Dear Maria,

Pinkie's hosting a luncheon at the School Of Friendship this week, and she's been freaking out a little more than usual. With so much to do and so much to plan, plus the expectations on her shoulders, I've offered to help even though I have a few errands I have to run back on Earth. Strangely though, she's insisting to do it all herself. Well, I'll let her do so for now. We'll see how it turns out.

Love,
Shadow

Shadow was feeling greatful to have a few days off, some good rest he hadn't had in a while. Though his status as commander meant that even on his days off, he still had to check in with GUN. He was carrying down a box of decorations from Pinkie's room, down to the front of house. Pinkie was chatting with Applejack, both holding checklists in their hooves and Applejack with a pencil in her mouth. Pinkie was listing off things rather quicky.

"Apple fritters?"

Applejack was checking off the banquet items one by one. "Check."

Shadow set the box of decorations on top of the counter next to the register, Pinkie beginning to pace. "Vanilla and chocolate cupcakes?"

Applejack once again nodded, slightly tipping her hat towards Shadow as a greeting. Shadow nodded back as Pinkie seemed to get more frantic than she already was. "Apple-Lemon lemonade?"

Before Applejack could speak, Pinkie threw her list behind her, grabbing Applejack's muzzle, almost shouting to her with panic. "Fine cut gems? Snow cakes? gourmet bird seed?!"

Applejack had involuntarily dropped her list when Pinkie grabbed her. AJ got free from Pinkie's grasp and shook her head, spitting the pen out onto the floor. She gave a loud sigh, picking up her list and pen. "Yes Pinkie, all the concessions are counted for."

Pinkie seemed relived a little bit, taking a short exhale and grabbing her list out from her hair. "Okay, okay, moving on to seating arrangements.."

"Busy much?" Shadow said, moving out from behind the counter.

Pinkie immediately pepped back up, skimming the paper in her hooves, then to the box on the counter. "Yep! Oh Shady, those are the purple, blue, and white decorations right?"

Shadow nodded as Pinkie wrote a note to herself on the list she was holding.

"Says it on the box."

Pinkie mumbled through the pen she was holding in her mouth. "Good, good." Scanning the list once again, Shadow put an arm around her giving her a squeeze.

"It's going to be a fine gathering Pinks. Don't worry about it too much." He turned to head towards the door as he spoke. "I have to get down to G.U.N. HQ to check on a few things. Make sure the doctor still hasn't caught wind of us rebuilding."

Pinkie replied while opening the box left on the counter. "Okey dokey lokey!" Quickly she added, "Just be here in time for the luncheon will you?"

Shadow shrugged, one hand on the door. "No guarantee I will be."

He left, and Pinkie turned to Applejack, sliding the box onto her back.

"Alright Applejack, let's get to the school!"

Sugarcube corner was quiet as he walked back into the storefront. He still had some things to do, one of which was babysitting Cream later, but for now he had an hour or two to kill. At the counter was Mr. Cake, ringing up a customer. Shadow greeted him as the stallion was working. "Hello Mr. Cake, didn't know you were filling in for Pinks today."

Mr. Cake waved the customer goodbye as they trotted out with a bag in their mouth. Mr. Cake spoke to Shadow as he organized the register.

"Ms. Cake is out on a trip so I'm filling in for Pinkie today as she's hosting that party at the School Of Friendship. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be there?"

Shadow shrugged, walking past the counter. "I don't have a reason to be." He slowly strolled up the steps of the stairs. "It's not really my scene."

Mr. Cake called after him. "I think you should go. For support at least, Pinkie left in such a hurry she almost forgot her big order of cupcakes for the luncheon."

Shadow slowed mid step, recalling her anxieties that morning.

'She's overstressing herself again isn't she...'

Shadow continued thinking as Mr. Cake spoke again. "I don't think I've seen Pinkie this frazzled in a while."

Shadow took a moment, exhaled audibly and turned around, going back down the stairs. "let's find out what the damage is."

That confused the yellow stallion. "Huh?" He didn't have time to say anything else as Shadow ran out the front door.

