Shadow The Hedgehog, Friendship is Darknessby Stalin with Da SpoonChaptersPrologue: A routine mission gone wrongChapter 1: Rise and ShineChapter 2: A... Sort of Friendly IntroductionChapter 3: A Robotic ReunionPrologue: A routine mission gone wrongDeep within one of the Eggman empires top secret research facilities... The long and winding corridors of the facility were brightly lit with white lights lining the ceiling, as ceiling mounted turrets slowly rotated, their IR detection sensors scanning for potential intruders, while robotic egg pawns slowly patrolled the halls, with cameras mounted to the walls slowly turning and watching. It was quite un-eventful, but soon, a faint noise noise could be heard from the ceiling, as an egg pawn looked up at a vent grating, inspecting it before it went back to patrolling. Within the vent, a lone figure sighed, as they continued crawling forward, until they reached their destination, opening up the access vent to the facilities security matrix, as they slowly attached a rope to their waist, securely fastened it to the ledge, and slowly descended into the room, looking down to see the floor was covered in red lasers, as they made sure to not accidentally trip them. As the figure descended, they were covered in the red light eminating from the matrix, revealing them to be wearing what appeared to be a stealth suit, as they slowly leaned forward and grasped the console, as they began typing away at the computer, before eventually... Beep. Suddenly, the lasers on the floor shut off, as the figure dis-connected themselves from the rope, and began hovering down with a large pair of bat wings, before they landed, and reached into their pocket, grasping a radio, as they spoke in a feminine tone. "Shadow, do you read me?" Soon, a masculine voice replied to them. "Yes, rouge, is the security system down?" "Indeed, the network has been rendered offline, you and Omega can burst in guns blazing if you wish." As she said this, a new voice spoke into the radio, this one robotic in nature. "EXCELLENT, THIS GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO SLAUGHTER MORE OF EGGMAN'S MACHINES." Rouge couldn't help but chuckle at Omega's enthusiasm. "Yeah, but remember what were here for." "Yes, the emeralds. Get ready to move, were breaching in three, two, one..." Five seconds earlier... Two egg pawns stood guard of a large metal door, with the face of Eggman plastered all over it, as the door was secured by three iron bars and several other locking mechanisms. However, a strange sound could be heard behind the door, as the pawns turned around and listened closely... It sounded like... A motorcycle. But before they could react... BOOM! The door was impacted with a massive explosion, as the locking mechanisms and hinges of the door gave out, as it slowly leaned forward, and before the egg pawns could run away, the door landed right on top of them, flattening them like pancakes, as suddenly, a red and black motorcycle quickly jumped over the destroyed door, flying over it as it landed and did a donut spin before coming to a stop, as sitting upon it, was Shadow the hedgehog, holding a G.U.N standard issue pistol in his right hand as he sat upon his trusty motorcycle, the dark rider. Close behind him was Omega, as he boosted over the wrecked door and landed next to Shadow. " BREACH OF COMPOUND SECURITY SUCCESSFUL. READY TO BEGIN ASSAULT." As Omega's claws retracted into his arms as his gatling guns extended outwards, Shadow chuckled, happy to see Omega so excited, and frankly, Shadow was too. It had been quite a while since Team Dark had done a mission together, and it felt good to be back at it again. Shadow nodded to Omega, as he quickly revved his motorcycle, and sped down the hallway, Omega following close behind, mowing down any egg pawn he saw. As they rapidly drove down the long hallway, Shadow looked to his left to see Rouge the bat flying right next to him and Omega as they moved through the long and winding tunnel, taking several sudden turns. "Like good ol times, eh shadow?" "Indeed, excellent work on disabling security by the way." "Awwww, your too kind." She said, smiling as she kicked in an egg pawns face, as Omega spotted a swarm of pawns gathering in front of them, as his hands turned to missile launchers, unleashing a barrage of missiles, absolutely decimating the horde of pawns as Shadow sped through, raising his pistol as he took shots at several egg pawns, running a few over, and turrets turned towards them as they fired a hail of bullets, Shadow swerving out of the way and dodging, Omega just tanking the hits as Rouge performed evasive maneuvers, before Shadow began to charge up energy in his palm... "CHAOS SPEAR!" He said as several spears of pure red energy formed in his hand, as he threw them all at the turrets, blowing them to bits. "INFERIOR ROBOTS, THEY ARE PATHETIC TO US. I AM SUPERIOR TO ALL MACHINES." [End Song] Soon, they came to a stop at a large metal door at the end of the corridor, with several warning labels on it and metal bars securing it shut, as Omega and Rouge caught up to him, stopping to inspect the door. "This must be it, but the thing looks blast resistant... Rouge, can you open it?" "Shadow please, you should know by now that no door can stand up to the world's greatest thief." She said walking over to the control console of the door, ripping it open and tampering with the internal electronics. As Shadow dismounted the dark rider, Omega then became alert. "WARNING, HOSTILE THREATS INBOUND." As shadow heard this, he turned to the long halls to see a horde of wasp badnik's rapidly speeding towards them, as he reached behind his back, pulling out a 8-shot RPG, and grasping it in his hands slowly locking on, while Omega switched to his flamethrowers, igniting them as they prepared themselves for a fight, as Rouge hacked the door. As the threat finally arrived, Shadow quickly fired off a barrage of missiles, blowing the bots to bits while Omega set fire to the rest, as the swarm was exterminated with relative ease. "This is proving easy so far... Almost too easy..." "AGREED, NOT EVEN EGGMAN'S ROBOTS ARE USUALLY THIS PATHETIC." As the two expressed their concern, Rouge finally finished cracking the system, and as she replaced the panel and pressed the button... Beep. The door slowly began to unlock, as the metal bars covering the door slowly shifted out of the way, and the door finally lowered into the ground, to reveal a large chamber as the team slowly walked inside, staying alert as they eyed their prize. A chaos emerald, the red one to be specific, was hovering in a containment, as Shadow proceeded to take out the green emerald he already had, with Rouge taking out a blue one. "Looks like this one is meant for you, Omega!" Omega nodded, walking forward as he slowly grasped the emerald with his robotic claw as he removed it from the field and examined it, Shadow smiling as Rouge expressed excitement. "Great, 3 down, 4 to go! Soon well have all the emeralds!" "Indeed, now let us-" Before he could finish speaking, the green emerald in his hands began to slightly glow, as did the blue and red emeralds in Rouge's and Omega's hands, as they slowly rose into the air, and began spinning rapidly, massive amounts of energy building up, as before they could say anything... And before they knew it, they were gone... Chapter 1: Rise and ShineDeep within the everfree forest... The sound of chirping birds filled the air, as wind slowly blew through the trees, the sound a woodpecker pecking at a tree, leaves slowly floating through the air as the grass slowly wafted in the wind, all with the sun shining brightly upon the forest, as a small clearing within the forest could be seen, and in that clearing, lied a peculiar creature inside a small crater... Shadow slowly opened his eyes, slightly shielding them due to the brightness of the sun at this time day, as he