Sonic, Shadow, and Silver are busy changing into their formal attire in a male changing room. These three hedgehogs are visiting Canterlot along with Knuckles, Tails, and Amy. All of whom were invited to the Grand Galloping Gala by Twilight Sparkle.

While sitting on a stool, and sitting in front of a mirror, Silver adjusts a yellow bowtie on his buttoned up, black suit with a pressed white undershirt. His dress pants are also black, paired with black dress shoes, “Have any of you guys been to one of these things?”

Sonic takes a red tie in his hands. He furrows his eyes at the strip of cloth and tosses it to the side. He picks up an identical clip-on tie and attaches it to his white undershirt. His overcoat is dark blue, with matching pants, and he’s wearing red dress shoes that match his normal shoes, “I’m not really sure what a ‘gala’ even is, to be honest with you, I’m just glad we were invited.”

Shadow deftly ties his red tie, in swift and seamless motions. He straightens out the sleeves on his white overcoat, revealing cufflinks with the G.U.N. logo. He is sporting black pants, with black dress shoes, “This is just a formal event. Also do you need help with your tie?”

“Nah, I decided to just put on a clip-on, normal ties chafe, and they go against everything I stand for.”

Shadow looks at the tie. Then to Sonic. “Good. I wasn’t going to help you.”

“Then why even ask?”

“If you can’t even put on a tie, then I’m not standing next to you.”

“Like you’re gonna stand next to anyone.”

“Actually, I do plan on socializing tonight.”

Sonic raises an eyebrow, “You. Socialize? Fat chance. Here’s what’s gonna happen, you're gonna go out there, get a glass of punch, try to find someone you know who isn’t talking to someone else. Then, if you can’t find anyone you’ll lean against the wall, to act cool, but then Twilight is going to appear next you and the both of you are gonna talk all night long.”

Shadow squints, “Are you insinuating something?”

Sonic smirks and points to himself dramatically, “Me? Insinuate? I would never!”

Silver absentmindedly combs his quills, “I mean, I can see it. You and Twilight. You're both smart, you’re both really skilled… both of you are government employees.”

Shadow gives a glance to Silver, “We don’t have that much in common.” His brow raised, but a part of him feels odd saying that. He pauses, “…name five more things we supposedly have in common.”

Silver thinks for a moment, “You are both super practical, You both started off without many friends and then got a bunch of friends, you both have a fascination with astronomy, though I think she knowns more about it, neither of you believe in ghosts, despite everything we’ve seen in our lives and lastly, you both have your own blue speedsters to scold about being impulsive. That about cover it?”

Shadow’s eye twitches, “I guess.”

Sonic gives Silver a confused look, “You, uh, thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”

Silver keeps looking at himself in the mirror, straightening out his quills, “No. That’s just what came to mind. You’ve gotta remember that when we became Shilver, I got a bit of an insight into Shadow as a person.”

Sonic crosses his arms, “Well, hey now. You’re not the only one who knows Shadow a little bit better, I was fused with him too! He’s had it hard, I saw it.”

Then Silver taps his head, “Ah but Sonic, you aren’t psychic, like me, nor did you fuse with Shadow after he fused with you. Shadow has some thoughts about what he saw in your mind.”

Sonic looks up at Shadow and raises an eyebrow, “Oh, is that true? Shadow old buddy did you see something cool in my totally awesome mind.”

Shadow puts a hand to his forehead, getting a migraine, “Yes, I was enlightened by the hundreds of ways you plan to annoy me and for the record,” He smirks at Sonic, “I enjoyed being Shilver more.”

Sonic’s ear twitches, “Alright, Shads now I know that’s a lie.”

The Ultimate Lifeform rolls his eyes, “Believe what you want, I’m fully dressed, and I don’t want to be even later to the Gala than we already are,” He then grumbles, “Silver.”

Silver hears Shadow, but doesn’t fully comprehend that Shadow grumbled at him, but he holds his finger up, “Give me a second, gotta make sure my chest fur stays down, otherwise I’m going to look weird.” He turns and his chest fur isn’t flat making his chest extend out. “See? I need hairspray or something.” Sonic and Shadow frown at Silver and walk out of the room.

They wander through a few hallways, walking with a lot of confidence in their formal attire.

That swagger in Sonic’s step wanes as he leans back and sighs. “I swear. First Silver makes us late, then he spends another thirty minutes fixing his chest fur.”

