Hello, everyone. Guess what. LTBC's back.
I think you were worried that this story is declined, but I just couldn't find a proper time of making a new chapter. I've been busy with Sonic and Equestria Girls story. But now me and my co-author Apex Wolf finally managed to switch our attention to LTBC.
I hope you, guys enjoy what we made for you. Please leave a review, so we could see what you think of the story and improve it.
Okay, so... last time we ended with Tails and Fluttershy faced with the Walking Dead for the first time in the story. Now, let's see what Shadow and Twilight are doing and if they're succeded with their rescue mission? Let's read and find out.
Chapter # 20 - From Dusk to Dawn.
-/-/-/-
Morning. It's close to 11-00 am.
The morning in Equestria was as usual at first sight. At least in the forest, all the destruction was absolutely obscured. Forest trails looked unspoiled. The trees were calmly swaying in under the whiff of wind. The rainwater stockpiled in the pits of the dirt forest trail. This place was absolutely free of any traces of a recent battle between the robots and the regular beings.
The two travelers held their way on one of the dirt trails. Twilight was walking wearily behind Shadow, by holding tightly onto the straps of her tourist bag, whereas Shadow felt easy and light for a further walking. The Dark Mobian was walking on a light, and his own bag was much smaller than Twilight's, due to the face that he was trained of how to go without food for a while. He looked as concentrated as he always looked, but considering yesterday's encounter with the robots of MS-37 series, he held his right hand on his gun.
Twilight, on the other hand, looked exhausted due to the longtime descent. She hunched a bit by trying to keep up with a pace of her companion, though, she wasn't successful with that. It wasn't her first long time travel, but it was the first time when she has to move with a pace so fast. She was even envied Shadow and his choice of moving on a light fashion, that is, without taking much of the food with him, as well as other supplies.
Soon, she realized that she couldn't keep that pace up for long, so she then stopped her steps. She used her own knees to support herself in standing and began grabbing big portions of air by her mouth.
"Ah… ah… ah…" Twilight was gasping, "Oh boy…"
Shadow stopped when his ears picked up the sounds of girlish gasps, so he then turned around over his left shoulder, but only to see his royal companion in a crooked pose. He made a narrowed look of compassion as he knew that she's tired. In fact, he was very much annoyed by this, but all he had to do now is just accepting the reality because after all Twilight Sparkle is not a secret agent like him. He then turned to talk over at her.
"Twilight." He called out to her, which prompted her to lift up her head and to give him an apologetic smile.
"Yes…" She spoke through her pants, "I just need to take a short break, Shadow…. *sigh*... I'll be ready in a minute…" She said as Shadow was now standing a few inches away. The expression on the face of GUN agent showed nothing but concern. He then gave her a hand.
"Let me carry this bag." He said calmly, to which Twilight shook her head.
"No, no, no…" She said, "I can cope with it… I… I just needed a short break is all…"
"Twilight Sparkle." Shadow said her full name, which meant that he's not going to argue with her and demanded a follow to his orders. Twilight had nothing left to do but accepting his request. She then took off her bag and handed it to Shadow. The mobian, though, felt that the bag was kinda heavy, and his arm even felt a gravity that tugging it down.
"What do you have inside?" He asked as he put the bag on his left shoulder. Twilight straightened her back and slightly moved her lower back by trying to warm up her back.
"Oh, nothing big, really." She said, "The map of Canterlot and its surroundings, spare clothing, fourteen cans with food, and means of hygiene, that is the shampoo, the shower gel, and stuff." She then arched her back and it cracked a bit much for her satisfied smile, "Aaahhhh…" She ah'd as she then continued on her walking.
Shadow, though, was looking at her quizzically, not really adore the idea of taking so much of supplies with him, but then he just sighed in a mild annoyance and followed her.
"This is not your first far walk as far as I remember…" The mobian spoke after he equaled with her pace. Twilight looked at him and nodded.
"Nope." She said.
"Then why are you look so tired?" Shadow asked as his eyebrows furrowed lightly.
"I wish I knew, but…" Twilight began to answer his question, "I think your pace is too fast for me is all. I could keep up with that if I had my wings fine and well, but on my two... *shaking her head*... nope. None of the Equestrian can move like Mobian on their legs."
"I figured as much." Shadow said, as his eyes looked before them and started scanning the forest on the subject of a threat, "Plus, it would be easier if you wouldn't take so much of extra supplies with you. I can understand food, but shower gel, shampoo, and… a toothpaste…" He looked into her eyes again, "We're not on the hike after all. And why did you take the spare clothing?"
Twilight smiled, "In the case, if the clothing I'm wearing will be spoiled." She answered in her usual intonation.
"That makes sense." Shadow said as he then looked at the road again. They silenced again, as Twilight then remembered something she wanted to ask him for a while now, so then she looked at him, upon donning an awkward look on her face.
"Um, Shadow, can I ask you one personal question?" She asked, to which Shadow reacted neutrally.
"I have a girlfriend." He answered neutrally, much for Twilight's eyes went wide. She then stopped her path, as she continued staring at him utterly surprised by the words he said. However, that makes sense really, but on the other hand, now she has to stop her attempts on him if she doesn't want to repeat the same steps made by Flash. However, that issue worried her lesser than what she wanted to know exactly. She then ran after him, and when she caught up with his position, she looked at him worryingly and spoke.
"No, not that kind of personal question." She said, to which Shadow looked at her, "I just wanted to know, why you offered Flash Sentry to join GUN?"
"Oh, that personal?" Shadow asked, as he then shrugged, but still looked very confident, "Well, he proved himself as a good fighter. I know it may sound weird for you, and I can understand why seems odd for you." He then narrowed his eyes, "He seemed to be annoying for me at first, but after the first Hedgebot appeared he got instantly transformed into a strong warrior and a loyal partner. I thought I could give him a chance of trying himself in GUN service. Maybe he'll discover his new personality. Who knows?"
Twilight thought that this explanation was odd, "Umm, Shadow, I don't want to disappoint you, but you're talking of a guy who's degraded from a talented soldier to a lazy ass officer, you know?" She asked him slowly and a bit suspiciously, as she started to think that Shadow gave him a chance of escaping Equestria now.
Shadow glanced at her questioningly, "What do you mean?" He asked, to which Twilight uttered a sign of disappointment.
"Well, don't think that I'm just bitching around his personality, but…" She spoke as she bit her lower lip, by trying to come up with right words, "I mean… he may be served you well as your partner, however, seeing him to act like that was quite unusual for me, because in the last four years he got extremely lazy. I was told by Sunset about his actions when he met with a robot, and how he loyally helped you in catching this very robot, but don't you think this is not enough for giving him such an honor?"
Shadow lifted up his eyebrow as he pondered at her questionings. Though, considering the situation, her doubts were rightful, because, after all, she got cheated by Flash in the past, and has every right to be doubtful, though, that boy showed his opposition to Twilight's opinion on that matter.
"No." Shadow said as he looked at now surprised Twilight, "I don't think that this is an honor, just an invitation to serve in Mobian special forces. Either he'll be a part of GUN, or not, it only depends on him, and I am not gonna help him to be successful on the entrance tests."
"And what if he fail?" Twilight asked as she donned a regretful look on her face, "Will you feel disappointed?"
"It's more likely no, than yes, Twilight." Shadow confidently answered, "Trust me, there were and still are many things to disappoint me, and his potential failure in the entrance tests is not one of these things. If he will work hard, he'll get it, if not…" He then made a respectful gesture instead of a final word. Twilight smiled at him understandingly, though, she then donned a smirk.
"If you say so." She spoke somehow jokingly, "However, it's not quite understood for me why the Top agent of GUN invited for a service a person who is one of the worst, if not the worst possible option." She said, to which Shadow sighed deeply and a mild annoyance, though, he decided to remain silent, and let her to continue, "Though, just for note." She looked at him with a friendly smile, "If you want a good candidate for GUN, all you need is just to ask me, and I'll give you twenty folks whose service list is perfect!"
Shadow somehow forced himself to give her a polite smile, "It will be an honor." He said absolutely neutrally, and then again he glanced forward and that smile disappeared from his face. He was highly frustrated by Twilight's interrogations about his decision to take Flash Sentry as his potential partner in GUN. However, Shadow knew that it was her right, it was still highly frustrating.
