Sprawling Light

Silver and Shadow, sit in the steam bath of a spa in Ponyville, with towels around their waists, they loll their heads back, Silver groans, “I feel a year of stress leaving my body, oh my god.”

Shadow has a towel covering his eyes, “This was not what I was expecting to do today.” hiding the fact that his muscles haven’t been relaxed in years, Silver yells out, “Ma’am, could we get some more steam in here.”

The pony attendant smiles and pours more water over the rocks. “Thank you. That is spectacular.”

Silver looks at Shadow, “You getting the full thing Shadow? It was Rarity’s treat.”

“I’ll pass on the full experience today; I think the steam was all I needed.” Shadow remarks

“I don’t know about you, but I need to try that seaweed wrap and the mud bath. My fur and skin really needs the minerals.”

Shadow lifts up his head and lifts up the towel on his face, “Are spas not in the future?”

“No. No they are not. And if they were, I couldn’t afford it. I’m broke. Do you have savings Shadow?”

“Yes, I do actually, G.U.N. pays a fairly hefty amount for my services. Commander Tower wouldn’t let me work for free.”

“How much do you make?”

“A lot. I don’t buy much.”

“You ever stop to think about how absurd that is? Like that the ‘Ultimate Lifeform’ is employed.”

“I suppose, I haven’t considered how absurd it is that I ‘make a living’.”

“Do you also pay taxes?”

“I work for a government agency in the United Federation. Of course I pay taxes. I like my job, after all.”

Silver then stands up, “Well, guess it’s time for me to enjoy the rest of this spa trip, what are you gonna do?”

Shadow thinks for a moment, “I guess I’ll get dressed and go take a walk.”

“Alright, Shadow, I’ll see you later.” Silver with a towel tightly around his waist, goes and catches up with the ponies, “Hey, girls I’m steamed up and ready to destress.”

Shadow puts on his shoes, drops the towel in a towel hamper and walks outside. He walks through the town and tries to find a hill to be alone on.

Silver wrapped in seaweed, sits in the mud with his eyes partially glazed over from comfort. The ponies are chatting with one another as they also enjoy a mud bath.

Silver listens to Rarity speak, “This is just an awful turn of events, my best fabric supplier from Canterlot, hasn’t shown up. I do hope that our battle didn’t deter her from making that delivery.”

Twilight looks at Rarity, “I can’t say I blame her; she probably just feels a little unsafe right now, what with Cloudsdale being destroyed and a massive hole in Canterlot Mountain, I probably wouldn’t leave home either.”

Applejack chimes in, “Well that Lix fella, blew up hundreds of bits worth of apple trees, Sweet Apple Acres can’t handle any more big ol’ craters. We’re losing a lot of money over there.”

Fluttershy looks over at Silver, “Where did Shadow go, Silver? Did he not want to do the mud bath?”

“No, Shadow probably just wanted to be by himself for a while. He’s not upset or anything, he’s just been around people and ponies for like three days straight. it’s probably a lot for him.”

Applejack looks over at Twilight, “Well ain’t that somethin’, you were just like that when you came to town, huh Twilight.”

Twilight tilts her head, “Back then I wasn’t that introverted. I’m glad Shadow doesn’t dislike us.”

Silver smiles, “Yeah, he doesn’t throw his whole life on the line for people he doesn’t like. You guys must’ve made an impression on the grumpy guy.”

Fluttershy smiles fondly, “It makes me so happy to hear that! I hope we made a good impression on all three of you.”

Silver floats a little bit out of the mud, “Are you kidding? You guys have all been so nice! I can’t speak for Sonic or Shadow, but I can say that this place sure beats where I’m from.”

Applejack tilts her head, “Where are you from on Mobius?”

“Oh, I’m a time traveler, from the future.” He looks at everyone’s shocked faces, “Sorry I haven’t told you guys, this is the only natural way to bring it up and it hasn’t been relevant.”

Twilight blinks, at Silver, “You’re from the future? You hedgehogs just keep getting more and more exciting!”

Applejack gestures with her hooves, to try and establish some sense, “Now let’s wrangle this conversation back in now. Before sayin’ you’re from the future Silver, you’ve gotta prove it before we go hog wild askin’ about it.”