Shadow speaks flatly, “You’d imagine someone from the future could have done this ahead of time.”

Sonic shakes his head, “That’s what I’m sayin’.”

As they step into the ballroom they see swathes of ponies, a ‘T’ shaped red carpet on the ground. Ahead of them was a statue of Celestia. On their right, are very incandescent buffet tables covered in red silk cloth, it was full of hors d'oeuvres, sweets, and several types of punch bowls. Behind the table is an empty wall that no pony is grouping up in.

Sonic elbows Shadow, “Hey look. It’s a big ol’ wall right over there. Isn’t it so inviting?”

Shadow wordlessly looks back at Sonic with a muted annoyance, then walks to the right to get some punch.

Sonic smirks and yells, “I’m just playing around Shads! I’ll catch you later!”

Shadow gives the blue hedgehog a thumbs-up with his back turned.

Sonic then sees Rarity and Rainbow Dash talking. Rarity is as fashionable as ever, wearing a fuchsia dress with sapphires in the neckline and a feathered hat with a large sapphire in it, her mane has a multitude more curls in it.

Rainbow Dash is wearing a sparkling blue dress with gold in the front pinned up by a sapphire, she has also styled her hair in a bob.

Rainbow Dash speaks fondly, “Yeah, the ponies in New Cloudsdale really appreciated what we did for ‘em, all the clothes and blankets, hopefully sometime soon we can get some real homes made. So, they’re not just in tents. Hard to find good clouds anymore without the Weather Factory.”

Rarity then eyes Sonic in his fancy tux, and the fashionista Is locked on to the blue blur, “Sonic the Hedgehog, where did you get that suit! It looks absolutely marvelous on you, dear.” Rainbow Dash looks back with an ecstatic look on her face.

Sonic pulls on his collar proudly while looking at Rarity, “Oh this old thing? It’s my uncle’s from when he was my age. We just so happen to have the same measurements. Did Ol’ Chuck have taste in his day or what?”

“I’d say so! You know you can always get sized and suited in my boutique, Sonic. It would be absolutely free of charge. I would love, love, love to make a suit that is much more personalized to you! Or any of you Mobians to be quite honest.”

Sonic smiles at her and gives a thumbs up “Aw, thanks Rarity, I might have to take you up on that.” He looks at Rainbow Dash and they do an elaborate hand/hoof shake, Sonic looks around, “Yo, we were a little late, as you might be able to tell. You gals see the rest of my wacky crew anywhere?”

Rainbow lands back on the ground, “You mean Tails, Knuckles and Amy? I saw them around, yeah. Hold on second, how are the fastest things alive late to anything?”

Sonic grins, “Just one’ Fastest Thing Alive’, actually,” then his grin vanishes, “It was Silver. Y’know for being a guy from the future, he sure as heck doesn’t have an ounce of foresight, he couldn’t decide on his overcoat or his undershirt or his shoes. He couldn’t even decide on how he wanted his quills.” Then Sonic throws his hands up. “Now he needs hairspray for his chest fur.”

Rarity raises an eyebrow, “I almost fear to see his ensemble, I dread seeing some garish bowtie on his neckline.”

Sonic smirks with a laugh building, “Rarity you aren’t going to believe this.”

Rarity looks at Sonic with a hoof over her mouth, “You’re joking! he isn’t!”

Sonic starts to laugh a little, then wheezes out, “He sure is.”

“Well. I’ll go see to it that his fashion disaster doesn’t ruin his reputation among these high standing ponies. If you’ll excuse me.” As Rarity trots off, Sonic sees Shadow on the opposite side of the ballroom.

Shadow fills his glass with punch and takes a cupcake from the table. Sonic watches Shadow for a second. Sonic thinks about the changing room. He remembers some of the things Silver said about Shadow and Twilight. Then Sonic gets an idea. An awful, evil idea.

Sonic head turns to Rainbow Dash, fast, “I have a really mean and/or a really funny idea for a prank.”

“You do pranks Sonic?”

“I dabble.”

“Hedgehog friend of mine, what are you cooking?”

Sonic makes sure no one is listening to him as he leans in and whispers, “I think Shadow and Twilight like each other.”

Rainbow’s eyes widen, “What!? You’re kidding! Shadow and Twilight!?”

Sonic puts a finger up and shushes, “Shhh. Tone it down Dash, don’t want anyone hearing this.”