"And that girlfriend of yours…" Twilight suddenly spoke, much for Shadow's surprise, "May I ask who she is?"
Shadow looked at her, as he had a dumbfounded look on his face, "What?" He asked. Twilight, though, gave him a shrug.
"If you don't want to give me an answer, you shouldn't." She said calmly. Shadow made his eyes narrowed, showing a sign of irritation.
"I don't really like to discuss my personal life with anyone, Princess." He said calmly.
Twilight shrugged again as she smiled, "Whatever. I just wanted to make this journey less boring than it already is." She said a bit sarcastically.
"Trust me, Twilight." The GUN agent spoke, "This journey is anything but boring." He said as he then heard something on the shot distance. The two stopped and Shadow pulled out his Desert Eagle. They then hid behind the tree. Soon they heard another roar which was a bit closer than the previous one, to which the two travelers felt themselves nervous. Twilight walked closer to Shadow and put her free hand on his shoulder.
"This one was closer." She said quietly.
"Yes." Shadow agreed, while trying to see through the bushes.
Twilight then looked at him, "What was it?" She asked, "It doesn't sound like a robot. I mean, they're not roaring, right?"
"No, they aren't." Shadow answered as he then looked at her, "Keep your eyes wide, and stay closer."
The violet mare nodded at him as she frowned confidently and then the two left their hiding spot and continued on their way forward.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Equestria.
While the morning sun was shining in the skies, in the town, near the police station, on the police cars parking lot, in one of the cars, a certain pink haired pegassi girl gazed frighteningly from the window. And, though, she was sleeping pretty much peacefully, and woke up just recently, the events of the previous night, when in all of the sudden, a robotized Equestrian pony bursted into the police station and nearly slashed her and Miles dead. Right now, she could do anything but coming out of this car, 'cause it seemed safe.
Speaking of said, devil himself. Miles was sleeping peacefully with his head resting on Fluttershy's thighs, as the girl used her hands to caress his head, thus keeping him in the dreamworld. She could hear him snoring. That brought a smile on the face of Fluttershy, as she then gazed down at him and saw him still asleep, and even having a smile in a corner of his lips. She chuckled quietly at such picture before her eyes, but soon she looked out of the window.
Very soon, Miles uttered a dreamy groan as he started to awake from his sleep. His eyelashes got opened slowly and lazilly, and the smile on his lips turned backwards.
"Mmmmmmmm…" He groaned again as he tried to take a sitting position. Fluttershy then looked at him and smiled more, seeing him waking up. She helped him to get a sitting position.
"Good morning, Miles." She said, her trademark adorable intonation in her voice, to which Tails groaned again and put a palm against his face as he rubbed it lightly.
"Good morning." He said sleepily as he then struggled to opened his eyes and looked at her, "How long you awake?"
"I don't know…" Fluttershy answered as she brushed her own hair, "Twenty minutes, maybe?"
The fox guy sighed in response, "Whatever." He said as he then looked out of the window, "I hope they didn't come back after yesterday's night?"
Fluttershy turned frightened, "Miles what was these… things we saw?" She asked, a fearful tone in her voice.
Miles gave her a look of regret, "I was praying for Gods to be mistaken, but… I guess these were The Walking Dead." He answered as the two then looked outside, "Eggman's most terrifying idea he ever came up with. He developed this technology seventeen years ago, when he learned that he's losing the war and his mind….. well…. more so than usual that is when he was alive… He came up with the idea of… you're not going to believe it… He literally zombified the dead bodies."
Fluttershy gasped, "What d-d-does it… *gulps*... m-m-m-m…"
"It means…" Miles continued as he heard that she can't finish her sentence, "He takes the dead body, bring it onto his base, while it still not decayed, robotizes it, and add a few millions of sensors all across the robo-armor which is covering the corpse. These very sensors launching the muscles again, and the body rises up. The mind is a long since dead by the moment when it starts to work." He then gazed out of the window, "The sensors are obeying to the program from the main processor."
Fluttershy looked at him, "So… Soarin was…"
"He was dead." The fox guy answered as he lowered his head and closed his eyes, "Maybe a day, or two." He then looked at her, "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy."
The pony girl closed her eyes, "Yes, me too." She answered and performed a deep sigh of sadness, but then she opened her eyes again and looked at her friend, "So all we need to do is to shut it down?" She asked.
Miles shook his head and struggled to move on to the front seat, "Theoretically yes, but on the practice, you have to take a good aim on the spot, where the main CPU is hidden…" He then took a front seat and breathed out the pain, "Aw… fuck me…" He then sighed again in relief and looked at her over his right shoulder, "The spot is highly armored, and you need to shoot at least five, ot six times, and again, you need an armor piercing ammo to pierce the spot. We got extremely luck last night…"
Fluttershy sighed, "I understand." She said. The fox guy then looked at the dashboard of the police car, and brushed away the dust. He then started coughing as the dust inhaled into his lungs through the nose.
"Aaaachooo…." He sneezed.
"Bless you." Fluttershy said with a smile.
"Thanks." Miles answered, and then he turned his gaze towards the police station. He then formed a sad look as he remembered a robotized body of a Wonderbolt officer was lying there. The guy he met once, and he thought that he was a decent person and highly loyal to his work. Tails just thought that he at least must be buried with honor. He then sighed and looked at the back seat, into Fluttershy's eyes.
"Can you give me my crutch?" He asked a bit sadly, making Fluttershy confused.
"Miles, what's you're up to?" She asked as she wasn't really eager to let him out of the car.
"I need to do one thing." He answered, a slight note of despair in his voice.
Fluttershy shook her head, "I'm going with you." She said, as she grabbed the crutch, "Your injury is…"
"I know about the injury, just… trust me on this, alright?" He asked as he then smiled at her. Fluttershy wanted to say no at first, but then she admitted that she can't resist his smile, as she then gave him a crutch, and nodded.
"Whatever you're up to, be careful, Miles…" She said, a cute look of concern on her face, "Please."
Miles took the crutch and opened the front door, "I will, don't worry." He said kindly as he then walked out of the car and closed the door. The pegasi girl saw him limping towards the police station, a look of a worry on her face. Inside her mind she was debating if she should go with him, or not, however, something told her that she should let him do whatever he wanted to do on his own. Somehow, she managed to assure herself that he'll be fine. She then sighed deeply and rested on the back seat of the car and covered herself under the black blanket. She started observing the car's ceiling, thinking that this is the only interesting thing she could do on the back of the car seat alone.
Four hours later.
Fluttershy had a nap, with the back door of the car slightly opened, when her ears picked up some strange noises. She opened her eyes lazily and wiped them with her left hand, as she then struggled to take the sitting position.
"Ouch…" She moaned in a whisper, as she felt her injured wing hurts. She then rubbed her left shoulder by the left hand and looked towards the source of the noises. These noises came from Miles, no doubt. He was groaning, as if struggling to carry something heavy? She then tossed off the blanket and came out of the car as she slowly walked towards the place where she seemingly heard these groans.
Soon, she stopped near the corner of the wall of the Police Station, and looked over the corner, but only to see a certain Mobian guy standing near the freshly dug pit, a pile of soil on the left, and him standing before the pit. The pit has a length of an average Equestrian's height, and she quickly learned that it was a grave. She then turned sad as she nuzzled against the concrete wall of the building, a few tears rolled down on her face.
Meanwhile, Tails stood over the grave, leaning against the shovel he found in the basement, as he had a sad look on his face while staring at now deroboticized body of a Wonderbolt officer. Soarin was no longer covered in an iron armor, and was now dressed in a police uniform. There were a few abrasions covering his face, which said that he didn't give up without a fight. Sighing, Miles threw his left hand inside the pocket of his clothings and pulled out a flask filled with some heavy fuel. He then opened it and prepared to take a sip, but that's when he heard gentle footsteps. Glancing at his left, he saw his pony friend walking slowly at him and he saw her crying slightly.
When she stopped on his left hand side, he sighed again and looked at the flask.
"I thought you're asleep." He said a monotony in his voice.
"He looks differently now?" She said as she looked at Tails, "How did you do that?"
Miles took a sip of whiskey and ugh'd, before giving her an answer, "I only removed the outer armor." He answered, "The inner mechanized parts can't be removed without the needed equipment." He looked at Fluttershy and handed her a flask, "You want it?" He asked.