slowly sat up, observing his environment, taking in his surrounding, before suddenly being struck by a painful headache as he gripped his head and gritted his teeth. It wasn't one of those mild headaches, it was one of the really painful ones, the ones that made your vision blurry and your ears slightly deafen. Of course, Shadow still withstood the pain, as he slowly began to stand up, while still gripping his head. "Damn it... What happened..." Shadow said to himself as he slowly got to his feet, as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the forest. He would slowly begin to walk forward, his headache quickly fading away, before he began to remember what had previously occurred. All he remembered were the emeralds having an unknown reaction to each other, spinning rapidly before releasing some type of powerful energy that caused him and his team to be warped to an unknown location. In all his experience of utilizing the chaos emeralds, never once had he seen something similar like that occur and that's what was odd to him. As he was busy thinking of what happened, an unknown sound could be heard emanating from deep inside the forest... A sound similar to... A scream. Quickly reacting, Shadows air shoes activated, as he boosted forward rapidly, dashing between the trees at top speed, weaving between the trees, feeling the wind flowing his quills as he sped forward, the sound getting more clear, sounding feminine, potentially child-like tone. "Help, help, timberwolves!" Shadow had no clue what a timberwolf truly was, but by the sound of it, they were dangerous and potentially attacking whoever was calling for help. Eventually, shadow's speed allowed him to reach a small ledge, overlooking what appeared to be... Three small ponies, one with wings, and one with a horn, surrounded by what appeared to be several wolves, made of wood. Now he knew why they were called timberwolves. He quickly observed the number of wolves, counting around six in total. This would be easy, as when he saw one about to leap at the three innocent ponies... He leaped into the and smashed down right on top of the wolf, shattering into dozens of wooden sticks, as the remaining wolves slowly stepped back, the ponies behind him all speaking collectively. "Woah..." Shadow looked back, confused as to how these ponies were talking, but then again, wolves made of timber, don't question it, as he looked back to another wolf charge at him, as ducked down and spun around, performing a air-shoe propelled kick right into the wolves face, sending it flying back as it burst apart, as two more lashed out, with shadow jumping into the air, as he curled into a ball and dashed forward, hitting both dead on as he landed back on the ground and they both burst into wood. Finally, the last two remaining wolves began to back away, before Shadow quickly dashed forward and appeared behind them, gripping them by their tails and sending them into the air as he jumped and unleashed a homing attack on one wolf, before charging up a flaming kick with air shoes, as he sent the timberwolf flying into the air as it combusted into flame, with Shadow slowly hovering down to the ground and crossing his arms. [End Song] "Pathetic." He then turned to the small ponies behind him, who's jaws were agape. "Are you hurt?" The three ponies collectively spoke. "That." "Was." "AWESOME!" Shadow chuckled at the excitement of the strange pony children, as they surrounded him, catching him a little off guard. "Are you some sort of weird alien?" "What are those cool looking shoes?" "Can you teach me how to fight like that?" "How did you turn into a ball?" "Whats your name?" Feeling overwhelmed, Shadow decided to focus on the last question that was asked by the little pony with wings. "I am Shadow, the Ultimate lifeform!" As he said this in his usual serious tone, the little ponies seemed to be fascinated by him, as the pegasus replied. "Cool! Well, Im Scootaloo, and this is Apple Bloom," The little earth pony with with a bow on her head nodded. "Howdy." "And thats Sweetie bell." She said then pointing to the unicorn. "Please to meet you." "And on behalf of all of us within the cutie mark crusaders, we hereby thank you for saving us from those timberwolves with your awesome moves!" Shadow nodded, a smile across his face as he nodded. "Happy to help. Now, why are you out here all alone?" "Oh, we were out trying to find something worthy of praise to bring back to our big sisters!" Shadow nodded, fascinated by these strange little ponies. "Well, its best you get out of here before more of those things show up... And if you don't mind, I would like to know the way out of this forest..." The three little ponies looked at each other, before collectively nodding, as they started walking, with Scootaloo gesturing for Shadow to follow them, and so he did. Canterlot. The city was quite peaceful today, as ponies trotted through the streets, pegasi flying overhead while Celestias sun hung over the city, shining brightly. Rouge found the sight... Strange, but fascinating... As she watched from atop a small house, looking over the city as she observed her surroundings. It had only been... Three hours since she woke up and found herself in this city in a random alley. Luckily, nobody had found her yet, but she had yet to re-establish contact with the rest of dark team... Of course, hopefully these ponies wouldn't mind if Rouge, the greatest thief in the world, just... Helped herself a bit. She thought to herself as she swooped down onto the roof of another building, and did some good old fashioned recon, before eyeing a quite precious necklace on sale at a stall in the marketplace of the city, and when the shopkeeper was looking away... Yoink. As the necklace disappeared, Rouge was delighted to see a very confused shopkeeper searching for the lost valuable, as she held it in her hand. "I think im gonna like it here..." Crystal Empire. There was chaos in the streets of the empire's capital, as Omega slowly stomped through the streets, the ponies around him fleeing at the sight of the massive machine. The machine had no clue where he was, or how he got here, but what he did know, was he was surrounded by talking ponies and pegasi. These little creatures seemed to be afraid of him, and he could understand why, but they had no real reason to be afraid, as Omega only slaughtered machines under the control of Eggman, and as he saw, these ponies were neither machine, nor under eggman's control. However, they were quite annoying with all the screaming. As Omega walked the streets, several of the crystal royal guard appeared before him, blocking his path defiantly as the leader of the squad spoke up. "Halt, you metal beast! By order of Princess Cadance, you are under arrest!" Omega simply looked at the leader with cold, unfeeling red eyes, as the armored stallion slowly backed away while Omega spoke in a robotic tone. "I AM OMEGA, AND PRINCESS CADANCE DOES NOT HOLD AUTHORITY OVER ME, AND AS SUCH, I DO NOT SUBMIT TO ARREST. ATTEMPTING TO IMPEDE MY OBJECTIVE WILL RESULT IN VIOLENCE." Omega's right hand raised, as the barrel of a minigun extended out, pointing into the air. "AND I WILL NOT HESITATE. NOW ANSWER ME, WHERE AM I LOCATED?" By now, the squad leader had soiled himself, as he and his squad looked at each other nervously, before the leader spoke up. "Ummmm... Your in the captial of the c-crystal empire..." After a few seconds of computing, Omega responded. "ERROR, LOCATION FILE NOT FOUND, MUST ACQUIRE HIGHER VANTAGE POINT TO MAP OUT SURROUNDINGS AND DETERMINE LOCATION." He said as he slowly scanned for the highest point possible, before locking onto the very top of the castle at the center of the city. "OPTIMAL POINT LOCATED." Before the guards could say or do anything, the thrusters on Omega's back ignited, as he burst forward, rapidly approaching the castle. Chapter 2: A... Sort of Friendly IntroductionEdge of the Everfree Forest. The wind blew through the manes of the CMC's and Shadow's quills, as they slowly walked through the forest. On several occasions timerwolves could be seen watching and prowling from within the bushes along the path they walked along, but a quick glare from Shadow result in their quick retreat, likely as a sign of fear, the little fillies still bombarding him with questions. Shadow was currently only paying attention to his own thoughts, lost deeply in his own thoughts, until Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Hey, mr Shadow, were almost out of the forest!" Shadow looked up to see an opening between the trees at the end of the road, dividing the large trees to reveal a wide green meadow, bathed in sunlight. He had to admit, the sight was quite beautiful. As they slowly approached the opening, Shadow winced as more sunlight shined directly in his face, as the ponies ran ahead of him and into the meadow. As he finally stepped out of the woods, he observed his surroundings, taking in the sights and smells, as he thought to himself. 