Let There Be Chaos

by Blockheadgreen1189

Mobius and Equestria are continents separated by an ocean. After fifteen peaceful years since a terrible villain Dr. Eggman was defeated, the anxiety and fear return back to lives of our heroes, as the strange events occurring on the planet. Our heroes and heroines must again remember the good old fight days and to take the situation under control. REVIEW, PLEASE!

23. The Untouchables

Chapter # 23 - The Untouchables.

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Somewhere in Everfree Forest.

Miles was spending his time walking back and forth across Zecora's in a heavy limping fashion, as he was groaning to himself in slight pain he witnessed in his injured leg. It's been early morning, though, he woke up earlier than Fluttershy, and Zecora, though, that was all due to the fact that he fell asleep earlier than they both. So while they were sleeping, he decided to use it as a moment to train his leg. Limping wasn't that heavy anymore, yet, it still prevented him from running. He made a few more circles around the cough in the zebra's living room, before he made his way to sit on the top of this very couch.

As he sat, he looked at the walking cane and picked that up to think what he should do with it. The steel was good and tough, so he could redo it so he could use it as a secret weapon. He hmm'd in his train of thought as he continued his observation of the cane. It was one meter long, pretty heavy, almost perfectly balanced steel made stick with a handle on the top of it. A few people may suspect that there is a knife inside of it, or maybe even a laser weapon.

Meanwhile, the door into the bedroom got opened, and a sleepy but smiley Fluttershy, dressed in a night robe and soft slippers, paced slowly out of the room and yawned tenderly as she blinked her eyes a few times. She then threw her arms up to stretch herself up. As she did that her eyes got opened again as she breathed out her pleasure of finally having slept in a normal soft bed.

She looked towards the couch, and couldn't help but smile happily upon seeing her friend observing something. She giggled at the picture and tiptoed to him. As she ran at him, she quietly wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

The sudden feeling of someone's soft arms around him, made the fox-guy stop his observation and throw his curious gaze at the girl who hugged him. He smiled as he saw her laughing turquoise eyes, and a bright snow white smile on her lips. He winked at her in response.

"Good morning to you, too." He said as if her embrace wasn't a big deal. Fluttershy uttered a tiny giggle as she then tiptoed round the couch, and sat next to her friend as she looked at the cane.

"Good morning, Miles." She said a quiet, but happy tone in her voice, "How did you sleep?"

"Like an infant in a crib." Tails answered a satisfied tone in his voice as he then collapsed on the couch and spread his limbs to the sides, "It's been awhile since I slept like that." He then looked at her, "You?"

Fluttershy nodded, "Same." She answered, "Zecora allowed me to use the spare bed in her room."

Tails sighed as he then returned into a sitting position; "Is she still asleep?" He asked.

The pony-girl ceased to smile and bit her lower lip, "Ummm… she wasn't in her bed when I woke up." She answered; "Maybe she left to see the paths through the jungle, I guess."

The Mobian looked a bit confused by that; "That's weird that she didn't left any notes." He commented on that.

"I know, but… that's Zecora for you." Fluttershy reassured him as she put a hand on Miles' shoulder; "Sometimes she does things that we may find weird."

Tails shrugged; "Alright." He answered as he then smiled again at her, "How's your wings?"

Instead of an answered, Fluttershy smiled as she gently opened her butter yellow wings and waved then softly a few times.

"It's not hurt anymore." She said; "I think it's finally healed."

"That's good." Miles noted as he then returned his eyes back to his cane; "I wonder if I could give it a use."

His actions sparked some curiosity on the cute face of a pony-girl, as she then moved closer and rested her legs on the top of the couch as she bent them. She then leaned her head on the shoulder of Miles, as she used her hands to wrap it around his shoulders and chest, so she had a comfortable view on his walking cane.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Inventing." Tails responded a bit sarcastically, "My limping is no longer as heavy as it used to be yesterday, but I don't want to throw it off or let it be a hindrance either for the rest of the journey." He then raised it to the face level, and spun it by his left hand's fingers, "I think I can give a good use for that."