Rainbow then also tries to whisper, “How are you sure?”

Sonic ponders for a second, “Something I heard earlier. Y’know how they both don’t waste a lot of time, they’re both possibly immortal! They synergized and coordinated our whole group in combat.”

Rainbow starts nodding, “Yeah… Yeah! You might be onto something here. Though I’m a little confused as to how this is a ‘Prank’, sounds like we’re just playing matchmaker.”

“No Dash, you aren’t seeing my vision, if we play our cards right, we get front row seats to see Shadow, the lord of all Edgelords. Say some profound statement about love.” Sonic starts posing dramatically, “And how he could never find it on Mobius, but found it here on Equestria!”

Rainbow Dash looks at Shadow, looking far too serious to be surrounded by ponies, she rubs her hooves together, “I think I’m smelling what you're cooking here, Blue. How are we gonna pull this off? Feels a little more complicated than slipping somepony a fake jar of peanut brittle.”

Sonic smirks devilishly, “Here’s the plan, I want you to tell Shadow that Twilight is waiting for him in the botanical garden and wants to talk to him about something serious. I’m gonna tell Twilight the same kind of thing.”

Rainbow Dash smirks back, “You devilish hog, you, this is gonna be hilarious! You are sure they like each other, right? I could only imagine how painfully awkward this could be if they don’t.”

“I’m at least 80 percent sure.”

Rainbow shrugs, “Those are good enough odds for me.”

Rainbow and Sonic split off to find their respective targets.

When Rainbow gets to Shadow, he’s talking to Knuckles, who is wearing a brownish beige bomber jacket paired with his old treasure hunter hat, and Applejack, is wearing a floral print, yellow dress with a rose on the neckline and near the flank. She has short green sleeves down her forelegs, and the back of the dress is a lighter yellow accented with green frills. The under layer of the dress is colored red and it drapes down the floor.

Knuckles and Applejack talk while Shadow quietly eats a cupcake then washes it down with punch. Shadow is looking between them. He’s stuck on a few lingering thoughts in his head. Namely what Silver was saying earlier.

Why does Silver’s list of traits me and Twilight share bother me so much? He could have mentioned things that we do not have in common, such as her optimism, her boundless empathy. The way she just… makes connections.

As Shadow’s brain raced, he snaps back to reality hearing Knuckles, “I gotta thank Twilight for inviting me here. Also, AJ, this apple fritter is really good. You guys did all the work catering, huh?” Knuckled wipes the crumbs off his face.

“Well, just the pastries and whatnot, Twilight and Celestia put out the real fancy stuff like the cucumber sandwiches or whatever other frou-frou stuff they got.”

Knuckles eats the rest of the fritter then looks at Shadow, “What about you, are you enjoying yourself Shadow?”

Shadow glances at Knuckles, “For the most part. I can say with certainty that I don’t hate it.”

AJ sighs in relief, “I thought for sure you would be a lil uncomfortable bein’ round all these strangers.”

Shadow’s eyes turn to AJ, “I felt it necessary to be here.” Then he breaks eye contact, still feeling a bit of conflict in his mind.

As Applejack is about to ask Shadow ‘What’s wrong?’ Rainbow Dash zooms toward the group in a rush, and stops herself in the air just above Shadow, “Hey Shadow, Twilight wants to see you in the garden, she wants to tell you something important!”

“Really? Now?”

“Yes, really! She’s waiting for you right now!”

Knuckles puts his fists together, “How important? I’m ready for anything!”

“No, Knux, not that important, she just wanted to talk to Shadow.”

“Well damn, it’s been so peaceful lately, I want to fight something!”

“Go fight yourself then!”

“I tried! He put me in a cast! Then you guys beat him! Twice!”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes, “Well, I’m sorry you didn’t get to fight Fist again, but there is a Princess that needs to talk to Shadow!”

Applejack furrows her brow at Rainbow, “Rainbow Dash, what kind of manners is that? Flyin’ up on somepony like that and hollerin’, you about scared me half to death. Now, you tell us what’s goin’ on that’s so darn important.”

Rainbow Dash groans in frustration, “She just wants to see Shadow, AJ, I don’t know what else you want me to say!”

Applejack is about to interrogate Rainbow, but Shadow steps forward, “Let’s not make some kind of scene here. If she needs to talk to me, I’ll go.”