After breathing out the air, yellow pony took a flask and took a sip of whiskey, "Ugggghhhh…" She ugh'd in disgust as she wrinkled, "Thank you…"
Miles took the flask back and then the two looked at Soarin's body, "Did he have a family?" The fox asked, a sad tone in his voice.
"I guess so." Fluttershy answered as a single tear rolled down on her cheek once more, "Maybe it'd be better to bury the for his family members? I mean… they need to know." She said in a quiet whisper.
Miles nodded, "I agree, but…" He said, breathing out the air, "By the time when his family will be informed, the body might be decayed, and I'd rather not remove the armor… Well…" He said as he then lifted the flask over the grave, "Rest in peace, Soarin. May the Chaos Gods help your soul to find the way into their world." He said as he then spilled a few drops of whiskey into the grave.
Fluttershy couldn't take it anymore. The tears started pouring harder from her eyes as she then shut her eyes and shook her head, trying to fight her emotions back. However, it soon took the control over her as she started crying softly.
Hearing her cry, Tails looked at her with regret and put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey." He said, but Fluttershy then attacked him with a strong embrace by wrapping her arms around his neck, as she snuggled up to him as tight as she only could, making Miles dropping the shovel in process. He then sighed and hugged her tightly, his left arm wrapped around her waist, and his right hand on the back of her hair as he started caressing the back of her head to sooth her down.
"It's okay." He whispered into her ear, genuinely hoping that it will help. Fluttershy buried her face into his shoulder as she continued crying softly.
30 minutes later.
The two were now sitting inside the said Police car, both on front seats, having the looks of despair on their faces, and starting somewhere before them as if trying to see something interesting. A hope, perhaps. After facing with a yesterday's threat, they knew that traveling with just the two of them, is extremely dangerous. Not only they couldn't fight these bots back, but they couldn't even escape. Tails had his one hand on the top of the wheel car as he held it tightly. His eyes showed no emotions.
"I feel myself so guilty right now." He spoke, "Seventeen years ago, I was the one who challenged to kill all the datas of Eggman's projects already developed and pre-developed… I guess I made a mistake, and this mistake… costs so many lives… *sigh*..."
Fluttershy, though, didn't like the fact that he's still speaking of it, so she decided to change the topic, "Miles, we're all making mistakes…That is … I don't think I ever made mistake so… terrible, but…" She said softly as she then looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder, "... I don't think, you're guilty even on the slightest."
Tails looked at her, "How so?" He asked.
Fluttershy started massaging his shoulder, "Well… You told me that this Eggman was a cunning man, so… maybe created something to outwit you all of us… and take revenge on you, even if he himself is dead?" She asked.
Miles put his own hand on the top of her, "I hope, you're right." He commented as he then looked at her and smirked, "You liked him?" He asked, making Fluttershy confused.
"Who?" She asked, not sure who she means, "Eggman?"
Miles chuckled a bit, "No." He said, "This Wonderbolt. Soarin. I hear he was very popular amongst the ladies, heard some would take off their tops and bras to get his autograph and even some throwing themselves in bed with him without giving it a second thought?"
Fluttershy gasped, "What?" She asked, as she then smiled and giggled, "No. No no no no… I mean… We weren't even talking to one another, and… I… I… I only had a few times to stand next to him, and… we weren't even alone with one another… We just knew one another... that's all…" She then started brushing her hair by the right hand. Miles chuckled again at her reaction, though it was a friendly chuckle.
"That's fine, I just asked." He commented, as he then sighed and looked at the dashboard again. Glancing bellow the wheel, he fixed his gaze on the ignition hole, and frowned in frustration.
"If only I knew how to start the car's ignition without the keys." He said in frustration, "We need to move before it's dark, otherwise, our journey will be the shortest journey ever. These robots will not give us a chance once we face with them again."
Fluttershy looked at him questioningly, "But can't you hotwire it?" SHe asked, making him surprised. He looked at the pony girl with his eyes wide as dishes.
"You'll never cease to surprise me, Fluttershy." He said, shocked, "How'd you know about that?"
Fluttershy blushed a bit, "Well… I… saw that on a TV-show." She answered his question, as she sounded in the way she usually sounds.
Miles sighed in response, "I see." He said as he looked at the dashboard of the car, "I thought of it first, but this is the police car. The Police departments requested the cars with anti-theft protection for the wires. There must be at least three iron sheets under the dashboard… *sigh*... It's impossible to hotwire it without a welding machine." He said desperately, but then the lamp clicked in his mind, and his eyes sparked with hope, as he looked up at the sunshield over the driver's seat, "If only…" He said with his voice full of hope and opened the sunshield. For his luck, they keys fell off the shield and right onto his laps. He then picked it up and inserted it into the ignition.
Before turning it, he and Fluttershy exchanged glances of hope and made a slight pause, "That's the moment of truth." Miles commented as he then looked at the keys and twisted it to the left. Luckily for them, the car's engine 'sneezed' twice and then it uttered a roar. The two then smiled happily and looked at one another again. Fluttershy squealed in happiness, no longer able to held her emotions back. But then she did something that shocked both her and Miles. She pulled herself closer and gave him a peck on the lips, much for his and her shock. After realizing what she did she backed away quickly and hid her face behind her hair.
"Oh… sorry… I… didn't m-m-m-mean to…" She mumbled through her hair.
"Don't be…" Miles said as he was all red-faced and flustered, "I think I got used to that…" He then shook his head sharply to shook off the thoughts about second sudden kiss he got while being in Equestria, and then he looked into the rearview mirror. He frowned deeply, and then he glanced at the fuel rate. He saw that they only had half full tank.
"Only half…" Miles answered disappointed, as he then turned his gaze towards the Police Station building, "Hmmmm… Maybe we could find some gas canisters in the building?" He asked a rhetorical question, to which Fluttershy gasped quietly and looked at the building. She then shook her head and looked pleadingly at her friend and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Miles, no, please…" She begged him, nearly crying, "Let's not go back there again… please…" She said desperately pleading to him to just forget and go, as the area had grown more unsettling to her by the minute.
"Hey, hey, hey…" Miles interrupted her softly, as he grabbed her hand, "Easy there, Fluttershy. What's wrong?"
Fluttershy sighed deeply, "After what I saw last night… I will only have one thing in my mind…" She whispered as she then looked at him again, "Please, let's move out of this town, before they came back…"
Miles sighed deeply, "Alright, alright…" He said, "I was just asking, no more." He then twisted the car's wheel, and prepared to press the gas pedal, "Hold on tight." He said, to which Fluttershy pulled out the seat belt and attached it to the clicker.
The car gave a slow reverse, then its wheels got twisted to the right. Soon it run slowly forward, as it left the Police Station's parking lot and made its way on the main road. The car the made a right turn and run carefully on the road out of the town and towards Canterlot.
Meanwhile, on the valley, 9 miles away from Canterlot.
The sun was shining over the valley, but the clouds started to gather into a big supercell, which might soon cover the sky and rain down.
There, on the said valley, Twilight was standing near the demolished building, and watching Shadow's observing the valley with the help of his binocular. She had a look full of hope for the good news.
"Did you find anything yet?" She called out to him.
Shadow shook his head, as he was still scanning the surrounding area, "No, not yet." He answered.
Through the binocular, he gazed through the nearest woods, bushes, and rocks. He spotted a few houses which settled on the big distance from one another. Sighing, he took the binocular away from his face and shook his head again in disappointment, as he wasn't eager to check on every next building he spotted.
*LIGHTNING STRIKE*
Shadow was distracted by a sudden flash in the skies and a shudder thunderclap, as he looked up into the skies to see that the skies were now overcast. The light now turned into darkness, and that means that they need to stop their searching without even starting it. He then looked at Twilight and walked down to her, as the girl's eyes were gazing straight into the skies.
"At one hand, it's not good that we didn't find those who we are looking for." He spoke, making Twilight glancing at him curiously, "But on the other hand, it's good that we didn't find anyone yet."
Twilight became curious, "Why?" She asked, "You think that they might be roboticized?"