'Maria would have loved this place...' As Shadow was busy thinking to himself, Apple bloom tapped him on the foot. "Hey mister, ya wanna come with us to meet our friends?" Shadow contemplated on it for a moment, before realizing that these friends could help him track down his team, as he then nodded. "Alrighty then, this way to fluttershy's cottage!" She said turning and pointing to a small home in the distance, as the ponies took off towards it, with Scootaloo declaring a race. "Betcha I'll get there first!" "Oh, you're on!" Shadow grunted, as he looked at the ponies rush forward. He could easily crush them in this race, but he decided to just let them have their fun, as he slowly walked behind the crusaders, until they eventually reached the front door of the cottage, finding themselves swarmed by bunnies. A lone bunny walked up to Shadow, as it nuzzled him, and while nobody was looking, he lightly patted it on the head, while Scootaloo knocked on the front door, as it quickly swung open to reveal a yellow pony pegasus with light pink hair wearing a wide smile as she looked down at the crusaders. "Oh, hello little ones, how are you today?" Scootaloo happily replied. "Were doing great miss Fluttershy, we were just off in the everfree forest, and we almost got attacked by timberwolves, but then Shadow here saved us!" She said gesturing to the hedgehog standing behind them, as Shadow looked at Fluttershy, nodding in confirmation, as the shy pegasus had lost her wording, before she simply just fainted. The ponies quickly ran over to inspect the fallen pony, before Sweetie bell looked up to Shadow. "Shes all good, but I think she likes you!" Shadow simply shook his head, and after a few seconds, the shy pegasus slowly rose up and opened her eyes, to look at the crusaders around her, and Shadow simply in front, a cold stare on his face. Finally, Fluttershy found the courage to speak up. "U-umm... Hello... Shadow" Shadow grunted in response, as Scootaloo got beside him. "He was so cool, you should have seen him, he whacked those timberwolves into next week, ain't that right?" Shadow decided not to toot his own horn, so to speak, as he simply just nodded again. "And hes a cool and dark brooding loner edge lord, ain't that right?" The other crusaders lightly chuckled, as Shadow couldn't help but a have a light smile on his face, with Fluttershy slowly getting to her hooves as she walked towards the hedgehog, who was around her height. "Well... Shadow, I thank you for helping protect these little ones from harm..." Shadow finally replied with his voice in a serious tone. "Its just what I do. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go and find the rest of my team, goodbye." He said right before his air shoes activated and he rocketed off across the meadows, with the crusaders cheering and Fluttershy watching in amazement, and Scootaloo reacting appropriately. "He's so cool!" Crystal Empire, outskirts of the royal crystal castle. The sounds of Omega's powerful mechanical stomping could be heard approaching the gate, as the metal behemoth made his way towards his objective, examining the fear in the eyes of the several guards in front of the door, as he then came to a stop, and spoke in his cold mechanical voice. "IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN LIVING, YOU WILL OPEN THIS GATE AND ALLOW ME TO ACCESS YOUR CASTLE, SO I MAY UTILIZE IT TO COMPLETE MY MISSION." The royal guards held their ground, although they were all shaking in their armors, as they held their spears high. "B-by order of princess Mi Amore Cadenza, you are to stand down and submit to arrest for terrorizing the citizens of the empire!" Suddenly, more guards surrounded Omega, who was undeterred. "We have you surrounded!" "THE ONLY THING I AM SURROUNDED BY IS FEAR, AND SOON TO BE DEAD PONIES IF YOU DO NOT MOVE OUT OF THE WAY." As Omega stated his threat, the guards knew he wasn't bluffing, as they quickly backed away, the gate beginning to swing open, as Omega slowly stomped through, looking to see the castle standing before him, as he looked up to the very peak, his thrusters igniting on his back as he rocketed upwards, just high enough to where he latched onto a wall, and began to climb using his claws to grip the wall as he made his way up the side of the castle, the guards below viewing what was happening with both amazement and fear. As Omega neared the very peak of the castle, a bolt of magic impacted him, as he lost his grip, and fell to the ground below, leaving a large crater. Luckily, due to his armor being extremely tough, he simply stood up with a simple few dents and scratches in his armor, as he turned around to see a very annoyed Princess Cadance and shining armor looking at him. "How dare you waltz into my empire, terrorize my citizens, threaten my guard, and attempt to seize my castle with your metal hands!" Omega clearly was not afraid of this pushover princess and her prince, as he slowly scanned her, seeing she was emanating powerful energy waves and determining her as a legitimate threat. "ARE YOU THE ONE KNOWN AS PRINCESS CADANCE? IF SO, I REQUIRE ACCESS TO THIS CASTLES HIGHEST POINT TO COMPLETE MY MISSION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DEFY ME, OR FACE BATTLE." As the machine spoke, Cadance felt a chill go down her spine, as she wondered what this large machine would need to get up to the highest point for. Shining then asked the question she was thinking of. "May I ask why you need to reach up there?" "TO SURVEY THE LANDSCAPE AND ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH THE REST OF MY TEAM, AFTERWARDS WE LOCATE THE CHAOS EMERALDS AND RETURN HOME TO SLAUGHTER DR. ROBOTNIKS MACHINES." As the machine mentioned robotnik, its mechanical fists pounded together, symbolizing the machines rage of the doctor. The guards behind cadance looked very confused, as well as the princess herself, before she spoke in defiance. "Well, I am happy that you at least have a good reason to utilize it, and from what I can see, it does not appear to be nefarious... However, you don't have to scale up the side of it, you could simply just walk up there!" Omega turned around as he scanned the castle, locating a path straight to the top, as his head turned to Cadance. "AFFIRMATIVE." And with that, the machine blasted off into the castle, and after a few moments, appeared at the very top, as the machine began to observe its surroundings, taking into account the local landscape and weather patterns. Then, a radar dish extended out of its head, scanning for the rest of dark team. Then, two signals were displayed in the machines feed, highlighting the locations of Shadow and Rouge. "LOCATIONS CONFIRMED, SETTING COURSE FOR LAST KNOWN LOCATION OF SHADOW." The large machine then jumped from the peak of the castle, its hover thrusters