At the School Of Friendship, in the courtyard were the party was congregated at, Starlight Glimmer was trying to meditate the situation.

"Now calm down every creature, there's no need for a fuss..."

Shadow teleported into the scene, right next to Starlight. "What's happened here?"

Starlight seemed surprised to see him. "Wow, Shadow, I wasn't expecting you to show up."

"What's the situation?" Shadow reiterated, watching a Changeling change into an elephant and throw pies at a girffin.

Starlight relayed the situation. "Well, the Dragons and the Hypogriffs started having a heated argument, the Griffins grew restless waiting for the students' presentation with Pinkie Pie, then to make the situation even worse, a Yak threw a chair. You can expect it escalated from there."

Starlight doged a random snow cake being absent-mindedly thrown in their direction. Shadow found his behavior most odd.

"A food fight is certainly an unconventional way for these embassadors to argue." He crossed his arms. 'Undignified is what it is.' He thought. He glanced back to Starlight.

"Where's Pinks?"

Starlight recalled the panic attack Pinkie had. "She panicked that everyone became upset so quickly and ran off into the school! Some of the students went off to find her but-"

Shadow cut her off, taking a few steps after Starlight, looking to the school's entrance and back. "I can get her. Can you handle this?"

Starlight nodded. "Yeah. I'll try to settle them down while you find Pinkie."

And Shadow went off into the school.

Throughout the years he's been in Equestria, he's actually never visited the School Of Friendship before. He's seen the students around Ponyville, but it had never crossed his mind. Sometimes Pinkie would tell him about the days she went to work at the school, and how chaotic it could get sometimes.

The school was bigger than Shadow had initially thought, and for a few minutes he was rushing around hall after hall, just a golden blur. As he was, he noticed a group of creatures standing in front of a classroom door, looking quite worried and debating amongst themselves. Shadow stopped running, and came to a stop.

The rag tag team of students consisted of an Earth Pony, a Dragon, a Griffin, a Hypogriff, a Yak, and a Changeling. The girl Hypogriff was speaking. "Oh, we've tried everything! But nothing seems to be calming her down!"

The Aquamarine earth Pony, Sandbar, shook his head. "We can't give up now Silverstream. Mrs. Pie needs our help!"

Gallus, the griffin of the group, sighed slightly. "But even giving her a signature cupcake didn't work. What are we supposed to do?"

Shadow mentally pushed it aside, walking up to the group and looking to the door of the classroom. "Kids, let me handle this."

The dragon, Smoulder, lifted a brow at the new creature in play. She crossed her arms. "Uh, excuse us? Who are you?"

Ocellus took a second of thought before realizing. She gasped excitedly, turning to her friends and pointing to Shadow. "Oh my gosh! Guys, don't you know who this is?"

The Hypogriff Silverstream seemed to recognize him now too, also gasping with a smile stretching across her beak.

Gallus rolled his eyes at their friend. "Obviously not."

Shadow gave a short sigh, opening the door and walking past them. "I don't have time for this."

Shadow entered the classroom, beginning to look around. The desks were scattered around, the chalkboard empty. "Pinks? Pinkie? Where are you?"

Silverstream looked on, explaining to her friends. "That's Mrs. Pie's husband! He's never come to the school before."

Yona the yak seemed presently surprised at this information. "Wow, really? Yona didn't expect husband to look so- dark."

"Then how did he find her so quickly?" Gallus scratched his head at the Hypogriff's statement.

Silverstream scoffed, putting trust ito their teacher's past musings. "Haven't you listened to any of her ramblings about him during class? He's Shadow the Hedgehog! He just has this way about him."

Ocellus concurred, glancing into the classroom briefly. "If anybody can give Mrs. Pie support right now, it would be him."

Shadow glanced around the room one more time, scanning the front desk and the supply closets. "Pinks?" Finally, he saw Pinkie curled up, laying on top of one of the school's metal supply closets. His initial reaction was to abruptly sigh, putting a hand to his forehead, whispering. "Christ," he looked back up to Pinkie in exasperation. "Pinkie, what are you doing up there?"

Pinkie had not noticed him. She was shaking, mumbling incoherently to herself, sniffling sadly. But not in the typical Pinkie Pie breakdown.