Shadow nodded, "Not only that." He answered as he looked at the distant hill, covered by woods, "The robots and the walking dead aren't the our only problems…" He and Twilight then looked at one another again, "Every time, when there's a disaster, or war, some social elements becoming antisocial. Desperate and frightened, they're forming into small gangs to create some form of order in all this anarchy, to promote some crimes, marauding, killing, and sometimes even cannibalism…"
Twilight gasped, "Cannibalism?" She asked a bit nervous, "Shadow, I don't think our people are capable of promoting something like cannibalism… I mean… there's a lot of food even outside of farms and food stores. We're veggies, after all." She said as she sighed, "I just hope, you're wrong." She said as she gave him a pleading eyes.
Shadow frowned deeply in response, "I hope that too." He answered.
*LIGHTNING STRIKE*
The two looked up at the skies as Twilight gasped herself sharply in suddenness. Shadow then looked at her down.
"Let's find ourselves the cover." He ordered as the two moved towards the woods.
Few minutes later, the two were near the massive tree, which was the reminsement of Twilight's old house back in Ponyville. As they walked at the tree, they gazed up to see a huge hole in the tree trunk. That was when the heavy rain started falling down on the ground, making both of them wet. Seeing no other choice, Shadow walked over to the trunk, and pressed his back against it as he turned to face Twilight and folded his hands on the level of his belt.
"Come up." He ordered. Twilight nodded as she quickly ran over to him and put her left hit on its hands, and her hands on his shoulders. She then nodded to him, as if saying that she's ready, and after nodding back, the Mobian pushed her up so she could get into the hole. The pony-girl grabbed the edge of the said hole and struggled to get into. Just as she was inside, she looked out to see Shadow, but only to see him backing away from the tree. She widened her eyes in surprise, but the answer came to her faster than she thought it will come.
Shadow took a running stance, before rushing at the tree. Just as he was near, he jumped on the tree trunk, and used his legs for pushing himself up the tree as if running on it. Just as he was on the level of the hole, he flipped into and landed inside. He then shook himself hard to shake off the water, and adjusted his now wet hair, which was lying against his head, back of the neck, and shoulders. He then looked at Twilight.
But only to see her gazing at him surprisingly. The violet alicorn-girl was sitting next to the exit of the hole, as she stared at her partner with her mouth opened ajar.
"You'll never cease to surprise me…" She commented.
Shadow just sat on the wooden surface, and pulled out this gun, "I thought you read my dossier." He noted, remembering one of the dialogues, to which Twilight become a little annoyed as she frowned.
"Your files didn't mention your acrobatic skills." She made another comment, a skeptical tone of her voice.
Shadow shrugged the gun shutter and put his gun on the ground, "I am a GUN top agent." He spoke, calmly, "Isn't that obvious that acrobacy, or martial arts are common in my case?"
Twilight widened her eyes, "I have never seen anyone trained to jump off a five hundred meters cliff, or literally running on the walls." She said, shocked, "How did you do that? That's abnormal even for Mobian."
Shadow shook his head instead of an answer, "There are things in this world, which isn't allowed for you to know… Even with your status." He answered simply as he shrugged, "Not my idea actually. I signed a contract with GUN, which disallowed me to speak openly about GUN training program. If you want to know, you can always ask Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna about it… I'm sure, they will share it with you."
Twilight, though, was still skeptical about it, as she then nodded reluctantly and looked outside.
"Alright." She said as she looked down on the ground, "I would never think that I will experience this again, to be honest."
"To experience what?" Shadow asked, lifting his eyebrow.
Twilight looked at him, "To rely only on my magic." She said as she formed a sad look on her face and lowered her head, "Before I got my wings, I was a usual unicorn…"
Shadow smirked and shook his head at Twilight's moment of nostalgia as he then leaned his head against his hand but stayed silent to listen to young princess.
"I find it ironic…" Twilight continued as she looked at Shadow, "My first adventure happened when I wasn't prepared for that… and now… it happened again and I am still not prepared for what I am about to meet there…" She finished her phrase by gazing out of the hole.
Shadow sighed, "What is that supposed to mean, Twilight?" He asked a he did an eye trick. Twilight smiled and chuckled a bit when he did that, as she then continued.
"I mean… after I got my wings I got used to all of my missions pacing so easy…" She said, as she then bent her legs, "And now with my wings broken I only had to rely on my magical knowledge and… and you…"
Shadow sighed again, "The story has an unhealthy option to repeat itself." He spoke as he hid his hands behind his head, "When you faced with something once in your life, it doesn't mean that it won't happen again."
Twilight became sad, "Does it ever happened to you?" She asked.
"Oooohhhh… it happened to me so many times that I have long since lost count." Shadow answered ironically as he smirked, "The recent attack on Equestria is something I wasn't prepared for at all. And now… I just felt myself too old for this shit."
Twilight chuckled a bit at his phrase, "Oh, come on… You don't look that old to me…" She said, "I'd say, you look even younger than Mobian royal representatives."
Shadow ceased to smile and gave her a dirty look, "Oh, that young?" He asked sarcastically, as he then pfff's, "Pffff… I'm flattered."
Twilight chuckled again, "By the way… I have never seen mobian males having their hair lying like the regular ones." She said friendly.
"I don't know how it works." Shadow answered as he closed his eyes, "All I know is when my hair getting wet, they're no longer look like quills and become more regular." He then opened one eye and looked at her, "You should know it better than me, considering your intelligence."
Twilight shrugged, "I've never interacted with a mobian this close before…. let alone a hedgehog before." She joked quietly as she then yawned, "Can I take a quick nap?" She asked as she rested herself on the wooden bottom and closed her eyes, to which Shadow sighed disapprovingly, but decided to give her a naptime.
"Sure." He said as he opened his eyes and crawled over to an exit hole, "I'll wake you up, when the rain is over."
"Thank you." Twilight whispered as she yawned again and slowly drifted to sleep. Seeing Twilight completely entrusted herself to her sleep, the dark mobian shook his head again in disapproval, knowing that it should've happened sooner or later. She's never been on a mission as hard as this particular one, so it's pretty clear that her organism wasn't prepared for the activity she exposes herself to. Though, he had to admit, he felt tired as well. It was the first time he went on a mission without any mean of transportation. It's been years since the last time when he used his super speed abilities. For the last seventeen years, the tactical choices were easy. If he's pursuing someone on transport, he uses the bike, if he shots on someone, he does it with his gun. But when the robots attacked Canterlot, he felt like he almost forgot how to use his own natural abilities, and he used it as if it was his first time again.
Sighing again, he gazed out of the hole, still holding his gun in left hand and watching attentively for the enemies' silhouette.
Meanwhile, in the basement.
Somewhere around the noon, in the buried cellar, Sonic, Silver, and AJ were spending their daytime with desperate attempts to clear the ladders. Silver was picking up the rocks one by one with the help of his powers, so he could levitate it into Sonic's hands, and Sonic then handed it to AJ, who carried the removed rocks behind the shelves with food. Rarity and RD had nothing to do anyways, so they were pretending the architects as they used the rocks to build something of it.
AJ threw the rocks right near Rainbow's legs, and then she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Phew…" She moaned, "More building material for you, girls."
Rarity chuckled, "It's about time, AJ, darling." She said jokingly as she put a small rock on the top of her newly built 'masterpiece', which was the resembles of the Canterlot castle, "I was just about to start building my Canterlot Boutique model." She said as she then looked at Rainbow, "Gosh… Good thing that Sassy Saddles now on Mobius…" She said with a small note of fear in her voice.
Rainbow scratched the back of her head, "Yeah, that true." She said a bit nervously, "As if she saw things coming and departed just a few days prior to the attack." she then picked up one of the stones and started playing with it by throwing it up and down by her hand, "Why are we doing this again?" She asked, not really knowing, why Rarity decided to spend her free time by making the models of the real life buildings, "It's not like the owners of this very house would need them, if and when they're back that is?" Rainbow said as she looked at Rarity.
The purple haired unicorn girl then sighed as she stood up, "Rainbow Dash, darling, my mind needs to be exercised at least five hours per day to remain stable and even." She said as she looked at Rainbow with her eyebrow lifted up, "Doing this helps me think less of what is happening up there, and if my parents and little sister are alive or not." She said a bit annoyed.
Rainbow grinned nervously, not liking when Rarity's getting nervous, "Ummm, I thought I told you that I saw them with Pinkie Pie, Starlight, and Sonic's brother Manic… I mean, come on, they're one hundred percent in the castle, where they can be protected 24/7." She said as she pronounced every word slowly and carefully to not make the fashion designer out of stable mind.