AJ squints at Rainbow Dash while still speaking to Shadow, “If you say so, sugar cube.”

Shadow then quickens his pace as he walks next to Rainbow Dash, he then looks up at her, deathly serious, “Did she say what it was about?”

Rainbow shakes her head, “Nope, she never said.”

“Damn. It must be important.”

Sonic finds Twilight talking to Fluttershy and Princess Celestia.

Twilight is in a light cyan dress tied with a yellow ribbon around her waist. The neckline and the bottom of the dress have decorative purple circles stitched along the edges with yellow star shapes embroidered into them. Her bangs are brushed to be more curved on the top with the back of her mane being more curled.

Fluttershy is in a light green dress with peacock feathers near the waistline, the upper half of her dress is dark blue with frilled sleeves. Around her neck she wore a green scarf with a teal gem in it. On her head she wore a feather accessory, which matches the feathers in her dress. While her side part is the same the back of her mane is swirled in a spiral.

Princess Celestia is wearing a pink dress, with a scarf of the same color. Along with a star pendant on the scarf. The dress was accented with sun imagery near the bottom that turns back into solid pink. She has a sun medallion where her cutie mark would be.

Twilight hovers a drink to her lips, “It’s been a real struggle on the coastal cities with the craziness of the tides. It’s been strange without the moon.”

A sad look takes over Fluttershy’s face, “All the poor animals are completely confused. So many of my little nocturnal friends need the moonlight to see.”

Sonic taps Twilight on the shoulder as Celestia starts to talk about possible ways to fix the moon. Sonic whispers, “Hey Twi, you busy?”

Twilight whispers, “Not necessarily, just talking about the moon situation.”

“Yeesh, I know what that’s like, not having a moon. But anyhow, Shadow wanted to talk to you in the botanical garden.”

“Wait, why?”

“He just said it was important.”

Fluttershy joins in the whispering, “I love the botanical garden. Can I come with you?”

Sonic, still whispering, “No, he just wanted to talk to Twilight.”

Celestia also starts whispering, “Why what happened?”

“Nothing happened, your majesty, Shadow just wants to talk to Twilight.”

Twilight becomes confused, “He didn’t say why? Why couldn’t he ask me himself?”

Sonic pauses to think of a reason, “He was nervous.”

“Y’know there are teas for that.” Silver intrudes.

Sonic squints all around him but stops at the time traveler, “Silver, will you get out of here.”

Silver frowns, “I wanted to be involved.”

Celestia giggles, “Why are we still whispering?”

Sonic speaks normally, “I kind of lost the plot there for a second, but yeah, Twilight, Shadow needs you. Urgently.”

Twilight’s eyes widen, “Well, if he needs to talk to me right now, I’ll head out there right away!”

As Twilight quickly flies away from them, Sonic rubs his hands together deviously, “All according to plan.”

Silver looks directly at Sonic’s hands, “Are you sanitizing your gloves?”

“What? No. My, uh, hands are cold.”

“Through your gloves?”

“Yes.”

“You should probably get new ones.”

“Leave me and my gloves alone. I’ve got somewhere to be.” Sonic zooms off.

Silver grins at Fluttershy and Celestia, “That Sonic is such a character.”

Sonic sneaks into the botanical garden and hears a “Psst” from a bush, and Sonic enters the bush, whispering as softly as he can, “Did I miss it?”

“No, you got here just in time, they both just walked out.”

“Good, good. Let’s listen in.”

Shadow looks up at the silvery broken moon, resting his arms on a railing that overlooks the rest of Canterlot. As the hedgehog observes the moon’s scattered pieces, all of them in stasis floating among the stars, his mind starts to wander.

What else could happen here? What event could have transpired to make Twilight need to talk to me? And why me? Am I truly the only person who could help? Why do I feel flattered? What is wrong with me?

“Shadow?” He turns his head to see Twilight, wearing a look of concern, “I got here as quick as I could, is everything okay?”

Shadow, now snapped out of his thoughts, “Wait, that was going to be my question to you. It’s unlike you to send a messenger to get my attention.”

Twilight shares his in his confusion and raises an eyebrow, “You don’t usually do that either, I’m surprised you sent Sonic of all people to come get me.”

Shadow’s confusion becomes irritation, “What.”

“You… didn’t send Sonic to come get me?”

“No. And if that’s case I’m assuming you didn’t send Rainbow Dash to get me.”