Silver laughs nervously, “Well, I would but I can’t. My Chronos Control has been a little bit, uh, not working.”

“Okay well, why do you time travel?” Applejack presses.

“At first it was to stop horrible things from ruining the future… but multiverse theory is an unkind mistress so I can’t change my time. Now I just don’t want Mobius to end up like my future. Devastated and lonely.” Silver looks down with a bit of sadness, then he perks up, “Being here makes me feel a lot less alone.”

Rarity smiles at the hedgehog, “Silver, darling, that’s so nice to hear it would be a travesty for such a kind soul to feel lonely. Also, I think it’s time for the massage portion of this wonderful spa day.”

The ponies and hedgehog then transition to the massage tables. Silver is face down as the masseuse beats the knots out of his back, and he melts, the pony giving the massage, mutters to herself, “Sweet Celestia this guy is full of knots.”

Silver with a vibrating voice, “That’s my build-up of combat stress, ma’am. You gotta earn that.”

After the full spa experience, Silver steps into the sunlight and breathes in deep, “Ahh, I feel like a new hedgehog.”

Rarity looks over pleasantly surprised, “I’m glad you enjoyed It, darling, I didn’t expect you to take to it this much.”

Shadow laughs a little, “I was just telling Shadow that there aren’t spas in the future, I would go at every opportunity if I could.”

Rarity reacts with overdramatic horror, “What? No spas in the future. What a ghastly nightmare!”

“Hey, its fine Rarity! Again, it’s in my future, Equestria is a whole different ballgame, I’m sure spas will be around.”

Rarity regains her composure, “I suppose, you’re right, I would not want to build up a future where ponies can’t indulge in keeping themselves beautiful.”

Applejack rolls her eyes, then looks at Twilight, “Onto somethin’ more important. We should catch up with Shadow. We gotta brainstorm ways to get Dash and Pinkie over here from Mobius. Also get our boys here home.”

The ponies nod as they approach a hill where Shadow is sitting. Standing around him are three little fillies, continuously asking him questions.

Apple Bloom’s excited eyes are the size of dinner plates, “What’s it like being a hedgehog? Can you lay your head on pillows without ruining him with your quills?”

“Can you roll in a ball like one?” Asks Sweetie Belle

“How fast are you?” Scootaloo asks.

Shadow has his eyes half open, resting his head on his hand, clearly a little annoyed, and asks, “Didn’t your parents teach you not to talk to strangers.”

Apple Bloom frowns, “Please Mr. Shadow, you're such a cool hero, we wanna know everything about you.”

Scootaloo leans over “Where’d you learn his name, Apple Bloom?”

“Applejack told me.”

“Rarity never told me his name!” Sweetie Belle whines

Shadow warps away to a rooftop when they’re not looking and looks down at them. Scootaloo looks left and right, “What? Where’d he go!”.

Shadow sits down, “Finally some peace and quiet.”

“Hey Shadow.”

Shadow’s eyes shatter open, and he looks at Silver floating in front of him, glistening in the sunlight, “Could I have-!” Shadow then sees Silver’s complexion. “How do you look that clean?”

“Because of the spa, dude, Aloe, and Lotus Blossom really know their stuff! Anyway, we’re gonna brainstorm ways to get home.”

Shadow leans back and closes his eyes, “If Twilight had a spell that could do that, don’t you think she would have sent us home a while ago?”

“Maybe but she could have something up her sleeves. They don’t have sleeves, but you know what I mean.”

Shadow gets up, jumps off the roof and lands on the ground. As he stands up he sees the faces of the Mane 6.

Shadow gestures to the road, “Lead the way then.” Shadow stays in the back of the group as they walk all through town.

Fluttershy slows down to match pace with Shadow, “Excuse me, Mr. Shadow?”

“Just Shadow, Fluttershy.”

“R-Right. Um, if it isn’t too much to ask, could you teach me more about how to fight?”

Shadow looks down at her, “You want more training?”

Fluttershy nods, “Yes. I want to help everypony fight, I don’t think I could handle it if my friends got hurt and I couldn’t stop it.”

Shadow continues looking at her and sees conviction in her eyes, “Alright then, but I’ll warn you I am not an easy teacher. Is that acceptable?”