engaging as the mech slowly hovered down to the ground and landed in front of Cadance and Shining Armor. "LOCATION OF ALLIES CONFIRMED. SETTING COURSE FOR PONYVILLE." And with that, the large mech boosted forward, heading out of the city as Shining armor and Cadance looked at each other confusingly. Back at Ponyville... Shadow slowly strolled through the town, as ponies looked at him suspicion, clearly having not ever seen anything quite like a walking red and black hedgehog. However, it did not deter a certain pink pony from appearing before Shadow with a smile on her face. "Hiya mister, Im Pinkie pie, are ya new to town? if ya are, I gotta throw you a new person party! Here, have a cupcake!" Pinkie quickly handed the hedgehog a cupcake, as he just looked at her with a very confused look on his face, before he decided to go and stuff it in his mouth, as he actually enjoyed the flavor, as he smiled. "Pretty good." Pinkie smiled and nodded, before another voice spoke up, coming from behind Shadow, as he saw Fluttershy and the crusaders quickly catching up to him. "Oh, I see you have met Pinkie, Shadow, that is good to see." Shadow nodded, as he turned back to the pink pony who was currently smiling ear to ear, and decided to finally get an answer to a question he had for a while. "So, does anyone know where I even am?" Chapter 3: A Robotic ReunionCrystal City The train station of the Crystal City was quite desolate, due to the train currently being broken down. However, this did little to curve a certain robots rage as he stared down a nervous train conductor. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS MODE OF TRANSIT IS UN-AVAILABLE?" "I told you, the train's broken down! It ain't goin anywhere till someone comes to fix it." "WHAT IS THE ESTIMATED TIME FRAME OF ARRIVAL FOR A DESIGNATED REPAIR SPECIALIST?" "I dunno, a couple days?" "UN-ACCEPTABLE TIME FRAME, MUST REACH PONYVILLE IMMEDIATELY." "Well, what am I supposed to do!?!" "WHAT IS THE DISTANCE TO PONYVILLE?" "Uhhhh... Few miles?" "ACCEPTABLE DISTANCE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION." Suddenly, Omega's thrusters ignited as he rocketed forward, jumping onto the train tracks and rocketing along them towards his destination, leaving a very confused conductor as they just shook their head and walked away. Ponyville. "So does anyone know where I even am?" "Well, your in Ponyville, silly!" Pinkie said, happily getting up in Shadow's face, who politely pushed her away slowly, quite surprised by her... Eccentrics. Regardless, he found it slightly enjoyable. "I see... No doubt that I am no longer on Earth then... Very well. It is nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie..." "Nice to meet you too, but your kinda weird! Like, not the bad kind of weird, more like the cool kind, your like a hedgehog, but with legs, and edgy!" Shadow couldn't help but snort at the wording of the pink pony, as Fluttershy slightly chuckled as well. "Indeed, you are quite the unique creature Shadow..." "Of course, I was created to be the ultimate lifeform... Now tell me, have you by chance seen the rest of my team?" "No, what do they look like?" "Well, one is a bat with black wings and white fur named Rouge, and the other is a giant robot with violent tendencies called Omega." "Oh my... You have some quite unique friends..." "Trust me, you don't know the half of it..." Shadow had met a lot of unique people to say the least, like Big the cat, or Vector the alligator. Or was he a crocodile? Shadow was not exactly sure. "So, how'd you get here Mr shadow?" Pinkie said, with an inquisitive look on her face, as Shadow was about to answer, before realizing not even he was entirely sure. All he remembered was bringing the three chaos emeralds together and them having an unknown reaction, sending him here. "I am not exactly sure, Pinkie. The last thing I remember are bringing together the chaos emeralds..." "Ooooooooh, whats a chaos emerald?" "The chaos emeralds are powerful objects from my world that can grant those who use almost limitless power, especially when brought together. Perhaps bringing three together caused me and my team to be sent here..." "Oooh oooh, I have an idea! We can go to Twilight, shell know what to do!" Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "Indeed, plus I have a feeling she would very much like to meet you Shadow." Shadow decided to go along with it, thinking this Twilight could help him find his team and get home, as he nodded in compliance. "Very well, where is your friend?" "Oooh, she's off in her castle over there-" Before Pinkie could finish, several yelps and hollers could be heard from the Ponyville train station. As Shadow and the ponies turned to the commotion, Shadow could faintly make out the outline of a rapidly approaching Omega, his jet engines propelling him at high speeds. Shadow was honestly both surprised and not surprised, fully aware of his robotic allies ability to locate and reach his objective with ease. Shadow simply raised his hand in front of his pony friends. "Don't worry, he's a friend." The ponies had a confused look on their face, as Omega pulled right up to Shadow, towering over him as Pinkie and Fluttershy stepped back. "Hello, Omega, good to see you." "GREETING SHADOW, GOOD TO SEE YOU AS WELL. I TRUST THESE PONIES HAVE DOWN YOU NO HARM?" "Yes Omega, they have been very friendly and from what I've seen, are not even a threat, so stand down please." Shadow said, gesturing to the fact Omega had both of his miniguns deployed, which quickly retracted into his arms and were replaced with his claws. "UNDERSTOOD, STANDING DOWN." Now seizing the opportunity for introduction, Pinkie jumped up in the robot's face with a big smile across her face. "Hiya, I'm Pinkie pie, it's nice to meet you Mr. big robot! I gotta throw a party for both you and Shadow now!" While intitally caught off guard, Omega showed no emotion besides petting the pink horse on the head, feeling surprisingly content. "GREETINGS PINKIE PIE, I AM E-123 OMEGA, THE ULTIMATE E-SERIES ROBOT." "That's a cool name!" Whilst Pinkie accepted the head pats from Omega, Fluttershy was on the brink of fainting, but stopped herself as she simply smiled at the scene, glad to see this robot was at least friendly, as Shadow spoke to Omega. "Omega, do you know where Rouge?" "AFFIRMATIVE." Cue him standing up and turning to point at Canterlot in the distance. "Oh hey, your friends at Canterlot! That's where Rarity and Rainbow are too! So convenient!" Fluttershy simply nodded in confirmation of Pinkie's statement, before remembering they should probably go see Twilight, as she turned to Shadow. "Would you still like to go see Twilight, Mr Shadow?" Shadow simply turned to Fluttershy and nodded. "Yes, I would like that." And with that, the ponies lead the hedgehog and killer robot to the castle of friendship. However, watching from a distance, nestled into the leaves of a tree, lay a tiny camera drone, with the mark of... The eggman empire. ??? A lone figure sat in his chair as he stared at the screen in front of him, watching as Shadow and Omega, along with their new friends walked away, as they slowly smiled to themselves, and slowly pulled out a chaos emerald in their hands, and smiled, before letting out a distinct chuckle, before turning around in their chair. "Orbot, Cubot!" Two odd shaped robots quickly hovered up to their master. "Yes, doctor?" "Yeah, what ya need doc?" The man quickly stood up out of his seat, revealing himself to be... Doctor Ivo Robotnik, also known, as Eggman. "I need you to observe Shadow and the rest of team dark to see if they find those chaos emeralds... Once they do, alert me at once... Meanwhile, I shall be studying these strange ponies..." Cubot and Orbot saluted as they floated away, while Eggman turned to look at the screen, smiling to himself, already cooking up his greatest plan yet. Author's Note It's back! So yeah, I revived it. of course, chapters will be slow, as I have other projects, but yeah, expect more soon-ish!