Shadow and Twilight look at each other for a moment, then they both look around, eyeing the dark corners of the garden suspiciously, as everything becomes quiet. Sonic and Rainbow Dash sink further into the bush during the silence. Sonic glances at Rainbow Dash as she starts biting her hooves nervously.

Shadow scans the bushes, and the trees, “You think this was a trap, Twilight?”

Twilight scans the rooftops and the sky, “I do, somepony’s playing some kind of prank on us.”

“I had the same thought, and I think I know who, as well as why.”

Twilight looks at the dark hedgehog inquisitively, “Well what’s the ‘who and why’ for this?”

Shadow crosses his arms, “Sonic had this asinine idea that we had feelings for each other. He must’ve roped Rainbow Dash into his scheme. They are going to regret this.” He clenches a fist, and his crimson eyes faintly glow as Sonic and Dash start to sweat in the bush they’re hiding in.

Twilight’s alert composure turns to surprise, “Wait, wait, wait, feelings? You mean they thought we like each other? Like in a 'more than friends' kind of way?”

Shadow’s eyes stop glowing and he looks over, “I’m fairly confident that’s what that hedgehog meant. He was trying to get a rise out of me.”

Twilight stifles a giggle, “I didn’t see Sonic as a romantic, trying to pair us off like that. I bet he read some romance novel and thought ‘oh, the nerdy girl and the bad boy have to be together’ or something silly like that.”

Shadow raises an eyebrow, “Bad boy?”

“Well, you know with the black and the red, the standoffish attitude. You usually have a weapon on you when you know you're not supposed to.”

Shadow looks plainly at Twilight, “I don’t have a weapon on me.”

Twilight raises a brow, “When you got your pistol in the Everfree, you never put it down, not even when you were sleeping.”

Shadow turns his head back to the shattered moon to hide a faint smile. “You know me fairly well, don’t you Twilight?” Then he turns to her, his smile snuffed out, “However, this time, I left my pistol on Mobius.”

Before Twilight could comment she feels a sting in her hoof and raises it up, “Ouch!”

Shadow gives her a concerned look. “Are you alright?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine, I’ve been on my hooves since before the Gala started. No breaks for a Princess.” Twilight laughs a bit, and she looks back to see a bench just off the walkway, “I think I’m gonna sit down for just a second.”

As Twilight climbs onto the bench, the pain in her foreleg subsides, and she sighs in relief. She then looks at Shadow who’s still standing.

Twilight gets a little quiet for a moment, “Shadow… would you like to sit with me for a minute? Prank or not I think I’d like to take a little break from standing… but I also really don’t want to be alone. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Shadow looks at the seat next to her, he feels a warmness in his chest he can’t explain, “Sure.”

Shadow sits down next to the Princess and that feeling gets stronger, it ties his stomach up in knots. He glances at Twilight, who is simply admiring the faint chill in the breeze paired with the light of the pieces of the moon. He looks away before she notices his glance.

Twilight peeks at Shadow, who seems to be deep in thought. “You’re quiet Shadow. What’s on your mind?”

He looks up at the stars, an image of Maria materializes in his thoughts, he meets Twilight’s gaze, her violet eyes gleaming the moonlight. He looks away. “I was thinking about… someone I cared about…” A pain deepens in his eyes and Twilight can see it.

Twilight softly smiles, “If you need somepony to talk to, I’m willing to lend an ear.”

Shadow crosses his arms, cold in his tone, “It’s not something I usually talk about.”

Twilight’s ears go down, feeling a sting in her chest. “I’m sorry, I won’t push you into sharing.”

Shadow’s façade wavers for a moment, feeling a bit of guilt about keeping his walls up. He knows she was just trying to get to know him better.

Then he turns to face her, and now that they are closer together, the hedgehog sees dark bags under the pony’s eyes. Only barely concealed by makeup, Shadow recognized them from his own mirror.

“You haven’t been sleeping.”

Twilight averts her eyes and shakes her head. “O-of course I have, everything’s fine with me, Shadow, I promise.”

Shadow’s face becomes more concerned, and it shows on his face, he opens his mouth about to speak, but he stops himself from asking if she needs to talk. Knowing she does.

He grits his teeth for a moment before relaxing and unclenching his jaw. Shadow’s face softens a bit, “Maria.” He winces. It hurts him to even utter her name.

Twilight tilts her head, “What was that?”