Fluttershy smiles, “Absolutely!” then her voice retreats, “If it isn’t a bother to you of course…”

“In the morning, we can spar so I can get a baseline of your skill, and we’ll work from there. Depending on how much time we’re still on Equestria; I’ll make a monster out of you.” Shadow smirks.

They all pile into the treehouse as Twilight makes some tea and passes a cup to everyone. Shadow takes a sip, “So Twilight, any ideas?”

“I did have one,” A book already on the table opens magically, revealing an image of a magic mirror, “I was doing some research, and there is a mirror in the Crystal Empire, where my big brother and his wife Princess Cadance live. I think if I have some time, I could reverse engineer the enchantment on the mirror and use that to make a more stable portal for you two.”

“If you think that will work, I’ll default to your knowledge. How much time do you think this is going to take?”

“Two or three days.”

“Sounds fine to me.” Shadow then finishes his tea.

-Meanwhile in an unknown facility-

King Sombra reels from his defeat. He then realizes that he is alive, not destroyed.

He grins as he looks at his hooves, and a wave of black energy travels up his curved horn. But he looks around himself and sees that he is in a metal facility with no lights.

The unicorn tyrant looks forward to seeing the empty and pervasive darkness expanding in front of him, he looks behind and sees the same. “Why am I unable to see? This darkness should be as visible as daylight.”

Sombra walks forward, more irritated than before, he sees the walls of this facility are covered in some dripping black ooze that irradiates negative energy, “…Dark magic?” Sombra mutters as he passes.

Eventually he gets to an open antechamber. There are a few blinking lights on the walls, multiple workbenches with scattered parts and 3-D printers with half-finished automatons.

Catching his eye as well are containers containing dull black diamonds.

Then Sombra hears groaning to his right and as Sombra’s eyes scale up the wall, he sees a human man with his arms and legs melded into the wall.

His body has pitch black spikes made of gemstone piercing through his strangely rotund robotic body. It is full of tubes and wires.

This man only has half of his face, one half has a long mustache, with a glowing red eye. the other half is a metal skull.

In a semi-robotic voice Doctor Ivo Robotnik groans loudly, “You. Unicorn. This place is Hell. Kill me quickly! Before that thing comes back!”

Sombra stiffens as he feels something appear behind him. For the first time Sombra felt true fear, he didn’t feel this much dread when he was trapped in ice, nor did he when he was defeated by the ponies and their dragon.

He has never felt this much murderous intent since he was born. Sombra turns to see glowing red eyes full of stretching black veins leading to bright-emerald, green irises, and a slit for the pupil. It looms over the dark unicorn.

Sombra leaps back, and he charges a spell, landing a few feet away, trying to get a better view of his foe. The blackness around this being is far too dense. “What are you, creature!”

The creature speaks without blinking, “I’m a simple hedgehog, King Sombra.” Its eyes trail up to Robotnik, then its irises compress to a thin line, as the spikes in Robotnik’s body twist, Robotnik screams and tries to pull his torso from the wall, but to no avail. “Do you like my art piece? I was inspired by you. Your dark chaos crystals are a wonderful implement. I copied it. Came quite easy to me.”

His eyes move to Sombra again, who is still charging magic, Sombra feels a cold hand touch his soul as he hears an airy “Cease.” From the blackened figure and he feels his dark magic dissipate. Sombra takes another step back, as these eyes in the blackness close in on him.

Sombra bares his teeth, “What do you want from me? Where am I?”

“Welcome to the Chaos Void, King Sombra. I dragged you here from perdition on Equestria. This is a place of freedom for people like us. Though this facility was made by this,” it looks at Robotnik, “symbol of oppression. To exploit and manipulate the power I was born from.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Magic. Your Magic. I am going to use that man’s blueprints for one last creation. A pony that will break the ones down there. I will be down there with this new being, and it will enforce my rule of Equestria. The Equestrian people will die in the cold, and I want to watch their hope die as every light in the sky is extinguished. Mobius will be shattered to pieces with both Master Emeralds, and both sets of Chaos Emeralds on it.”

Not understanding what he’s talking about, Sombra attempts to back up, but feels his body stiffen again, as an aura of black encircles him, he then looks up to see these eyes staring a foot away from his face, Sombra feels a clawed hand touch the side of his head. “Where exactly is it you think you’re going? We must begin the extraction immediately.”