"You wanna make a weapon?" Fluttershy asked and then their eyes met as the fox-guy proudly smirked.

"Sort of." He started, "Just imagine if someone's tries to catch us, they see me using a walking cane while I walk, and then all of a sudden… BANG… they get hit." He then ceased to smirk as he looked at the cane, "But that won't be easy. The cane is wide enough to put the processor and sensors inside, though, it still will be hard and difficult to make it unspotted."

Fluttershy smiled and giggled over his enthusiasm, "I think you will find a proper way." She commented, to which Miles smirked again as he looked at her.

"Thank you." He said, as the two then heard the sound of the door opening. They both wiped off their smiles and looked curiously towards the entrance door, and saw Zecora coming in, grinning friendly at the two.

"Ahhh, the sun is giving such a sight… I hope you both had a good night." She said to them as she stood in front of them. Fluttershy then let go of her friend, as she then stood up from the couch.

"I was waiting for so long to get a night's sleep on the soft and warm bed. Thank you, Zecora." She said, a grateful tone in her voice. Zecora winked at her as she then looked at Miles and saw him holding a walking cane.

"I assume, your wound is still not healed." She assumed as she sat next to him, to which the fox-guy replied with a shrug.

"It certainly feels better than it did yesterday, that's for sure." He commented on her question as he then looked at the walking cane he held in his hands; "It still hurts though to walk on it, unassisted."

Zecora put a hand on his shoulder, "The potion is for quickening the heal, but the instance is not concealed." She explained, "The more you walk, the better your leg will be. But it does not mean that you can run free."

Tails sighed again as he said; "Still better than a week ago." He remarked as he then stood up with a little struggles, and walked in circles a few times while making some comments about his recent health condition, "I just hope that I don't get any emergencies further in the rest of my journey?"

The expression on Fluttershy's face became worried; "I still think that I should go with you." She said, "No one knows what expects you there and if you could get away with it, or not on your own."

Miles then looked at her as he continued walking, "Fluttershy, we have already discussed it." He answered, "I don't want to risk your life any further…."

"But you're ready to risk your own life yourself?" Fluttershy interrupted him with a sharp question as she frowned slightly, "That's suicide. You need help."

On that, the mobian stopped his circles, and looked at his friend, "Look, this isn't the first time when I am going through this whole dangerous minefield myself, and trust me… it used to be worse than that, and I… I was in a more difficult situation than just injuring my leg…" He tried another attempt to convince her, "But I always got out of it, no matter how it was… just trust me on that."

Fluttershy then formed a sad look on her face as she walked over to him, "Miles, please do not." She said in a pleading manner, as she put her hand on his shoulders, making him a bit confused, and excited somehow, "You don't want me to go to you so much? You don't like my company?"

"What?" Miles asked as he blushed a bit, though, "No, I love your company, but… how can I risk your life?"

Fluttershy passionately breathed out, "And I cannot risk yours." She said a moment before she passionately kissed him on the lips, to which he widened his eyes because it was way too sudden for him. He could feel her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her body is trying to emerge with his own, but he tried his best to resist her persuasion. Soon he gave up and accepted her kiss as they both then fell onto the guests couch, as Fluttershy then sat on Miles' laps, as she continued kissing him as she then felt his arms wrapped around her body and how tightly he held her.

Zecora was watching the two of them making out with a shocked look on her face, but she then shrugged indifferently at that and shook off her own clothing as she was left completely exposed. She then smiled as she walked over to the two to join them in their session.

"Miles?" Tails heard his name pronounced by Fluttershy's voice. That snapped him out of his trance and brought him back to reality as he then shook his head hard, to wipe off the excited smile on his face. He looked around to see himself standing there in the middle of the room, still dressed and unkissed, and then he looked towards the females to see them standing near the guests couch and staring at him quizzically.

"Are you feeling okay?" Fluttershy asked him again as she then walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "You seemed like you were in trance?"