Shadow’s eyes are half open as he looks down, his tone shifting from cold to melancholic. “Her name was Maria. When I said someone was on my mind, it was her.”

Twilight smiles warmly, through her sadness, “Who was she?”

Shadow’s arms tighten around himself, “She was my first and best friend… a sister. She was kind and gentle. She loved the world and everything in it. She was intelligent as well. She… was taken from me. The world was robbed of a beautiful soul.”

Shadow’s shoulders relax, “I see pieces of her in the people I know, I see her kindness in Fluttershy, her rampant disregard for her own wellbeing in that infernal blue hedgehog, and… I see her intelligence in you. Perhaps my perspective is only way I can connect with her, in some strange way.”

Shadow unfolds his arms and leans his head back, mulling over what he’s said.

Shadow’s posture softens and he looks at Twilight, “It’s not transactional, you don’t have to, but I can tell you’re in... deep distress. If there’s anything you want to talk with me about, don’t hesitate.” Shadow’s face turns a touch red. “Seeing you so tired worries me.”

Twilight’s eyes already fill with tears, she knows she’s on the verge of breaking apart, “I don’t want to make you worry Shadow, I’m sorry. I haven’t talked to anypony about it. I’ve been keeping myself twice as busy so I wouldn’t have to hurt but...”

The princess holds her hoof to her face, shaking, “It hasn’t gotten easier it’s gotten so much harder to bear.”

She makes out the words, “Losing Shining…” stopping to breathe deeply, wanting to get it out before she breaks, “Losing my brother was hard. The hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. I keep thinking that I’m going to see him at the Gala. I keep hoping that he’s going to walk through the doors and say, ‘Hey Twi-”. She chokes on the word ‘Twily’ as she starts to sob, she tries to keep herself quiet.

She barely sobbed out, ”I-I’m sorry I-“ Shadow lays a gentle hand over her hoof, Twilight looks over, seeing Shadow his crimson eyes, not as hard. They’re soft and full of understanding.

“It’s okay.” As Shadow speaks his words start to become shaky, “The sorrow you’re feeling, will dull over time. I know its sharp. I know it hurts. Just remember what he meant to you. Remember the lessons he taught you. Remember that… he loved you.” A tear rolls down his cheek.

Twilight hugs Shadow tightly and buries her face into his chest, she trembles.

For a moment Shadow doesn’t know what to do, he tenses up, this contact was almost too much. Almost robotically he hugs her back, but that feeling in his chest burns hotter.

His arms soften and he hugs her genuinely, trying to offer her comfort. Another tear rolls down his face, without a sob or a noise.

As her crying slows, her breathing becomes less ragged. With her eyes feeling sore, she looks up at Shadow. Twilight feels the warmth coming off of Shadow, feeling his heartbeat fast. The Ultimate Lifeform’s eyes are full of sympathy. He matches Twilight’s gaze.

“Did I help in any meaningful way?” Shadow says not realizing he’s still holding her.

Twilight’s whole face turns pink, and she stammers “Y-you did. Thank you, Shadow. I didn’t mean to cry on your suit.”

Shadow shakes his head, “It’s just clothes, it doesn’t really matter.” Shadow realizes how close Twilight is, and that he’s been holding her. His face flashes red for a moment.

Then he relaxes his arms, allowing the princess to sit up.

The pair are silent for a moment as they both collect their thoughts. Both of them fidgeting with something, Shadow with his gloves and Twilight with her mane. Then they both start to speak at the same time, interrupting each other with a “Hey.”

Twilight holds up a hoof, “I’m sorry, Shadow please, go ahead.”

Shadow continues to fidget with his gloves, “It’s been on my mind for a while and I just wanted to apologize for what happened in Canterlot, not too long ago.”

Twilight tilts her head, “Apologize for what?”

“When you fought,” he breathes in, “Mephilzo,” Twilight shudders at the name but Shadow continues, “you accessed a ‘Dark Super’ form out of grief. I called your actions ‘foolish and reckless’ as if I wouldn’t do the same. I showed an arrogance I thought I rid myself of. I’m sorry.”

Twilight blushes a little, “Was it really on your mind that much? It’s okay, you weren’t necessarily wrong, I used dark energy against a being born of darkness. I was behaving foolishly,” then she looks at Shadow, “You were being honest with me and all of reality was at stake.”