Prologue: A routine mission gone wrongDeep within one of the Eggman empires top secret research facilities... The long and winding corridors of the facility were brightly lit with white lights lining the ceiling, as ceiling mounted turrets slowly rotated, their IR detection sensors scanning for potential intruders, while robotic egg pawns slowly patrolled the halls, with cameras mounted to the walls slowly turning and watching. It was quite un-eventful, but soon, a faint noise noise could be heard from the ceiling, as an egg pawn looked up at a vent grating, inspecting it before it went back to patrolling. Within the vent, a lone figure sighed, as they continued crawling forward, until they reached their destination, opening up the access vent to the facilities security matrix, as they slowly attached a rope to their waist, securely fastened it to the ledge, and slowly descended into the room, looking down to see the floor was covered in red lasers, as they made sure to not accidentally trip them. As the figure descended, they were covered in the red light eminating from the matrix, revealing them to be wearing what appeared to be a stealth suit, as they slowly leaned forward and grasped the console, as they began typing away at the computer, before eventually... Beep. Suddenly, the lasers on the floor shut off, as the figure dis-connected themselves from the rope, and began hovering down with a large pair of bat wings, before they landed, and reached into their pocket, grasping a radio, as they spoke in a feminine tone. "Shadow, do you read me?" Soon, a masculine voice replied to them. "Yes, rouge, is the security system down?" "Indeed, the network has been rendered offline, you and Omega can burst in guns blazing if you wish." As she said this, a new voice spoke into the radio, this one robotic in nature. "EXCELLENT, THIS GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO SLAUGHTER MORE OF EGGMAN'S MACHINES." Rouge couldn't help but chuckle at Omega's enthusiasm. "Yeah, but remember what were here for." "Yes, the emeralds. Get ready to move, were breaching in three, two, one..." Five seconds earlier... Two egg pawns stood guard of a large metal door, with the face of Eggman plastered all over it, as the door was secured by three iron bars and several other locking mechanisms. However, a strange sound could be heard behind the door, as the pawns turned around and listened closely... It sounded like... A motorcycle. But before they could react... BOOM! The door was impacted with a massive explosion, as the locking mechanisms and hinges of the door gave out, as it slowly leaned forward, and before the egg pawns could run away, the door landed right on top of them, flattening them like pancakes, as suddenly, a red and black motorcycle quickly jumped over the destroyed door, flying over it as it landed and did a donut spin before coming to a stop, as sitting upon it, was Shadow the hedgehog, holding a G.U.N standard issue pistol in his right hand as he sat upon his trusty motorcycle, the dark rider. Close behind him was Omega, as he boosted over the wrecked door and landed next to Shadow. " BREACH OF COMPOUND SECURITY SUCCESSFUL. READY TO BEGIN ASSAULT." As Omega's claws retracted into his arms as his gatling guns extended outwards, Shadow chuckled, happy to see Omega so excited, and frankly, Shadow was too. It had been quite a while since Team Dark had done a mission together, and it felt good to be back at it again. Shadow nodded to Omega, as he quickly revved his motorcycle, and sped down the hallway, Omega following close behind, mowing down any egg pawn he saw. As they rapidly drove down the long hallway, Shadow looked to his left to see Rouge the bat flying right next to him and Omega as they moved through the long and winding tunnel, taking several sudden turns. "Like good ol times, eh shadow?" "Indeed, excellent work on disabling security by the way." "Awwww, your too kind." She said, smiling as she kicked in an egg pawns face, as Omega spotted a swarm of pawns gathering in front of them, as his hands turned to missile launchers, unleashing a barrage of missiles, absolutely decimating the horde of pawns as Shadow sped through, raising his pistol as he took shots at several egg pawns, running a few over, and turrets turned towards them as they fired a hail of bullets, Shadow swerving out of the way and dodging, Omega just tanking the hits as Rouge performed evasive maneuvers, before Shadow began to charge up energy in his palm... "CHAOS SPEAR!" He said as several spears of pure red energy formed in his hand, as he threw them all at the turrets, blowing them to bits. "INFERIOR ROBOTS, THEY ARE PATHETIC TO US. I AM SUPERIOR TO ALL MACHINES." [End Song] Soon, they came to a stop at a large metal door at the end of the corridor, with several warning labels on it and metal bars securing it shut, as Omega and Rouge caught up to him, stopping to inspect the door. "This must be it, but the thing looks blast resistant... Rouge, can you open it?" "Shadow please, you should know by now that no door can stand up to the world's greatest thief." She said walking over to the control console of the door, ripping it open and tampering with the internal electronics. As Shadow dismounted the dark rider, Omega then became alert. "WARNING, HOSTILE THREATS INBOUND." As shadow heard this, he turned to the long halls to see a horde of wasp badnik's rapidly speeding towards them, as he reached behind his back, pulling out a 8-shot RPG, and grasping it in his hands slowly locking on, while Omega switched to his flamethrowers, igniting them as they prepared themselves for a fight, as Rouge hacked the door. As the threat finally arrived, Shadow quickly fired off a barrage of missiles, blowing the bots to bits while Omega set fire to the rest, as the swarm was exterminated with relative ease. "This is proving easy so far... Almost too easy..." "AGREED, NOT EVEN EGGMAN'S ROBOTS ARE USUALLY THIS PATHETIC." As the two expressed their concern, Rouge finally finished cracking the system, and as she replaced the panel and pressed the button... Beep. The door slowly began to unlock, as the metal bars covering the door slowly shifted out of the way, and the door finally lowered into the ground, to reveal a large chamber as the team slowly walked inside, staying alert as they eyed their prize. A chaos emerald, the red one to be specific, was hovering in a containment, as Shadow proceeded to take out the green emerald he already had, with Rouge taking out a blue one. "Looks like this one is meant for you, Omega!" Omega nodded, walking forward as he slowly grasped the emerald with his robotic claw as he removed it from the field and examined it, Shadow smiling as Rouge expressed excitement. "Great, 3 down, 4 to go! Soon well have all the emeralds!" "Indeed, now let us-" Before he could finish speaking, the green emerald in his hands began to slightly glow, as did the blue and red emeralds in Rouge's and Omega's hands, as they slowly rose into the air, and began spinning rapidly, massive amounts of energy building up, as before they could say anything... And before they knew it, they were gone...