Rarity, though, went eye-narrowed, "And what if they're not?" She asked as she then returned to her work, "And I still don't know about my parents' status, since I wasn't there when everything happened." She said as she then took a deep breath in/out to relax herself, "Rainbow, darling, I am trying to stay positive, but all this darkness surrounding us for the last seven days doesn't help at all." She commented in her trademark lady like manner.
AJ shrugged, "Same here." She said as she then looked at Dash, "Why aren't you helping us anyways… It's not like Rarity needs your assistance."
Rainbow put her hands on her waist and gazed towards a certain blue hedgehog guy, "Ask Sonic the Great Caretaker." She said towards her boyfriend, who turned around sharply as he glanced questioningly at Dash.
"You're talking to me? Are…. you….talking…. to me?" He spoke in the manner of Travis Bickle, "I don't see anyone with a name like mine, so it turns out, you're talking… to me."
The girls rolled their eyes, "Oooohhhhh…" AJ moaned sarcastically, and then Rainbow Dash shot a smirk towards her boyfriend.
"Sonic, you're not good at impersonating the Taxi Driver." She said as she then winker, "But that sounded close… and sexy."
Sonic grinned at her, "I'm flattered." He said as he sent a wind, but only to winch in pain, "Yikes…" He moaned as he then rubbed the back of his head and turned around to see Silver's annoyed face, who was levitating a few rocks. Sonic sighed in response, as he then approached him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming… sorry, man." He said as he then reached out his hands. Silver then levitated a huge pile of rocks into Sonic's arms and returned back on clearing the exit ladders.
"We might free ourselves from this prison in a few moments, so let's not distract ourselves from the task in hand." Silver announced as he levitated a few more rocks. AJ then smiled and giggled as she approached him and reached out her arms to take a pile of rocks.
"It'd be faster if Rainbow Dash helped us." She noted as Silver then levitated the rocks into AJ's arms.
"Well it's not me who forbid her to do the physical work." He commented.
Rarity then smirked as she glanced at her boyfriend, "No, but you disallowed me to help you, guys." She said as she then fluttered her eyelashes. Silver scratched the back of his head.
"Well… you can replace me after a short period of time, if you want." He suggested as he then returned back to his work.
Sonic threw the pile of rocks on behind the shelves and shook off the dust of his arms and clothings.
"Jeez, I wish Knucklehead was here." He said as he walked back at Silver, "He may clean this whole cave in, in a few short moment." Sonic said as he looked up at the remaining rubble above him while wiping his brow of sweat.
Silver chuckled ironically as he lifted another pile of rocks, "Oh, yeah…" He agreed, "I never thought that I am going to miss him that much…" he then levitated the pile into Sonic's arms, "The wheelbarrows could help us, too, though." He noted as Sonic then carried the rocks back to the big pile.
Rainbow Dash grew curious, "Knucklehead?" She asked as she walked over to Silver, "Who is that Knucklehead you're talking about?"
"He's one of ours." Sonic answered instead as he walked over to his girlfriend and put an arm around Rainbow's waistline, making her throwing her curious look on him, "One of the main links of the entire Freedom Fighters group." He noted with a grin, "Well, after me, of course." He joked, making his girlfriend smirking as a reply of Sonic's sense of humor.
"Ahem…" Silver coughed as he gave a dirty look at Sonic, to which the blue hedgehog waved his arm.
"Oh, come on, man." He said as he walked closer and reached his arm for another pile of rocks, "It's not like you naturally believe that I'm being serious here." He said, before Silver levitated even a bigger pile than Sonic could handle, so the Mobian prince felt a severe heaviness and tension in the back, "Yikes." Sonic shrieked as he then turned away and carried the pile away. Silver then smirked and nodded himself as he resumed his work.
Rainbow Dash, though, was still curious, as she then glanced at Silver and approached him, "I don't remember you guys even mentioning him in your stories." She commented as her eyebrows arched in puzzlement. Hearing this, Silver sighed deeply and decided to take a short break from his duty, so he could explain it to her.
"Well, Rainbow Dash…" He started to explain as he scratched the back of his head, "It's hard to explain…"
"Knucklehead was given this peaceful life harder than any of us…" Sonic stepped in as he walked bent to Sonic and Dash, and having his left hand on the bottom of his back area, "Ooofff… Honey, can you help me?" He asked as he looked at Dash. Rainbow rolled her eyes as she then stepped behind Sonic and wrapped her arms around his torso. She then performed a strong push, making Sonic's back to crack, as the blue hedgehog then straightened up. He then sighed with relief and looked at Dash with a smile.
"Thanks." He said, as he then continued his story, "After the guys were awarded with these medals for their heroism, they tried to adapt themselves to this new world, and take their place in it. Knuckles opened an amusement park on his home and was a guide for curious tourists. He showed them the Master Emerald, the Caves, the Sky Sanctuary…"
"The Sky Sanctuary?" AJ asked as she walked over to the three, "But I thought that this place is a myth. Isn't it?"
Rarity then giggled as she stopped her modeling and decided to join her friends in conversation, "Says the girl who was in a cloud city." She said as she smirked at AJ, to which the farm girl frowned deeply.
"Hey, that's different." She argued, "The city built in clouds with the help of magic is one thing, but the city built in skies with no magic is completely different and impossible I might add." She then frowned, "And you're saying it as if you've seen this place yourself? Really?" She noted, to which Rarity looked triumphant. She then threw that look at her boyfriend.
"Silvy, darling, thank you so much for showing me this amazing place." She said to which Silver smirked proudly.
"No problems." He said, thus confirming AJ's guesses. The orange pony girl looked even more confused as she glanced towards both mobians.
"What?" She asked, "You mean, this place is actually real?"
Sonic shrugged, "You know… many things actually seemed like myth when you hear it first." He noted, "Angel Island, Chaos God…"
"Angel Island?" Rainbow Dash spoke up; "You mean… the giant floating piece of rock?"
Sonic grinned at her, "That's not just a piece of rock, Dashie." He spoke, "That's a literal Island, which have its own fauna, rivers, jungles, mountains…. and even ancient towns and temples. Many tourists would love to see it with their own eyes, and they'd pay any price to see it. That's how Knuckles thought, he could built his own future, but…" He then turned sad and sighed deeply, "... he just couldn't get used to that peaceful life at all."
"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.
Silver then continued for Sonic, "Well, after the war was ended, there have been numerous consultations with the psychotherapist for all of us." He started, "Sonic and I, as well as many others seemed fine, but Knuckles… since it was all over, he suffered heavy PTSD syndrome, and saw the evil in almost everything he sees. Even a slight snap of a finger could trigger him…"
Applejack was confused by this, "How so?" She asked, "Only the most serious injury could have caused him psychological damage. I know a lot about PTSD, Silver."
Silver continued, "Well, during our missions of eliminating robots, when we started to seem that Knuckles started recovering from his traumas… One of the robots…" He then cringed because of unpleasant memories, "Injured his left eye…" He then started rubbing one of his eyes as he remembered that picture before him… seeing one of his friends and teammates had a half of his face covered in blood.
Rarity become horrified by her boyfriend's story, "Oh my gosh…" She whispered in shock.
Rainbow Dash shivered, too, as she imagined how much it hurts apparently, "Sheesh… That's must be hurts a lot." She commented, to which Sonic gave her a worrying look.
"You cannot even imagine how…" He said, "He was yelling because of pain even after Tails gave him a painkiller… and then he passed out… In the hospital, the doctors did give him a surgery and make a robotic eye for him to replace the one which he lost, but he's still went insanely depressed since then. That and his PTSD illness made him so antisocial. He closed his business on Angel Island and since then… nobody saw him… I am not even sure if he's alive or not."
Applejack then cringed and grabbed her own neck by a left hand, "Whoa nelly…" She moaned, "This is just sad…"
"Yeah." Silver agreed as he then stood up as he decided to continue on his work, "Alright, the storytime is over, let's go back to work." He said as he levitated another pile of rocks. The others performed a group sigh and then Sonic, and AJ went over to Silver. The white colored mobian then levitated the piles of rocks into the arms of his friends, and then he turned to levitate another pile. That's when he saw a small piece of light trying to break through the boulders. Silver then gasped in excitement as he then threw the pile somewhere he didn't care.