Shadow locks eyes with her, “I still feel as if I invalidated your pain. I won’t do that again.”

Seeing Twilight look at him, Shadow feels that warmth in his chest reach its zenith. His face flushed, Shadow starts to speak, his face contorting as if he’s heaving each syllable out of his throat, “I’m beginning to fear that I do have feelings for you. I trust you. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about Maria in a way that didn’t use her as an excuse to… hurt people.”

Twilight blushes and looks down, “I think you’re so willing to share that pain with me, because we’ve both lost somepony important to us, and I’ve been different lately.” She scoots closer, and looks up, “You wanted me to be comforted. It’s how you act with everypony that makes me like you so much. You care.” She smiles at the dark hedgehog, “I had feelings for you for a while. I never admitted it because I was scared you would be annoyed by me. But now I can say with confidence that I like you a lot.”

Shadow’s eyes tremble, struggling to make eye contact. His face feeling red-hot at this point, “How do people go about resolving these feelings. If we share them, what do we do?

Twilight successfully locks on to Shadow’s crimson pupils and they make eye contact in close proximity, “Well if we both feel the same way, we could be together or date or whatever you’d want to call it.”

Shadow traces his finger around his Inhibitor Ring, “I wouldn’t be opposed to something like that. But I’ve never experienced it before, I don’t how good of a partner I’d be.”

Twilight smiles, “I’ve never dated anypony either, but I’d love to learn how. With you.”

Shadow nods a faint smile starting to grow on his face, “That sounds… pleasant.”

Twilight pushes a loose strand of her mane back into place with her hoof, and then she hides her face with her hooves, “Oh gosh, I bet I’m still blushing, aren’t I?”

Shadow nods, “Yes. I’d understand if you just want to sit out here for a little longer.”

“Well, I would love to take a walk somewhere through Canterlot. I’m still way too worked up to explain this to anypony. Maybe we could stop at Donut Joe’s and get some coffee. Since I know you like coffee, not sure about donuts though.”

Shadow looks out to the city, “I could drink a cup of coffee.”

Twilight smiles warmly. “Great! Would this technically be our first date, huh?”

“Yeah, it would be.” Shadow cannot help but smile a little hearing that, “Wouldn’t our friends be wondering where we are while we’re out?”

Twilight thinks for a moment, “They’ll survive for a minute, I’m sure they’re all having too much fun in there to notice we’re gone.”

Shadow stands up first and offers Twilight a hand. “Is your hoof still hurting?”

She gently places her hoof in his hand and lets him help her up, “No, I just needed to sit a bit. Thank you. Let’s get going before Donut Joe’s closes.”

As the pair start to leave, they pass a bush that was recently disturbed, Shadow shoots a suspicious look at it before looking into it. “That’s strange. This bush looks like something was in it.”

Twilight shrugs “Well, there are animals around here, maybe one of them made a little nest.”

Shadow sees cyan feathers and a few blue quills caught in the branches, he squints, “Yeah, something was in there alright.”

“Hey guys.”

Shadow and Twilight turn toward the front staircase leading to the Gala to see Silver sitting on the steps, his yellow bowtie replaced with a beige tie. Silver waves weakly at the two of them, his face turning green as he holds his stomach.

Shadow raises a brow, “What are you doing out here Silver, and have you seen Sonic and Rainbow Dash?”

Silver raises a finger, while his face is aimed at the ground, “I’m out here because Pinkie dared me to eat an entire cake. When I was done, she gave me another cake. Then another. I ate six of them. I’m probably going to hurl in any second now.”

His cheeks swell-up for a moment but he puts a fist to his mouth to keep from throwing up and swallows, gasping, and taking a sip of ice water. He holds up two fingers, “Rainbow Dash and Sonic are inside, they looked nervous and guilty. I don’t know what it was about. I didn’t ask because I was on cake four.”

“So, you won’t ask where me and Twilight are going?” He glances at Twilight who stifles a giggle.

“Shadow, dude, I don’t care right now, go have fun somewhere. Please. I don’t want anyone to see this.”

Twilight speaks up, “We aren’t in the stone age Silver, there are bathrooms inside.”

Silver looks up, his face disheveled, “I’m not going back in there. I know she’s still lurking around.”

Shadow looks at Twilight, “We should probably go.”

Twilight nods, looking back at Silver with unease as they leave the castle grounds.