Chapter 1: Rise and ShineDeep within the everfree forest... The sound of chirping birds filled the air, as wind slowly blew through the trees, the sound a woodpecker pecking at a tree, leaves slowly floating through the air as the grass slowly wafted in the wind, all with the sun shining brightly upon the forest, as a small clearing within the forest could be seen, and in that clearing, lied a peculiar creature inside a small crater... Shadow slowly opened his eyes, slightly shielding them due to the brightness of the sun at this time day, as he slowly sat up, observing his environment, taking in his surrounding, before suddenly being struck by a painful headache as he gripped his head and gritted his teeth. It wasn't one of those mild headaches, it was one of the really painful ones, the ones that made your vision blurry and your ears slightly deafen. Of course, Shadow still withstood the pain, as he slowly began to stand up, while still gripping his head. "Damn it... What happened..." Shadow said to himself as he slowly got to his feet, as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the forest. He would slowly begin to walk forward, his headache quickly fading away, before he began to remember what had previously occurred. All he remembered were the emeralds having an unknown reaction to each other, spinning rapidly before releasing some type of powerful energy that caused him and his team to be warped to an unknown location. In all his experience of utilizing the chaos emeralds, never once had he seen something similar like that occur and that's what was odd to him. As he was busy thinking of what happened, an unknown sound could be heard emanating from deep inside the forest... A sound similar to... A scream. Quickly reacting, Shadows air shoes activated, as he boosted forward rapidly, dashing between the trees at top speed, weaving between the trees, feeling the wind flowing his quills as he sped forward, the sound getting more clear, sounding feminine, potentially child-like tone. "Help, help, timberwolves!" Shadow had no clue what a timberwolf truly was, but by the sound of it, they were dangerous and potentially attacking whoever was calling for help. Eventually, shadow's speed allowed him to reach a small ledge, overlooking what appeared to be... Three small ponies, one with wings, and one with a horn, surrounded by what appeared to be several wolves, made of wood. Now he knew why they were called timberwolves. He quickly observed the number of wolves, counting around six in total. This would be easy, as when he saw one about to leap at the three innocent ponies... He leaped into the and smashed down right on top of the wolf, shattering into dozens of wooden sticks, as the remaining wolves slowly stepped back, the ponies behind him all speaking collectively. "Woah..." Shadow looked back, confused as to how these ponies were talking, but then again, wolves made of timber, don't question it, as he looked back to another wolf charge at him, as ducked down and spun around, performing a air-shoe propelled kick right into the wolves face, sending it flying back as it burst apart, as two more lashed out, with shadow jumping into the air, as he curled into a ball and dashed forward, hitting both dead on as he landed back on the ground and they both burst into wood. Finally, the last two remaining wolves began to back away, before Shadow quickly dashed forward and appeared behind them, gripping them by their tails and sending them into the air as he jumped and unleashed a homing attack on one wolf, before charging up a flaming kick with air shoes, as he sent the timberwolf flying into the air as it combusted into flame, with Shadow slowly hovering down to the ground and crossing his arms. [End Song] "Pathetic." He then turned to the small ponies behind him, who's jaws were agape. "Are you hurt?" The three ponies collectively spoke. "That." "Was." "AWESOME!" Shadow chuckled at the excitement of the strange pony children, as they surrounded him, catching him a little off guard. "Are you some sort of weird alien?" "What are those cool looking shoes?" "Can you teach me how to fight like that?" "How did you turn into a ball?" "Whats your name?" Feeling overwhelmed, Shadow decided to focus on the last question that was asked by the little pony with wings. "I am Shadow, the Ultimate lifeform!" As he said this in his usual serious tone, the little ponies seemed to be fascinated by him, as the pegasus replied. "Cool! Well, Im Scootaloo, and this is Apple Bloom," The little earth pony with with a bow on her head nodded. "Howdy." "And thats Sweetie bell." She said then pointing to the unicorn. "Please to meet you." "And on behalf of all of us within the cutie mark crusaders, we hereby thank you for saving us from those timberwolves with your awesome moves!" Shadow nodded, a smile across his face as he nodded. "Happy to help. Now, why are you out here all alone?" "Oh, we were out trying to find something worthy of praise to bring back to our big sisters!" Shadow nodded, fascinated by these strange little ponies. "Well, its best you get out of here before more of those things show up... And if you don't mind, I would like to know the way out of this forest..." The three little ponies looked at each other, before collectively nodding, as they started walking, with Scootaloo gesturing for Shadow to follow them, and so he did. Canterlot. The city was quite peaceful today, as ponies trotted through the streets, pegasi flying overhead while Celestias sun hung over the city, shining brightly. Rouge found the sight... Strange, but fascinating... As she watched from atop a small house, looking over the city as she observed her surroundings. It had only been... Three hours since she woke up and found herself in this city in a random alley. Luckily, nobody had found her yet, but she had yet to re-establish contact with the rest of dark team... Of course, hopefully these ponies wouldn't mind if Rouge, the greatest thief in the world, just... Helped herself a bit. She thought to herself as she swooped down onto the roof of another building, and did some good old fashioned recon, before eyeing a quite precious necklace on sale at a stall in the marketplace of the city, and when the shopkeeper was looking away... Yoink. As the necklace disappeared, Rouge was delighted to see a very confused shopkeeper searching for the lost valuable, as she held it in her hand. "I think im gonna like it here..." Crystal Empire. There was chaos in the streets of the empire's capital, as Omega slowly stomped through the streets, the ponies around him fleeing at the sight of the massive machine. The machine had no clue where he was, or how he got here, but what he did know, was he was surrounded by talking ponies and pegasi. These little creatures seemed to be afraid of him, and he could understand why, but they had no real reason to be afraid, as Omega only slaughtered machines under the control of Eggman, and as he saw, these ponies were neither machine, nor under eggman's control. However, they were quite annoying with all the screaming. As Omega walked the streets, several of the crystal royal guard appeared before him, blocking his path defiantly as the leader of the squad spoke up. "Halt, you metal beast! By order of Princess Cadance, you are under arrest!" Omega simply looked at the leader with cold, unfeeling red eyes, as the armored stallion slowly backed away while Omega spoke in a robotic tone. "I AM OMEGA, AND PRINCESS CADANCE DOES NOT HOLD AUTHORITY OVER ME, AND AS SUCH, I DO NOT SUBMIT TO ARREST. ATTEMPTING TO IMPEDE MY OBJECTIVE WILL RESULT IN VIOLENCE." Omega's right hand raised, as the barrel of a minigun extended out, pointing into the air. "AND I WILL NOT HESITATE. NOW ANSWER ME, WHERE AM I LOCATED?" By now, the squad leader had soiled himself, as he and his squad looked at each other nervously, before the leader spoke up. "Ummmm... Your in the captial of the c-crystal empire..." After a few seconds of computing, Omega responded. "ERROR, LOCATION FILE NOT FOUND, MUST ACQUIRE HIGHER VANTAGE POINT TO MAP OUT SURROUNDINGS AND DETERMINE LOCATION." He said as he slowly scanned for the highest point possible, before locking onto the very top of the castle at the center of the city. "OPTIMAL POINT LOCATED." Before the guards could say or do anything, the thrusters on Omega's back ignited, as he burst forward, rapidly approaching the castle.
