonic chuckled.
"You can't be serious."
Shadow crossed his arms.
"I am. What's it to you?"
"Well, she's... Pinkie pie! She was just so hyper and happy. Me and Silver thought you'd hate her for being so energetic." Sonic told him bluntly.
Shadow turned away from the two hedgehogs.
"I don't hate her sonic. She saved my life, if you didn't get the memo."
Sonic was about to speak when a thought popped up in his mind.
He chuckled, then started to laugh.
"Wait, wait, wait, don't tell me-"
He walked up to Shadow, and smirked.
"You like her!"
Shadow turned away from sonic, to silver.
Shadow's gaze softened.
Sliver's eyes widened.
He did.
"You totally have a crush on a pony!" Sonic laughed again, looking at Shadow, then to Sliver, waiting for a response.
Shadow closed his eyes, crossing his arms again. "My feelings are of no concern to you Sonic."
Sonic smirked. "Yeah sure Shadow, sure."
Shadow frowned at him, and looked down to the flowers.
"Hm." He walked past them, and examined a specific bunch of flowers.
Blue and yellow.
He glanced back at sonic and silver, whom were still looking at him.
Silver was concerned, while Sonic had a snarky smile on his face.
He looked back down. He sat down on his knees, and reached out to pick a handful of flowers.
"I care for her deeply."
Sonic and silver were taken aback at his blunt response.
He gazed at a particular blue orchid he picked.
"I'd do anything..."
He closed his eyes, and stood, holding one bunch of orchids.
"...Respect my decisions... Just as you do to me."
Sonic's expression turned to one of understanding.
"Of course Shadow."
Shadow was about to run off, before silver interrupted.
"Shadow!"
Shadow turned, and gazed at Silver.
Silver was smiling."I'm glad you found someone to make you happy."
Shadow glanced down.
And, he smiled. A smirky smile, but a genuine smile nonetheless.
He zipped away, leaving Silver and Sonic with their thoughts.
...
It was late evening, and the sky that was once tinted orange was turning into a dark blue, violet black.
The main 6 were at Applejack's barn, finishing helping Applejack clean up after a long day of work.
Pinkie Pie was dusting the barn doors with her tail, when a streak of yellow flew past.
Her friends saw it too.
Pinkie walked out of the barn, curious.
It zipped past again.
Pinkie was confused for a second, before she realized who had that streak.
Shadow now stood to the left of pinkie.
She turned, surprised. His cheeks, tinted red.
"Um, I was wondering if..."
He gently placed one of blue orchids into Pinkie's hair, next to her ear.
Pinkie gasped softly, and blushed lightly.
"If you'd might join me in stargazing on your balcony this evening?"
He presented the rest of the flowers to her.
She gasped again.
"Shadow..."
Shadow let her take the flowers to her chest. She looked down at them, then back up to Shadow.
"I'd love to."
Shadow smirked, pleased with her answer. "See you then."
He sped off, leaving Pinkie with a lovestruck smile.
She walked back into the barn.
"So?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie's smile grew enormously.
"Shadow asked me to go stargazing with him! "
Her friends grinned. Pinkie had told them all about her little rescue mission, and her close friendship with the hedgehog.
"On my, darling, He's... He's asked you on a date! " Rarity exclaimed, grinning.
Pinkie began bouncing up and down, still holding the flowers.
"I know! I know!"
Rainbow dash chuckled. "He's even got you flowers."
Pinkie stopped bouncing, and looked at the flowers.
"I know."
"Well, we y'all wish you the best of luck, Pinkie." Applejack said, tilting her hat.
"He's been nothing but nice to you, so it should go well for you." Twilight walked up to her and gave her a supportive hug. The rest of her friends joined in, but soon they had to let go.
"Thanks guys!" Pinkie thanked her friends for their support, and bounced out of the barn, heading to Sugarcube corner.
...
When Pinkie Pie entered her room, all was silent, except for a soft singing voice; quiet but powerful.
Pinkie smiled softly. Though she couldn't hear the lyrics exactly, his voice was the calm and collected one she'd dreamt about.
The closer she got to the balcony, the more hushed his singing voice became.
When she got to the balcony doors, Shadow had his hands on the balcony's edge, looking up to the stars. He wasn't singing anymore.
Shadow knew she was here.
"Hi Pinkie."
She smiled small.
"Hi Shadow."
She walked over to him and both stood close to one another, starring up at the dotted sky.
"Have you ever stargazed?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah. Sometimes Twilight shows me the different constellations."
She pointed to different ones.
"That one is Starswirl's Belt. The one above that is Gusty the Great, near Gusty's bow."
Shadow blinked. These constellations felt... familiar.
Pinkie continued pointing out more.
"Over there, is Luna's Painting. To the north, is what ponies are now calling Twilight's Star."
Finally, she pointed to two constellations Shadow recognized instantly.
"And right there, of course, is the big dipper and the little dipper."
Shadow softly chuckled.
"You know,"
Pinkie turned her head to him.
"We have the dipper constellations on my world too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. In fact... I think we have all these in my world. Just different names."
It was Shadow's turn to point out the constellations, in the same order as Pinkie.
"That first one is Orion's Belt. Next to it, Orion with his bow. The cluster is the Milky Way. And that bright star... It's the North Star."
These names filled pinkie full of wonder.
They were silent for a second.
"Who taught you astronomy?"
Shadow was quiet, before responding.
"An old friend of mine did. That was one of the many things we did. Studying stars."
Pinkie nodded.
" I like the names. They're pretty."
Shadow put a hand on her neck, under her hair, making pinkie blush.
"...I think your names are more pretty."
Shadow turned to meet her eyes.
"Just like you."
They both blushed. Pinkie smiled softly, Shadow returning the same smile.
He turned to stare out into Ponyville.
"Pinkie?"
"Yeah?"
"If somepony told you that they loved you, romantically, what would you say to them?"
There was another moment of silence before her reply.
"That depends on the guy who's asking."
Shadow turned back to face Pinkie.
She was smiling sweetly.
"Is that guy you, Shadow?"
Shadow blushed a wine red. He looked down.
"...Yes."
Pinkie put a hoof under his chin, making his head shoot up in surprise.
"Then I do too."
Shadow was in shock. His mouth hanged agape.
She... Loved him too?
Pinkie smiled softly, and...
Kissed him.
Shadow's eyes widened.
They... Were... Kissing!
His eyes slowly drooped closed, and they kissed with a fiery passion.
This was happening.
They both gave a happy and relieved hum.
They knew how they felt about the other.
And both could never be more happy.
Finally, they departed, both smiling shyly.
Slowly, they both began to laugh softly, relief settling in.
Pinkie pie giggled softly. "That just happened."
"Yeah." Shadow simply replied.
Shadow led Pinkie Pie into an embrace, Pinkie obliging and pulling him down to sit together.
They both hugged for some time.
Pinkie let go of the embrace, stood up, and held a hoof out to Shadow.
"Come on. I need somebody as soft as me to snuggle right now."
Shadow had a meek smile as he took her hoof and stood, the duo walking into her room and over to her bed.
They got comfortable in bed, and held each other close.
"By the way, what was that song you where singing?"
"Would you like to hear me sing it?"
"Yes, please."
This was the first time that Shadow felt completely happy since his days on the ARK.
Author's Note
If you're wondering, the song he sings is Strike Gently (acoustic ver.) By Dirty Heads or Love and Feeling live session by Chet Faker, couldn't decide which. I hope you enjoyed! Write you later!