"Guys, look." He called out to his friends, and hearing the strong note of excitement in his voice, they all ran over at him.
"What?" AJ asked.
"What happened, darling?" Rarity asked, as she then saw the light beam and gasped, too, "Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh, you made it!" She shouted with a smile, "You made it!"
"We made it!" Silver corrected her as he smirked, and reached out his arms, "Alright, guys, step back. We're about to move to another room." He said, as Sonic, Dash, and AJ then ran at another corner of the basement. Meanwhile, Rarity joined Silver in clearing their way up, as she charged her horn and soon the bright blue and purple auras surrounded the remaining pile of rocks and debris. It started moving up and soon, the light turned brighter, and Sonic, AJ, and Dash shield their eyes upon seeing the sunlight. Rainbow Dash then looked at the clear way out and smiled happily.
"The sunlight…" She exclaimed in a pure joy, "This is actually a sunlight."
"Hold on, guys." Silver announced, "Just a few more moments."
They then charged more powers to lift the debris up and levitate it away from the exit. However, that's when a few small boulders fell off the ceiling of the exit hole. Soon, the ground started shaking, making everyone confused. Soon their confusion switched to horror, as they saw that the rocks started falling with even bigger intensity.
"NOOOOOOO!" Rarity shouted as she lost her magical grip on the rocks, making Silver experiencing a hard tension as he had to keep the huge pile alone. He struggled hard to keep his concentration, but the pile was too big and too heavy.
"RARITY!" He shouted, "RUN!"
Rainbow Dash then gasped, "Oh, crap!" She shouted as she ran over to Rarity as fast as she could and dragged her away from under a pile, and just in time, because soon Silver lost his grip and fell on the floor, thus dropping the pile just a few inches away from him, thus making the ground shaking even harder. Collapse soon begun which piled their only way out, and not only that, it actually rolled into the basement room, thus making it even smaller. Silver managed to crawl away from the collapse, and soon met with his friends. The group of five continued watching helplessly how the only exit they had is covered by even a bigger pile of rocks. Soon the shaking died down, and the last stone fell off the ceiling.
They continued watching silently at the newly formed rockfall, before Rainbow Dash growled in frustration and kicked the rock with her left leg, but only to winced in pain as she then grabbed her own leg and sat on the floor. She started rubbing it to calm the pain down, as she formed a depressed look on her face. Silver then sighed.
"It must be the building's debris." He suggested.
"Yeah…" AJ agreed, "I assume that the blockage we tried to cleared out, supported even bigger pile of rocks from falling." She then walked over to her own spare bed. Sonic then walked over to his friend and patted Silver on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up.
"Man, you tried your best." He said, but Silver wasn't too enthusiastic.
"It still wasn't enough." He said sadly as he continued sitting on the stone floor with his eyes down. Sonic patted him on the shoulder again, as he then walked over to his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Rarity had a look of regret for her boyfriend and walked over to Silver as she sat on her legs behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Darling…" She called out to him in a whisper, but he didn't respond as he felt himself guilty for this very rockfall. Rarity then leaned over to his ear.
"Wanna take a relaxing bath?" She asked in a loving whisper, but Silver didn't seem to get his girlfriend's thoughts, as he just turned away.
"I can't see how bathing myself clean can help me clear out our way outta here." He said depressed, but Rarity knew how to clear off his depression.
"Even with my company?" She asked lovingly again, making Silver blushing. His eyes then became wide as he looked at his girlfriend, but only to see her staring at him lovingly as she then stood up and approached a high shield which is dividing the bath and the living zone. He then saw her stopping right before the bath and took off her mini dress, before glancing back at him over her right shoulder. She shot a smile at him, now standing only in panties, with her legs and upper body being uncovered, and then she stepped behind the dressing shield. Silver then felt his mood raised as he then smiled wearilly and stood up as he walked to join his girlfriend in bathing.
Meanwhile, Sonic squatted before Dash, and looked at her injured leg, "How's your leg?" He asked, to which Dash responded with a smile as she then straightened her leg and wriggled her toe.
"It's fine…" She said, "At least I think so… *sigh*... It's ironic… I never had so many injuries in such a short period of time."
Sonic then sat next to her and laid his hands on her exposed leg as he started rubbing it, "Pfff… yeah…" He agreed with her as the two then looked at the pile of rocks.
"Now we have to start it all over…" Sonic noted as he had a strong note of displeasure in his voice, which Dash completely shared with him.
Somewhere in Equestria.
The police car was slowly running on the road which was lying through the highly dense forest. There was no lights all across the concrete road, but thanks to the daylight, the driver could see where he was running. Miles had an extremely tired look on his face as he tried to keep his tight grip of the car's wheel. His eyes were narrowed, and even had some redness in them due to a lack of sleep.
Fluttershy was bored by the landscape observed by her outside of the window's glass, and, though, the car had a concealing and sheltered feeling to it, she kinda missed the fresh air. Sighing, she turned to her friend, and saw him highly focused on the road and controlling the car.
"Miles?" She gently whispered to him.
"Hmmm?"
"You've been quiet for hours…" Fluttershy said again.
Miles looked at her with a corner of his eye, "I am driving the car in a case if you didn't notice." He said as he then looked at the road before him, "You want to talk?"
Fluttershy sighed, "I am just so boring." She said wearily, "This boredom makes me so… *yawns*... exhausted." She then smiled, "Tell me something."
Tails smiled intuitively, as if feeling her smile, "What you want me to tell you?" He asked kindly.
"Anything." Fluttershy answered, "Anything you want."
Miles chuckled a bit, "I think I already told you too much of my life…" He then had an idea as he glanced at her, "Hey, maybe you tell me something about you?" He asked as he then looked at the road, "Like… How did you get yourself involved into such a crazy life?"
Fluttershy giggled charmingly as she rested her head on the back of the passenger's front seat.
"You really want to hear it?" She asked, "That's pretty boring and… awkward…" She said as she had a slight blush.
"Something juicy?" He asked a bit jokingly, making Fluttershy awkward.
"Stop that." The girl said as she giggled again, "You're making me embarrassed."
Miles then formed an envious smile as he looked at her, "So my guessing was right?" He asked as he nudged his eyebrows up and down, to which Fluttershy gasped, as she then shoved him lightly on the shoulder for even suggesting illicit thoughts.
"You fool!" She said jokingly, as she then turned away and looked out of the window. Miles then shook his head as he looked forward and twisted a wheel lightly on the left.
"I was kidding." He said as he fell silent again. Fluttershy was silent at first, as she thought of where she should start, and then she gazed upon him, and smiled more as she then spoke.
"I was a model in Rarity's boutique for a short period of time…" She said, making Miles widening his eyes as she then took a quick gaze at her and saw her smile, "Rarity love making fashion experiments, and she asked me to be her model for this… and… I said yes, and… she took a few photos… *blushes and turns away*... when these photos were spotted by a famous photographer, she asked me to go on to Canterlot for a full time job as a fashion model…"
Miles shook his head to recover from this as he then looked at the road before him, "You want me to be honest here?" He asked, making Fluttershy looking at him, "It's no surprise there…"
Fluttershy turned curious, "What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well… I mean… you have everything you need to be an actual model, if you want my opinion." He answered, knowing well enough that she's got a great voluptuous body on her as well as beautiful face along with a head of gorgeous, smooth, pastel pink lochs that ran down her lower backside, "Just being honest here, no more…" He tried to clarify his own words,
The pony girl couldn't help, but giggled, as she then adjusted a flick of her hair, "Thank you…" She said shyly, "I appreciate that. I mean… ummm… really appreciate that."
"You're welcome…" He said as they then made a turn on the road. But once out of a turn when the trees are out of sight, they saw a massive blockage which cuts their path forward. The fox guy and the pegasi girl became shocked by what they saw, but continued on running their car.
"What?" Fluttershy said meekly frightened. Of all the options they had, she'd rather prefer to stay in the car, rather than continuing their way on her own two feet.
"What the actual heck?!" Miles pronounced his displeasure, as he then stopped the car right before the blockage, consists of a few huge trucks lying on the road. When the car stopped, he grabbed his cane, and opened the front door. He then made two cautious steps and went out. He limped slowly towards the blockage and stopped a few meters before the car. He observed the sudden obstruction by trying to see if they can ran their car through, but sadly, he couldn't see any way through. He then leaned against his cane, as he remained unmoved for some period of time.