Chapter 2: A... Sort of Friendly IntroductionEdge of the Everfree Forest. The wind blew through the manes of the CMC's and Shadow's quills, as they slowly walked through the forest. On several occasions timerwolves could be seen watching and prowling from within the bushes along the path they walked along, but a quick glare from Shadow result in their quick retreat, likely as a sign of fear, the little fillies still bombarding him with questions. Shadow was currently only paying attention to his own thoughts, lost deeply in his own thoughts, until Sweetie Belle spoke up. "Hey, mr Shadow, were almost out of the forest!" Shadow looked up to see an opening between the trees at the end of the road, dividing the large trees to reveal a wide green meadow, bathed in sunlight. He had to admit, the sight was quite beautiful. As they slowly approached the opening, Shadow winced as more sunlight shined directly in his face, as the ponies ran ahead of him and into the meadow. As he finally stepped out of the woods, he observed his surroundings, taking in the sights and smells, as he thought to himself. 'Maria would have loved this place...' As Shadow was busy thinking to himself, Apple bloom tapped him on the foot. "Hey mister, ya wanna come with us to meet our friends?" Shadow contemplated on it for a moment, before realizing that these friends could help him track down his team, as he then nodded. "Alrighty then, this way to fluttershy's cottage!" She said turning and pointing to a small home in the distance, as the ponies took off towards it, with Scootaloo declaring a race. "Betcha I'll get there first!" "Oh, you're on!" Shadow grunted, as he looked at the ponies rush forward. He could easily crush them in this race, but he decided to just let them have their fun, as he slowly walked behind the crusaders, until they eventually reached the front door of the cottage, finding themselves swarmed by bunnies. A lone bunny walked up to Shadow, as it nuzzled him, and while nobody was looking, he lightly patted it on the head, while Scootaloo knocked on the front door, as it quickly swung open to reveal a yellow pony pegasus with light pink hair wearing a wide smile as she looked down at the crusaders. "Oh, hello little ones, how are you today?" Scootaloo happily replied. "Were doing great miss Fluttershy, we were just off in the everfree forest, and we almost got attacked by timberwolves, but then Shadow here saved us!" She said gesturing to the hedgehog standing behind them, as Shadow looked at Fluttershy, nodding in confirmation, as the shy pegasus had lost her wording, before she simply just fainted. The ponies quickly ran over to inspect the fallen pony, before Sweetie bell looked up to Shadow. "Shes all good, but I think she likes you!" Shadow simply shook his head, and after a few seconds, the shy pegasus slowly rose up and opened her eyes, to look at the crusaders around her, and Shadow simply in front, a cold stare on his face. Finally, Fluttershy found the courage to speak up. "U-umm... Hello... Shadow" Shadow grunted in response, as Scootaloo got beside him. "He was so cool, you should have seen him, he whacked those timberwolves into next week, ain't that right?" Shadow decided not to toot his own horn, so to speak, as he simply just nodded again. "And hes a cool and dark brooding loner edge lord, ain't that right?" The other crusaders lightly chuckled, as Shadow couldn't help but a have a light smile on his face, with Fluttershy slowly getting to her hooves as she walked towards the hedgehog, who was around her height. "Well... Shadow, I thank you for helping protect these little ones from harm..." Shadow finally replied with his voice in a serious tone. "Its just what I do. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go and find the rest of my team, goodbye." He said right before his air shoes activated and he rocketed off across the meadows, with the crusaders cheering and Fluttershy watching in amazement, and Scootaloo reacting appropriately. "He's so cool!" Crystal Empire, outskirts of the royal crystal castle. The sounds of Omega's powerful mechanical stomping could be heard approaching the gate, as the metal behemoth made his way towards his objective, examining the fear in the eyes of the several guards in front of the door, as he then came to a stop, and spoke in his cold mechanical voice. "IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN LIVING, YOU WILL OPEN THIS GATE AND ALLOW ME TO ACCESS YOUR CASTLE, SO I MAY UTILIZE IT TO COMPLETE MY MISSION." The royal guards held their ground, although they were all shaking in their armors, as they held their spears high. "B-by order of princess Mi Amore Cadenza, you are to stand down and submit to arrest for terrorizing the citizens of the empire!" Suddenly, more guards surrounded Omega, who was undeterred. "We have you surrounded!" "THE ONLY THING I AM SURROUNDED BY IS FEAR, AND SOON TO BE DEAD PONIES IF YOU DO NOT MOVE OUT OF THE WAY." As Omega stated his threat, the guards knew he wasn't bluffing, as they quickly backed away, the gate beginning to swing open, as Omega slowly stomped through, looking to see the castle standing before him, as he looked up to the very peak, his thrusters igniting on his back as he rocketed upwards, just high enough to where he latched onto a wall, and began to climb using his claws to grip the wall as he made his way up the side of the castle, the guards below viewing what was happening with both amazement and fear. As Omega neared the very peak of the castle, a bolt of magic impacted him, as he lost his grip, and fell to the ground below, leaving a large crater. Luckily, due to his armor being extremely tough, he simply stood up with a simple few dents and scratches in his armor, as he turned around to see a very annoyed Princess Cadance and shining armor looking at him. "How dare you waltz into my empire, terrorize my citizens, threaten my guard, and attempt to seize my castle with your metal hands!" Omega clearly was not afraid of this pushover princess and her prince, as he slowly scanned her, seeing she was emanating powerful energy waves and determining her as a legitimate threat. "ARE YOU THE ONE KNOWN AS PRINCESS CADANCE? IF SO, I REQUIRE ACCESS TO THIS CASTLES HIGHEST POINT TO COMPLETE MY MISSION. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DEFY ME, OR FACE BATTLE." As the machine spoke, Cadance felt a chill go down her spine, as she wondered what this large machine would need to get up to the highest point for. Shining then asked the question she was thinking of. "May I ask why you need to reach up there?" "TO SURVEY THE LANDSCAPE AND ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH CONTACT WITH THE REST OF MY TEAM, AFTERWARDS WE LOCATE THE CHAOS EMERALDS AND RETURN HOME TO SLAUGHTER DR. ROBOTNIKS MACHINES." As the machine mentioned robotnik, its mechanical fists pounded together, symbolizing the machines rage of the doctor. The guards behind cadance looked very confused, as well as the princess herself, before she spoke in defiance. "Well, I am happy that you at least have a good reason to utilize it, and from what I can see, it does not appear to be nefarious... However, you don't have to scale up the side of it, you could simply just walk up there!" Omega turned around as he scanned the castle, locating a path straight to the top, as his head turned to Cadance. "AFFIRMATIVE." And with that, the machine blasted off into the castle, and after a few moments, appeared at the very top, as the machine began to observe its surroundings, taking into account the local landscape and weather patterns. Then, a radar dish extended out of its head, scanning for the rest of dark team. Then, two signals were displayed in the machines feed, highlighting the locations of Shadow and Rouge. "LOCATIONS CONFIRMED, SETTING COURSE FOR LAST KNOWN LOCATION OF SHADOW." The large machine then jumped from the peak of the castle, its hover thrusters engaging as the mech slowly hovered down to the ground and landed in front of Cadance and Shining Armor. "LOCATION