Tails' lips arched in an arc as his eyes ran across the room when he scratched the back of his head; "Ummm, yeah… I'm… fine… I… just…" He mumbled awkwardly, "... was… thinking…that's… all"

Fluttershy and Zecora exchanged looks with one another to find the answer inside the eyes of one another, but only shook their heads as they looked at Miles again.

"Thinking about what?" Zecora asked.

Miles chuckled, "Nevermind." He said as he grabbed his walking cane and strolled towards the kitchen room, "Let's figure out how to make it a weapon." He mumbled as he limped inside the kitchen and disappeared from the sight of the girl and the woman. The ponies then looked at one another again, and Zecora then smirked a bit.

"What a funny guy he is." She remarked, to which Fluttershy giggled a bit.

"Yeah, he is… a very funny guy." She agreed with her friend.

"Shouldn't you give him a kiss?" Zecora teased her pegasi friend again, making Fluttershy embarrassed as she then gasped deeply and tried to hide a face behind her hair.

"Why should you say that?" She asked as she had a shiver in her voice.

"I may be a lone soul for quite awhile." Zecora answered, "But I see when a woman wants a man to lit her fire." She said as she then winked and walked over to her own room. Being left alone, Fluttershy continued standing in the middle of the room, still hiding her face behind her own hair, her wings wide open, and her face apparently having a massive redness, which she couldn't hide even if she wanted to. Though, this very moment was one of the most memorable moments in her life, as she admitted secretly that she wanted him to light her fire. Though, at first, she didn't know why it was supposed to be him.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest, halfway from Canterlot to Ponyville.

The two travelers already said their goodbyes to the Cakes family, and J. K. Yearling, and were now on their way towards an open meadows to see more buildings and structures where Twilight's friends could be hiding now. The two of them were walking safely and slowly, as they were carefully looking around in a search of the walkers who were here last night in big numbers. Shadow was walking first and had his gun in his left hand, followed by Twilight who was just a few steps behind him.

"That's extremely odd." Twilight commented quietly, "Last night they were everywhere, but now there is no any signs of them."

"Yes." Shadow agreed with her, as the two of them stopped behind the tree, "But we got to use it as a moment and go until we meet them." He then looked at her and frowned, "They're reacting at noise at any case, so it's better for the both of us to shut up, or speak quietly."

Twilight frowned at him back, "Hey, easy there." She whispered, "I didn't say anything rude to you."

"What was so rude about what I just said?" Shadow asked as he looked from behind the tree, seeing no threat, he looked at Twilight and nodded towards the meadow. She nodded in return and walked out of their hiding spot. Shadow followed her shortly after. Just as the two of them left the forest, they made their way to the east to find another damaged structure.

"You told me to shut up." Twilight stated, still speaking in a whisper, to which Shadow still remained calm.

"I didn't pronounce it as an order." The hedgehog clarified.

Twilight ugh'd in response, as she then turned away and fixed her eyes on the road before her; "I'll just make a look that I didn't hear anything." She said as she then looked at him over her left shoulder; "Shadow, may I ask you an honest question?" She asked, as she sounded unamused.

"What is it, Princess?" He asked, as he prepared for something stupid.

"Would you leave the Cakes behind and sacrifice them to the Walkers just to make sure that I was safe?" She asked as she then stopped her walk, and turned to face him, making him stop his way. The mobian then put his hands on his own waist, as he did his favorite trich with his eyebrows.

"Do you realize that the GUN protocol is required to ensure the safety of royal representatives prior to the commons?" Shadow asked a bit annoyed, "You are a highest priority object to be secured, despite all the powers you have, but… the protocol also requires to ensure the safety of the commoners in the case of meeting with them so if I should, I'd tie you up to my own back if I have to take care of both you and the commoners. Understood?"