Fluttershy was still in the car. She looked sorrowful and depressed by the fact that just at the time when they got a real chance to get to Canterlot safe, life threw another rock at them. She started thinking if it was because of her and was it her karma. However, much to her fear, another misfortune had occurred. The car's engine started 'coughing'. The yellow pony gasped in fear, as she then glanced at the dashboard. The car started shaking lightly, before its engine finally died. After the cough sounds resulted into the engine's malfunction, she started breathing heavily and shivers run down her spine on and on. Her eyes then ran across the area where they were as if looking subconsciously for a threat. However, all she saw was the dense jungle like thickets.
She then moved to the driver's seat and peeked out of the car, "Miles…" She called out to her friend.
Hearing the voice of his friend, Tails looked back at her over his left shoulder, a curious look on his face. Seeing a frightened look on Fluttershy's pretty face, he turned worried and limped back to their car.
"What is it?" He asked, concerned, as he walked up to the transport, "What is it, Fluttershy?" However, he soon realized, why she was so scared, because he heard no sounds from engine. Glancing at the front side of the car, Miles rolled his eyes in annoyance and smacked himself on the face by the left hand.
"Awww great!" He grumbled, as he then sat on the driver's seat, making Fluttershy to move back to the passenger's seat as she bent her legs on her left hand side. Tails then dropped the cane on the concrete ground and buried his face in his hands.
"That's what I was afraid of…" He said desperately, "It'll take a time to fix it. And we don't have very much time… Shit!" He then turned back to his pony friend, but only to freeze dead as he saw her shivering and hugging herself with both arms. He then moved to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey… hey, hey… easy there, Fluttershy…" He said softly, "You're shivering…"
"I'm…" Fluttershy weeps softly, "S-s-s-cared…" she whimpered pitifully.
"I know… I know, you're scared, but please, don't be…" Tails tried to comfort her by massaging her shoulder, "Please, Fluttershy."
The mare then jumped on the top of him and clinged to him tightly, as she buried her face into his shoulder.
"Ooofff…" Miles ooofff'd, as he wrapped his arms around her, "It's okay, it's okay… Fluttershy…"
"I don't want to go on walking…" The pegasi girl cried, "It's too dangerous… I couldn't take it anymore." She wrapped her arms more tightly around her friend's neck, as if her heart told her that he might be her only protection. Miles ran his fingers through her smooth pastel pink hair trying to calm her down.
"I know, it's dangerous, and I am… I share your fear…" He said softly, "I am just as scared as you…" Tails said as he secretly wished Sonic was here due to his injury. He knew that he couldn't protect himself and her, when his leg is still not fully functional, and one of his tails as well.
Fluttershy then tilted her head and looked into his eyes, "But you're not even shivering." She said as she shed some tears. In response, the mobian fox smiled at her and used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. He then caressed her temples as he thought that it will help to calm her down.
"My heart is racing now, if you're interested." He said sarcastically, making Fluttershy pffft and smile. His sarcasm is indeed a powerful weapon to rise someone's mood.
"I believe you." She said softly and then she hugged him again and clinged to him, which he gladly returned. Fluttershy then turned sad again and opened her eyes to look around.
"But… we really have no other choice?" She asked, wondering if they have another option for continuing their journey.
Miles sighed sadly, as he caressed her hair, "I'm afraid we don't." He answered as they then separated their hug and looked at one another, "I know how scared you are, but we have to keep moving." he said as the two then looked at the jungle forrest, "The forest may look creepy, but… this is the perfect place to play some hide and seek with these robots." He said a small rasp in his voice because of weariness.
Fluttershy shivered again, "I'm not sure." She said, "Even if without the robots, this forest has a lot of other scary things we could met with." They then looked at one another, "Jaguars, Ursa Major, Hydras, venomous snakes, quicksand…." She said a little rumble in her voice.
The fox guy sighed, "Still… it's easier to confront with them than with The Walking Dead. If we walk across the road, sooner, or later we may face with these metal killing machines, and unlike last night, we won't have a chance to stand against them." He concluded as he then took her by the hands and looked deeply into her eyes;
"We… got… to try!" He said softly and slowly, trying to convince his companion than there's no other way.
Fluttershy was still reluctant of agreeing with him, so she then threw her one last gaze towards the forest.
Meanwhile, in the basement.
The company of five could be seen lying on the separate beds, all of them in a state of an absolute despair. Silver and Rarity were in the arms of one another as usual, their heads dropped, their arms are, seemingly disabled and capable of holding only one another, rather than rocks. Sonic and Dash were in a familiar state, with the difference is that Sonic was capable of removing bandages from Dash's injured wing to check on if her wound is healed or not. Applejack was curled up. Her legs were bent as she was hugging them tightly with both arms and her head is resting on her knees. Her face was sad and desperate.
"I never thought that I am gonna die this way." She said, desperate, "I thought I would die old, in a warm bed, surrounded by my children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and great, great, grandchildren and watching my favorite TV-show… *sigh*..."
Rarity then looked at her friend, "I am absolutely share your feelings, Applejack darling." She said, in a tone, similar to Applejack's. The farm girl looked at her friend, as she gave a skeptical look.
"You at least will die in the arms of your boyfriend, Rarara…" She grumbled at Rarity, much for the fashionista's dirty look as she then humphed and turned away.
Sonic, meanwhile, took off Dash's bandages and checked on her wing. He saw that the bullet hole is almost healed and touched the injured area. Feeling her boyfriend's hands on her wings, and touching her injury, Dash cringed a bit and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Ow." She whispered, to which Sonic stopped touching her injury. He then crossed his arms around his chest and smirked towards his girlfriend.
"Now try to move your wings, please." He said.
Dash opened her eyes and took a sitting position. She used her hands to cover her breasts, and spread her wings. She waved them gently and smiled as she felt no pain. She then looked at her boyfriend.
"It doesn't hurt anymore." She said a small note of enthusiasm in her voice, but Sonic didn't say anything in response as he continued on smirking. Dash then turned confused at this.
"Why are you staring at me like this?" She asked a bit annoyed, to which the blue hedgehog grinned widely, as he then moved closer.
"I think I saw something on your chest…" He said, making Dash blushing, "Can you, please spread your arms, so I can check it?" He asked with a sneer. Dash blinked her eyes a few times, but then she smirked at him back and push him away by her left hand, while her right hand was still covering her solid sized breasts.
"Oh, back off." She said jokingly, as she then grabbed the blanket and covered herself. Sonic then chuckled at this as he stood up. He then walked towards the blockage and frowned deeply in frustration. He then growled and stared at the shelves with food. He then put his hands on the belt.
"At least we still have a lot of food." He said, trying to be optimistic, as he turned to face with his friends, "So far, this is the only good thing we have." He said as he put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the situation.
"Yeah…" Silver agreed, as he narrowed his eyes, "We can hold up for a couple of months before we get rescued…"
"Oh, no darling…" Rarity grumbled as she took a sitting position and looked at her boyfriend with a frown on her face; "No couple of months… I want us all to get free as soon as possible." She said as she looked at the others, a look of desperation on her face "Darlings, we don't have to give up. We gotta try harder." She said through naive expectations.
Rainbow Dash looked at her skeptically, "Rarity, I saved you once, but don't think that I'd save you again from being buried under heavy rocks." She said, covering her chest by the blanket, "Our attempt to clear the blockage ended with a cave in, which buried the half of a basement, and we're elementary out of place here." She then sighed and looked understandingly at her, "I share your desire to get out of here, but let's be realistic. We gotta think of plan B, rather than stepping on the same tracks."
Rarity sighed deeply, as she gave up with motivating, "I guess, you're right, Rainbow darling." She said as she then collapsed on the bed, and closed her eyes, "I feel like I'm going insane from all this darkness."
Silver sighed as he then moved closer to her and started caressing her head, "We'll make sure you won't, honey." He said softly, as he then looked at the blockage, "I think after I'll take a rest, I will return to cleaning our way through." He said with a confidence in his voice, but Sonic then reached out his arms and shook his head.
"No, no, no, man." He said, as he walked closer, "Don't risk your life. We can't be sure that another cave in won't happen." He then walked into a center of the room and looked around, "So let's find another way out of here. It's a bomb shelter. They certainly provided a back door."
Applejack then looked at him, "What makes you think so?" She asked.