OF ALLIES CONFIRMED. SETTING COURSE FOR PONYVILLE." And with that, the large mech boosted forward, heading out of the city as Shining armor and Cadance looked at each other confusingly. Back at Ponyville... Shadow slowly strolled through the town, as ponies looked at him suspicion, clearly having not ever seen anything quite like a walking red and black hedgehog. However, it did not deter a certain pink pony from appearing before Shadow with a smile on her face. "Hiya mister, Im Pinkie pie, are ya new to town? if ya are, I gotta throw you a new person party! Here, have a cupcake!" Pinkie quickly handed the hedgehog a cupcake, as he just looked at her with a very confused look on his face, before he decided to go and stuff it in his mouth, as he actually enjoyed the flavor, as he smiled. "Pretty good." Pinkie smiled and nodded, before another voice spoke up, coming from behind Shadow, as he saw Fluttershy and the crusaders quickly catching up to him. "Oh, I see you have met Pinkie, Shadow, that is good to see." Shadow nodded, as he turned back to the pink pony who was currently smiling ear to ear, and decided to finally get an answer to a question he had for a while. "So, does anyone know where I even am?"
Chapter 3: A Robotic ReunionCrystal City The train station of the Crystal City was quite desolate, due to the train currently being broken down. However, this did little to curve a certain robots rage as he stared down a nervous train conductor. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS MODE OF TRANSIT IS UN-AVAILABLE?" "I told you, the train's broken down! It ain't goin anywhere till someone comes to fix it." "WHAT IS THE ESTIMATED TIME FRAME OF ARRIVAL FOR A DESIGNATED REPAIR SPECIALIST?" "I dunno, a couple days?" "UN-ACCEPTABLE TIME FRAME, MUST REACH PONYVILLE IMMEDIATELY." "Well, what am I supposed to do!?!" "WHAT IS THE DISTANCE TO PONYVILLE?" "Uhhhh... Few miles?" "ACCEPTABLE DISTANCE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION." Suddenly, Omega's thrusters ignited as he rocketed forward, jumping onto the train tracks and rocketing along them towards his destination, leaving a very confused conductor as they just shook their head and walked away. Ponyville. "So does anyone know where I even am?" "Well, your in Ponyville, silly!" Pinkie said, happily getting up in Shadow's face, who politely pushed her away slowly, quite surprised by her... Eccentrics. Regardless, he found it slightly enjoyable. "I see... No doubt that I am no longer on Earth then... Very well. It is nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie..." "Nice to meet you too, but your kinda weird! Like, not the bad kind of weird, more like the cool kind, your like a hedgehog, but with legs, and edgy!" Shadow couldn't help but snort at the wording of the pink pony, as Fluttershy slightly chuckled as well. "Indeed, you are quite the unique creature Shadow..." "Of course, I was created to be the ultimate lifeform... Now tell me, have you by chance seen the rest of my team?" "No, what do they look like?" "Well, one is a bat with black wings and white fur named Rouge, and the other is a giant robot with violent tendencies called Omega." "Oh my... You have some quite unique friends..." "Trust me, you don't know the half of it..." Shadow had met a lot of unique people to say the least, like Big the cat, or Vector the alligator. Or was he a crocodile? Shadow was not exactly sure. "So, how'd you get here Mr shadow?" Pinkie said, with an inquisitive look on her face, as Shadow was about to answer, before realizing not even he was entirely sure. All he remembered was bringing the three chaos emeralds together and them having an unknown reaction, sending him here. "I am not exactly sure, Pinkie. The last thing I remember are bringing together the chaos emeralds..." "Ooooooooh, whats a chaos emerald?" "The chaos emeralds are powerful objects from my world that can grant those who use almost limitless power, especially when brought together. Perhaps bringing three together caused me and my team to be sent here..." "Oooh oooh, I have an idea! We can go to Twilight, shell know what to do!" Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "Indeed, plus I have a feeling she would very much like to meet you Shadow." Shadow decided to go along with it, thinking this Twilight could help him find his team and get home, as he nodded in compliance. "Very well, where is your friend?" "Oooh, she's off in her castle over there-" Before Pinkie could finish, several yelps and hollers could be heard from the Ponyville train station. As Shadow and the ponies turned to the commotion, Shadow could faintly make out the outline of a rapidly approaching Omega, his jet engines propelling him at high speeds. Shadow was honestly both surprised and not surprised, fully aware of his robotic allies ability to locate and reach his objective with ease. Shadow simply raised his hand in front of his pony friends. "Don't worry, he's a friend." The ponies had a confused look on their face, as Omega pulled right up to Shadow, towering over him as Pinkie and Fluttershy stepped back. "Hello, Omega, good to see you." "GREETING SHADOW, GOOD TO SEE YOU AS WELL. I TRUST THESE PONIES HAVE DOWN YOU NO HARM?" "Yes Omega, they have been very friendly and from what I've seen, are not even a threat, so stand down please." Shadow said, gesturing to the fact Omega had both of his miniguns deployed, which quickly retracted into his arms and were replaced with his claws. "UNDERSTOOD, STANDING DOWN." Now seizing the opportunity for introduction, Pinkie jumped up in the robot's face with a big smile across her face. "Hiya, I'm Pinkie pie, it's nice to meet you Mr. big robot! I gotta throw a party for both you and Shadow now!" While intitally caught off guard, Omega showed no emotion besides petting the pink horse on the head, feeling surprisingly content. "GREETINGS PINKIE PIE, I AM E-123 OMEGA, THE ULTIMATE E-SERIES ROBOT." "That's a cool name!" Whilst Pinkie accepted the head pats from Omega, Fluttershy was on the brink of fainting, but stopped herself as she simply smiled at the scene, glad to see this robot was at least friendly, as Shadow spoke to Omega. "Omega, do you know where Rouge?" "AFFIRMATIVE." Cue him standing up and turning to point at Canterlot in the distance. "Oh hey, your friends at Canterlot! That's where Rarity and Rainbow are too! So convenient!" Fluttershy simply nodded in confirmation of Pinkie's statement, before remembering they should probably go see Twilight, as she turned to Shadow. "Would you still like to go see Twilight, Mr Shadow?" Shadow simply turned to Fluttershy and nodded. "Yes, I would like that." And with that, the ponies lead the hedgehog and killer robot to the castle of friendship. However, watching from a distance, nestled into the leaves of a tree, lay a tiny camera drone, with the mark of... The eggman empire. ??? A lone figure sat in his chair as he stared at the screen in front of him, watching as Shadow and Omega, along with their new friends walked away, as they slowly smiled to themselves, and slowly pulled out a chaos emerald in their hands, and smiled, before letting out a distinct chuckle, before turning around in their chair. "Orbot, Cubot!" Two odd shaped robots quickly hovered up to their master. "Yes, doctor?" "Yeah, what ya need doc?" The man quickly stood up out of his seat, revealing himself to be... Doctor Ivo Robotnik, also known, as Eggman. "I need you to observe Shadow and the rest of team dark to see if they find those chaos emeralds... Once they do, alert me at once... Meanwhile, I shall be studying these strange ponies..." Cubot and Orbot saluted as they floated away, while Eggman turned to look at the screen, smiling to himself, already cooking up his greatest plan yet. Author's Note It's back! So yeah, I revived it. of course, chapters will be slow, as I have other projects, but yeah, expect more soon-ish!