Twilight barked quietly at this, but decided not to give him another sentence of hers and just turned away and she continued on her path. She just wants this mission to be over as soon as possible. Shadow just followed her shortly after that, without having any particular word to say, though, he had to admit, that despite her discipline her misbehavior is extremely frustrating from time to time.

Meanwhile, in the Jungle, Zecora's house.

Since the clocks showed a midday time, and all the morning gave its way to the actual daytime, a certain two tailed fox-guy could be seen packing food given by Zecora into his bag, as he was sitting on the couch with his bag lying next to him unzipped. The radar was charged, the ammo was in the gun, so he looked fully prepared for the long journey ahead, at least until he reaches Ponyville, where he could also ask some requests for help.

Not all of the presenters were okay with his decision to continue this travel alone. Fluttershy looked both worried and irritated by this, as he was walking back and forth from one corner of the room to another corner, as she tried to understand why exactly he refused to take her with him. Though, she looked more worried than irritated.

"That's not good." She muttered, "That's definitely not good…"

Miles heard her perfectly, "Why should I repeat myself over and over?" He asked as he looked at her to see how she was still wandering around the living room, "Fluttershy, could you just accept my decision now?"

Fluttershy stopped her wanderings as she gifted him with her pretty eyes, "Miles, I can't let you go alone." She said, "That's just… doesn't seem right." She then frowned, "You promised me to take me to Ponyville, remember?"

Tails frowned in return, "When I gave you a promise, I didn't know that we'll meet your friend, who could give you a roof over your head and walk you to your home safe and sound." He said as he then gave her a look of regret; "You gave all you can to help me survive in these jungles and this forest, but… I don't want you to risk your life further for someone you barely know and just met." He said softly as he then turned away and looked into his bag, as he then zipped it, "It will be better for the both of us, if you just stay here, and wait hopefully until this whole thing blows over."

Fluttershy ceased to frown as she then walked over to him and sat on the couch next to him, "Miles, remember what I told you, that… I can't let my friends expose themselves to danger." She said as she then put a hand on his shoulder, "Yes, I indeed barely know you, but… I have this feeling…" She said softly, making her friend to look at her, "... that I knew you for most of my life." She then sighed and lowered her head, "I would never forgive myself knowing that I let you go to a certain death." She spoke quietly as a single tear poured down on her cheek.

Seeing this, the mobian felt sorry for her, "Look…" He said as he put a hand on her shoulder, but just like that time when they buried a certain Wonderbolt officer, the pegasi-girl suddenly hugged him tightly and nuzzled against him as if not wanted to let him go alone at least.

"Don't go there, please." She begged him, a pleading tone in her voice, throwing him into his own memories, and also a bit confused as to why she's so caring of him when she found her friend and could stay here until it's over. It threw him on the debate, though. If he really should take her with him, or not. On one hand, he couldn't risk her life anymore. She sacrificed enough for him, when she was helping him in walking, carried these bags, which he couldn't carry, and many more things. On the other hand, he clearly saw that she's desperate to go along. He then brought his will into a fist and softly pushed away her embrace as he looked into her eyes while holding her by the shoulders.

"Fluttershy, you're a very caring girl, but…" He started, "... you think I could forgive myself if I'll take you with me on such danger?... *sigh*... It is true that I am still not in the best of shape, and not completely recovered, yet, I know these things better than you, and I know how to act when they close…"

"Like you did in the police station?" Fluttershy asked, worried again, making Tails to breathe out another sigh of helplessness.

"Listen…"

"No, you listen." The pegasi interrupted his question as she took his hands tightly in hers, "I am not an expert in robots, and I… clearly don't know how to act in a situation like this, but… I do know that you couldn't fight them back if they're right in front of you." She moved closer to his face; "We both can't live with it if we let go of one another… then why should we?" She then smiled, "I could feel relaxed only if I see you fine and well with my own eyes." Her smile was so bright that Tails couldn't help but sighed in defeat.