Twilight and Shadow sit quietly at Donut Joe’s, both of them sharing a box of donuts and a few cups of coffee. They nervously fidget in their seats.

But The moment Twilight broke the ice, they didn’t stop talking to one another, the shell that Shadow firmly placed around himself was being cracked open by this pony princess. Shadow never thought he could feel like this and be okay with it.

He thinks of all the times he pushed people away. Then he looks at Twilight as she talks about how much she loves being in Canterlot and misses it sometimes. He would hate this type of rambling from anyone else, especially of the blue variety, however Twilight’s words were very calming to him as her words are specific and deliberate, every one of them is laced with her intelligence. Shadow smiles genuinely.

As Twilight finishes gushing about reading, and what kind of things she wants to go and see on Mobius. Shadow starts to feel more comfortable opening up about the trivial things he does.

Telling her that he usually eats the coffee beans rather than brew them, and that his favorite foods are anything that he can cook quickly, anything to not waste any time. As Shadow talks Twilight feels genuine joy in the fact that Shadow trusts her enough to talk about this with her. She knows that this isn’t given lightly.

In Twilight’s mind she thinks.

I can’t break this trust.

Shadow looks a little concerned at how serious Twilight’s face becomes. Then she smiles, “Sorry, Shadow, I was thinking about how special It is to have your trust.”

Shadow looks at her, flattered, “Thank you, Twilight. I hope you can trust me as well.”

Twilight beams, “Of course I trust you, Shadow.”

Shadow stirs his coffee while talking, “I also hope you enjoyed being here with me. I am being amicable right?”

Twilight lays a hoof over his hand to reassure him, “You haven’t done anything wrong. I really like being around you.’

“I like being around you as well.” Twilight didn’t notice it before, but she sees Shadow blush, aided by the light they’re in. Twilight manages to keep her composure but feels a little giddy knowing Shadow can actually blush.

Shadow notices her staring, then looks at her directly, “You're cute.”

Twilight can’t help but turn her head and smile like an idiot, “Oh gosh, you keep making me blush.”

Shadow and Twilight continue the rest of their date for a little longer than either of them expected.

Donut Joe was in the back of his store, allowing the freshly made couple to have some space at the request of Princess of Friendship herself.

By this point the Gala had slowed down and many of the ponies had already left, but there were still a few guests moseying around.

Shadow and Twilight both walk in, and a few eyes are on them. But both of their eyes are on Sonic and Rainbow Dash.

The two speedsters see the two serious faces staring them down. Sonic looks at Rainbow Dash, “Why do you think they were gone so long?”

Rainbow Dash panics for a moment, “Maybe they were planning on how to end us, Sonic. Why did we do that? That was a stupid idea.”

As Shadow and Twilight march toward them, Sonic and RD gulp at the same time.

Sonic, nervous, starts the apology, “Listen, Shadow, I just wanted to apologize. Me and Dash abandoned ship the moment you said her name. We didn’t hear anything past that.”

Rainbow Dash begins gesturing with her hooves while she’s in the air, “Yeah, Twilight I’m so sorry- we’re so sorry, we overstepped some boundaries, but Sonic got me out of their before things got heavy.”

Shadow is about to say something but Twilight steps in front of him with determination in her eyes, “I got this Shadow.” Shadow smiles and gives her the floor.

Twilight looks at Rainbow Dash and Sonic, “You two did overstep some boundaries, and frankly, I think the two of you should be ashamed of yourselves.” Sonic and Rainbow both flatten their ears, and shrink upon hearing those words, ”But, Sonic, Rainbow Dash, as long you two never ever do anything like that again, I forgive you.”

Shadow crosses his arms, “And as much as it goes against my better judgement, I forgive the both of you, as well.”

Rainbow rubs the back of her head, feeling the shame, “Thank you, Twi, Shadow. I see that our prank didn’t go nearly as well as we wanted it to. Also in hindsight, it wasn’t that funny.”

Sonic looks down also deep in shame, “Yeah, it really wasn’t, I don’t know what was up with me tonight.”

Shadow sighs, “Both of you, calm down. It was a failed joke, and the world is still spinning. As far as I’m concerned, it’s in the past.”

Sonic looks up, “Really Shads? You don’t wanna beat my teeth in?”

Shadow shakes his head, “Not tonight, Sonic.” He looks down at Twilight, warmth spreading in his chest, “Not tonight.”

Author's Note

Love this ship. This needed to be done.