Shadow's annoyance turned to concern. "Pinkie?"

Pinkie was not in control of herself, putting her hooves to the back of her ears, folding them down while continuing to sob, breaths staggered and shuddering out in a consistent pattern. She had not heard the exact voice, but if it was one of the students again, she didn't want to listen.

Shadow once again looked around the room, settling to use one of the students' desks to reach her. He moved the desk over, climbing onto it and standing up, eyesight hitting the back of his wife. Carefully he put a hand on her back. "Pinks, you have to calm down.."

His voice was clear as crystal, making Pinkie's head snap back to see him. Her eyes widened, and she couldn't control her breathing. "Sh-shad-"

He shushed her, his right hand slowly moving up her back, his left hand gently coming up to settle on her left cheek. "Shhh, just breathe with me, okay?" Slowly he pressed his forehead against hers, breathing slowly, his rhythmic breath grazing at her muzzle, silently guiding her own breath to follow his.

Pinkie closed her eyes, listening to and feeling the way his breath hit her muzzle. Slowly, her breath became more consistent, in line with Shadow's. Together they carefully lowered the intensity with each inhale and exhale, coming to a slow and conscious rate.

Pinkie opened her eyes, sight flickering up to those shining red irises of his. He pulled his head away slightly, immensely relived to see her calmed.

Pinkie was suddenly aware of her episode, tears forming as her ears drooped. To be ashamed was an emotion Pinkie didn't know how to handle.

"I'm sorr-"

She was interrupted with a quick gentle kiss from her husband, as she had nothing to apologize for. Shadow stared at her sincerely, hands going under her. "You know this is silly right?"

Pinkie remembered where she was; on top of a supply closet, curled up and getting overemotional at circumstances she couldn't control. She sighed, admitting so with an honest vulnerability Shadow knew best. "mn-hm."

Shadow picked her up in his arms, turning and sitting down on the desk, keeping her in his grip. "You need to bounce back. Stop wallowing in your own self pity, and go do what you do best."

Pinkie blinked. "Have a party?"

Shadow gave the smallest smile to her, putting her back on the ground. "That's right, now come on. Everyone's waiting for you." He crushed his smile immediately as he noticed the student 6 peeking into the classroom from the door.

Pinkie immediately pepped back up to her usual self, the 6 students letting themselves in to listen to their teacher. "How could I forget?"

Shadow titled his head slightly, sliding off the desk. "Hm?"

Pinkie was recalling, first talking to Shadow, then to the students as she trotted around. "We still have the students' cultural exchange activity! They have to share why their items matter, we should have some fun with it! Maybe it could even be like passing around presents during hearth's warming, and we could try to guess whom tribe it came from!"

Shadow simply shrugged, internally relived at her short turn around. "You still got time Pinks."

"That sounds great Ms. Pie! It would get our tribes more involved!" Ocellus concurred, her friends nodding to agree.

"And not in a violent way."Gallus added, hearing the yell of a dragon outside, and the splat of some type of food being squished.

Pinkie excitedly trotted to the classroom door, waving her hoof forward towards the students. "Okay, gather your projects kids! Let's turn this thing around!"

The student 6 all began shuffling out of the room, Pinkie talking with them as she walked out behind them. Shadow shortly followed, walking out of the classroom and watching the group go down the hall.

Before they could get far, Pinkie stopped for a moment.

"Oh!"

She turned around and came back to Shadow, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Shady."

Shadow once again shrugged. "It's nothing."

Pinkie smiled, and trotted back to her pupils. Shadow watched them leave. As they slipped out of the hall, Shadow turned his head to the opposite wall, taking in a big exhale, then blowing it out his nose.

Though there were times of challenge, Shadow was always up and willing to face it.

Author's Note

OMG I'M ALIVE? Yeah I'm surprised too. Kinda disappointed in myself for not giving you guys much ShadPie content this year lol but here it is! I hope to get some more chapters out before the end of the year, but as you can tell I'm not very good at keeping consistent xl sorry

P.S. Happy Halloween/Nightmare Night! Write you later!