"You are so difficult to get rid of, aren't you?" He commented sarcastically, making the girl laugh nicely. As she giggled enough, she looked into his eyes again, still smiling and holding his hands, which was mutual from the boy's side. Once there was a feeling that they both couldn't break this eye contact. The fox-guy then again rolled his eyes as he dared to break that contact, and when he let go of her hands, he looked at the bag to see if this was enough for them.

"Well…" He said as he looked at her, "You could carry a bag with food if you want to stick around and be useful then." He made a sarcastic clause, making her smile happily, as she then nodded and stood up from the couch.

"Thank you." She said tenderly, almost lovingly, and that's when Tails felt that his cheeks were burning from redness, as he then scratched the back of his head.

"Ummm, you're welcome?" He mumbled a bit nervously as he suspected that something about this girl's behavior was at least weird for him. He, though, had a hope that it was weird in a good way. Truth be told, he thought that he'd love to have her as his company in this journey.

Zecora, meanwhile, walked out of her room, already dressed in her traditional dress, as she walked over to the guests couch, and leaned against its back by her hands.

"Did you two decide who stays and who is on the way?" She asked as she smirked, seeing them both packing things. They both looked first at her, and then at one another, still smiling.

"We both go, Zecora." Miles announced, looking into these pretty turquoise eyes. Zecora shook her head at these stares the two were giving to one another and then she paced slowly towards the closet with potions and took the bottle with some green liquid. As she approached the duo of friends she handed the bottle to Fluttershy.

"Whenever you feel down, or hurt, take this and it will wash out all of the dirt." She said, making Fluttershy a bit confused, but then she just gave Zecora a thankful smile. Zebra winked at Fluttershy a bit playfully and walked over to her exit door.

"If your bags are revised yet or not, just make it quick, we're moving on." She announced, as she then opened the exit door, and walked out of her house. Shortly after that, Miles and Fluttershy both stood up and followed the zebra.

Fifteen minutes later, not far from Zecora's house in the Jungle.

The company of three held their way through the jungle on the safe path, distancing themselves from the told house further and further, and soon it disappeared in the trees. Zebra was walking in front of the two of her guests to lead them on the shortest path towards Ponyville with Fluttershy followed and Miles walking on the tail of the group. Soon, when they walked out of the bushes, they stopped their paths to dust themselves off the fallen leaves, and to say goodbye to one another. Zecora looked at the two and pointed at her left hand's side towards the Jungle's thickets.

"This way will lead you to the town." She summarized their path in one sentence. The pony girl and her fox guy companion looked towards the thickets.

"How long will it take to get to our destination point?" Miles asked as he looked at zebra, to which she smirked.

"Three days of walking." She said a bit jokingly; "But faster, if you're not talking."

Fluttershy smiled at her friend; "Thank you so much for your help Zecora." She thanked her friend, as she walked closer; "We both owe you so much."

"That's true." Tails agreed, "I will make sure to return you a favor."

"No need." Zecora reassured him, as she crossed her arms around her chest; "Just try to get there without you two bleed."

Fluttershy then hugged her tightly, which zebra returned gladly, "That's so sad that you can't go with us." She muttered with a strong regret. Zecora patted the pegasi on the back.

"With all the wishes I have, but there are so many souls who need me to take care." She said softly, as she then broke the hug and looked into the eyes of her friend; "I wanted you to stay with me until you healed, but who am I to veto someone else's will."

Tails then limped over to the two; "We'd love to, but we still need to reach Ponyville and Canterlot and warn them about things we saw here and there." He said, also regretting; "It's obvious that they may know about Walkers, however, they may not know how many of them are there."

Zecora nodded at him, "It's understood." She said as she then walked over to him and hugged him friendly, which he returned with his own hug, as they then patted each other on the shoulder. After their embrace, they looked at one another again.

"Stay well, and let your journey continue with the bell." She said her goodbye, as she then turned away and walked back towards her house, leaving the two to their long road ahead. Fluttershy sobbed a bit after seeing this as she then looked at Tails and clearly saw him pouring a few tears as well. She smiled at this.