The blue mobian prince the walked up to one of the walls and started exploring it, "Our old base was also located underground." He started, "It had great protection from the outside, but just in the case if Eggman succeeds to get in, we built the backdoor so we could retreat." He then knocked on the wall, "Otherwise, we would just get pounded into a trap." As he then leaned the side of his head, so his right pointy ear that rested on top of his skull would hear if it was hollow.
AJ, and RD looked at one another, then they exchanged glances with Rarity, and then with Silver. The white colored hedgehog then sighed deeply and looked at Sonic, being skeptical.
"It's not like the civilians could think of such idea, but…" He said as he then smiled and stood up, "What the hell, I say… let's check these walls out." He then walked up to one of the walls and started checking them on the subject of the back door. The girls were confused at first by the behavior of the boys, but then Rarity and AJ decided to join them, as they felt a slight spark of hope in their hearts.
Rainbow Dash, though, was too nude at the moment to help them out, so she then chuckled herself, proud of her boyfriend's intelligence and optimism, and then she threw off the blanket and grabbed her shirt. She then pulled it on, when suddenly… a water drop fell on her nose. Dash froze for a moment, as she then used her left hand finger to wipe off a drop, and then she looked up at the floor, but only to see the drops falling down from there. She then gasped as she thought that this is a good sign, and looked at the others.
"Guys, look." She called out to them, making Sonic, Silver, AJ, and Rarity facing her.
"What?" AJ asked.
Rainbow then used her left hand to point at the ceiling. The others looked at where she was pointing and saw the ceiling is dropping. Sonic then widened his eyes.
"No way…" He said in awe.
"Tell me that this means that we're basically under the open area." AJ suggested, with a strong note of a hope in her voice, "I mean, no trees, rocks and debris… and… things…"
"I hope so." Silver said as he then flared up and covered himself with a bright blue aura, "We gotta find out where the water is coming from." He said as he soared up to the ceiling. He hung under the concrete ceiling structure, and checked on the water movement trail, to see where it comes from. Soon, he noticed a small hole on the left side, and looked through. He then gasped as he widened his eyes.
"I see it…" He shouted to the others, "The sunlight…"
Applejack then shrieked in happiness; "Tell me… tell me that what it looks like." She begged him with a smile, and her voice filled with relaxation, "No, wait, please don't tell it. Let me see it instead."
Sonic then chuckled, "AJ, it's not like you can get through." He said, looking up, "You think we can punch our way out, Silver?" He asked his friend, though Silver turned skeptical about this plan.
"We can, but I'm afraid, it may cause another cave in, that might kill us instantly." He said as he the looked down, "But the tube comes outside."
"How we didn't even see it before?" Rarity asked, shocked, "It was above us all the time while we were here."
AJ then looked at her, "Maybe it was covered by the debris which blocked the previous exit?" She asked as she scratched the back of her head, "It makes sense if thinking…" She said as she then shrugged.
Rarity shook her head, "Whatever." She said as she looked up at her boyfriend, "Silvy, darling. What do you think? Can we give this tube any use?" She asked him.
The hedgehog guy pondered over her words for a moment, "Well… We could try to give someone a signal… some sort of a note, I guess." He suggested as he then landed on the floor next to his friends, "We gotta find something thin enough to squeeze through." He concluded, to which Sonic smirked.
"It's like having sex with your girlfriend, right?" He asked jokingly.
"Ahem!" Rarity and Rainbow Dash both coughed in displeasure as they frowned at their boyfriends. Silver, though looked confused.
"What?" he asked, facing with his girl, "I didn't say anything. It's all Sonic's metaphor."
Sonic just waved it off, "Anyways…" He said as he looked up, "If we can push the note of help through this tube, we may have a chance that someone will find us. We're all VIP's, so it's more than clear that Celestia, and Shadow are searching for us." He shrugged with optimistic fashion.
Rainbow Dash turned confused again, "Ummmm… it's kinda clear about Celestia, but… what's with this Shadow dude?" She asked, as she opened her left arm as a sign of puzzlement.
Sonic smirked as he walked over to his separate bed, and collapsed on it, "Simple." He spoke, "He's a GUN agent, and GUN's protocol demands to search for the royalties in the case of their disappearance. I am royalty, and my brother is in Canterlot right now, so he may put some pressure on Shadow to start the search immediately." He finished as he scratched his torso.
Silver then put his hands on his own belt, "That makes sense, actually." He said a bit confused, "But I'm still not sure how long it take for him to find us…"
Rarity then sighed sadly, "I wish Twilight went on to searching for us." She said sadly, as she looked at AJ, "We could make a telepathic connection with one another…"
AJ turned sad as well, "Yeah… But I am not sure that Celestia would let her go outside even with thousand of guards around her." She concluded as they then looked up at the ceiling to see the water drops falling.
Meanwhile, outside.
The rain was over, and the rescuers resumed their rescue mission. Shadow had his Desert Eagle in left hand and kept his eye on Twilight, who was standing near ruined building, surrounded by a violet aura. Her eyes were closed and her horn is charged, as she tried hard to catch Rarity's signal. But it was useless. Sighing deeply, she ceased to use her magic and opened her eyes. Looking at Shadow, she shook her head slowly, a sad look on her face.
"Nothing." She said.
Shadow frowned in response, "Then let's keep moving." He said sternly, as the two then went for another building, "We gotta find them at any cost."
"I agree with you completely on that." Twilight agreed with him as she was walking on his right hand side, "But… It annoys me so much. We checked on five ruin buildings today, but… we didn't find any sign." She then looked at him up, "How much we gotta scan before we finally get closer to anything?"
"As much as we have to, Princess." The dark mobian answered with confidence, "Our case doesn't give us much margin for error. One small mistake, and we may not find them alive."
Twilight sighed deeply again, "If you think they're alive… They're somewhere there, together?" She asked as she looked up at him, "Do you?"
"I sincerely hope so." Shadow answered, as he looked at her, "Better to find them all at once, otherwise, we have to keep looking, and it may take more time."
"One of my friends, Fluttershy, she was flying to Canterlot with this guy… Mobian aircraft and electronic playboy. Miles Tails Prower." Twilight started, "They were flying back to canterlot on the helicopter."
Shadow then stopped his way, "From where?" He asked, as he wanted her to be more specific on this topic.
Twilight then sat on the rock, "From the Miles Electronics new factory which is supposed to be opened later this week… straight after the Championship's end." She said as she rested her head on her left hand, "It's ironic, because before visiting the stadium, I had a meeting with Dr Prower in his Canterlot office."
Shadow looked confused by this, "May I ask why?" He asked, "You're a princess, not a business woman."
Twilight chuckled a bit, "I supervise technological development in Equestria, and this is me who approves, or disapproves the introductions of the foreign companies' new contracts." She said with a smile, "I even invited him on a dinner to please him with my consent of his offer of cooperation." She said as she then turned sad, "Fluttershy is a head of environmental commision which was supposed to check on factories and see if everything goes according to Equestrian ecological standards."
Shadow went intrigued, "And?"
"And the last time when I spoke to her, she said that she was flying with him on his helicopter." Twilight continued as she looked at him up. The dark hedgehog then sat right next to her on the rock, and kept listen to her silently.
"She said that she approves Doctor Prower's factory opening, and said that she's flying back to Canterlot." Twilight spoke, "She forgot her purse back on the factory and had to go back to take it. I just hope that she's safe."
Shadow sighed deeply, as he then lowered his head. He now learned that he may have even more work to do even after he will find Sonic and the others. That's what the order says.
"Looks like I have a lot of work to do in a future." He said, making Twilight looking at him, "I have orders to find all your friends and Mobian heroes. Damn… Luna won't be happy with this…"
Hearing Luna's name, Twilight turned confused, "Luna?" She asked, "Princess Luna? You're talking about Princess Luna, right?"
Shadow looked at her and shook his head, "Let's get moving." He said a bit sternly, "It's getting dark. We gotta find a place for a night." He then stood up, "Are you coming?"
Twilight, though, was still looking at him questioningly. She was intrigued when she heard Luna's name few out of Shadow's mouth, as well as she didn't get of why she's supposed to be angry. But then she thought that it's not really matter, but this idea really stuck in deeply in her mind. She then stood up, still giving a suspicious look to Shadow, as the two resumed their further journey.