"You'll be missing her, that's what I guarantee to you." She commented, to which the two tailed fox guy sobbed and wiped off his own tears as he then looked at his companion with a sad smile.

"She's really something." He said as the two then turned towards their path and marched again towards Ponyville, "That charmingly weird style of communication, that lifestyle, that dress… How did you even meet her?"

Fluttershy blushed heavily as she bit her lower lip; "Well, it's a long story…" She said a bit awkwardly, making her companion chuckle slightly.

"We are on a long way home, though." He commented; "So we still got time."

Fluttershy sighed, "We weren't friends since the first time we saw her, and… she was feared by all Ponyville… me included." She confessed; "And like all the other girls to be honest."

Tails found it confusing; "Feared?" He asked, "Why?"

The pegasi girl looked into his eyes with an expression of embarrassment on her face; "Well, you saw her style, you heard how she communicates… and she's living in Everfree's jungle, so… people in Ponyville are kind of… scared of her…" She said awkwardly, "But… Twilight decided to speak with her, when all the rest were refused, and… we learned that there was nothing to fear." She then giggled awkwardly, "Hehehe… hehe… heeeeee…"

Miles rolled his eyes to the skies as he then decided to wave it off; "I pretend that I didn't hear that." He said a bit jokingly as he then looked into Fluttershy's eyes with a mocking grin, "I find her manners really exotic." He said; "Though, that's perhaps due to the fact that I spoke with some people whose manners are similar to her."

Fluttershy nodded; "Yep, but… just don't think anything bad of me, it just… seemed weird to me… that is… meeting with someone who is so weird when compared to all with whom I was communicating before I met her." She said as she then looked forward, "How long do we need to reach Ponyville?" She asked as she decided to change the topic of their conversation.

"It's somewhere around 50 miles ahead." He said, "But with the food Zecora gave to us, and that potion of hers… It will seem like ordinary camping for us." He then smiled at her, "Don't worry about it. There's always something we're facing for the first time, and we might think it's scary… before we take a closer look and see that there's nothing scary about it."

"Yeah, we certainly do." Fluttershy agreed, still feeling embarrassed as the two held on their slow pace towards their first destination point.

Meanwhile not far from Canterlot.

The duo of rescuers continued observing the debris of once inhabited houses. Twilight stood on the top of this very building as she had her eyes closed and her horn charged with her inner magical energy. She tried her best to contact with Rarity telepathically, yet, she didn't receive any response. Shadow stood near the building and carefully looked around on the subject of a threat, being full alarmed after the incident that happened in the night, when the walkers showed up.

Without any success, Twilight sighed deeply, as she opened her eyes and removed the spell. She then turned to her mobian companion and walked down to him, a slow and displeased gait of hers.

Hearing her footsteps, Shadow turned to face her, "Any luck?" He asked.

Twilight sighed in annoyance; "No." She said as she then stopped next to him; "Well, at least the less those buildings we have left, the more chances of finding them we have." She concluded.

"Let's hope that's the case." He said as the two then started their way towards the next building.

"What is the best way to hide from the walkers, though?" Twilight asked, as she then caught up with Shadow's pace, and walked on his right hand's side; "Is it necessary a forest, or… something else?"

"The forest has more ways to hide from them." Shadow announced as he looked at her and said; "The meadow has none of these."

"I just… I really don't want to go into the woods even if we had to." She said; "Not after what I saw last night."

The hedgehog guy rolled his eyes at this, and shook his head slowly from side to side, though, he had some understanding for Twilight's concerns. He then looked before him as he thought of the words he should put here.

"I'm afraid we have no choice, Princess." He commented.

"There should be a choice." Twilight said with a pleading look on her face; "There's always a choice." After she said it, Shadow gave her a look of deep frustration, as if mentally asking her to shut up with her whining. One look of Shadow's face told her enough for her to clarify the initial interpretation of her sentences.

"I mean…" She said with a sigh, "I just… after I saw what these things could do with some living beings… it just scared me… I can't help but think what if my friends have met with such a gruesome fate."

"What did you see?" Shadow asked her as they both have stopped, what surprised Twilight the most, as she looked at him quizzically, both, not knowing why they stopped their pace, and why Shadow wants the specific details of yesterday's meeting with the Walkers.

"Shadow, do I really need to tell you things you saw yourself?" She asked him a bit irritated, to which Shadow frowned again.

"I'm not asking you about things my eyes caught by in the forest." He said confidently; "I am asking you about things you saw yourself."

Twilight turned away; "I don't want to talk about it." She said as she started shaking a bit; "I was trying to get rid of these images since this whole morning!"

Shadow then walked closer; "Twilight, just share with me about your fear." He said as he tried to sound softer; "You may feel better if you just tell me what you saw."

Twilight started circling around; "No… No… No… I can't." She muttered, as her shaking became harder, "It was just so… terrifying."

Shadow walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders; "Twilight, just calm down…"

"DON"T TELL ME TO CALM ME DOWN!" The young Princess shouted as she tossed away his hands, and turned to him to demonstrate her furious glare, "I FEEL JUST PER-FUCKING-FECTLY FINE!" She yelled obscenely at him.

After she stopped screaming at him, there were a few moments of silence between the two, as Shadow's frustration grew higher at Twilight's anxiety attack. He showed his trademark frown of disapproval of her actions and the words she just said didn't help him much to sustain his anger. Twilight, though, didn't change the expression on her face, and kept it all the time while her eyes were in contact with his. But a few moments after that, she just turned and walked further on the meadow towards the bushes. She didn't want to see or speak with anyone at this moment.

Shadow kept watching at her, still frowning and blinking his eyes very rarely. He could see her gait showing the great displeasure with all the things she experienced, and he obviously knew that it was way too much for her for just a few days. But that sudden mood change reminded him of something he already faced a couple of dozen years ago. He then silently followed her to see if she's gonna do anything stupid, or not. At first sight, he thought that this girl is capable of holding her emotions within her mind, but now he convinced himself that she's not.

Meanwhile, in the Jungle somewhere.

The day was slowly turning to the evening, and the travelers started considering options for shelter for the night. For both their luck they were much healthier than before, and Fluttershy was obviously spending the most time of their walk in the air. She was soaring over Miles's head, giggling and smiling and doing barrel rolls. The fox guy was watching her with an ironic smile on his face due to the fact that she now looked way more healthier than him. Watching her flying even caused some jealousy.

"You're gonna fly all day?" He asked sarcastically, to which the girl giggled and looked at him down as she hovered over his head.

Fluttershy performed a circle around her friend's silhouette, and hovered slowly over his left shoulder as she looked at him with a cute smile on that pretty face of hers.

"If you let me?" She said as she then giggled and continued flying around above him, though, not too high above from her friend and tried to stay in his sight. The fox guy continued limping forward, as he then shook his head ironically.

"Okay, but not too far off." He said simply, and didn't wait long for the girl's response.

"Don't worry." She answered as she then continued doing circles around her friend. As she was flying, Tails decided to check on something on his radar, so he then stopped his pace. He used his hand to dive into one of the bags he was carrying. He unzipped it and pulled out his rectangular radar to see the screen. When he turned it on, he waited while the device was downloading, however, when it turned on, the radar's screen gave him nothing but static and white noise. That was enough to stun him.

"What's the…" He mumbled as he smacked the radar on the side a few times, thinking that it would help. Fluttershy stopped her flying exercises, and landed next to him as she glanced curiously on the radar.

"Miles, what's wrong?" She asked.

Tails looked at her; "Look." He said as he showed her the radar's screen; "My radar showing static and noise." He then looked at the radar; "Now that's a new one. The battery was ninety percent when I checked it yesterday, so it can't be the power. What the heck?" He grumbled loudly. He then decided that while his mind was still stable and rage hadn't yet taken over him, as of yet, he should hide it back into his bag, likewise unless he would break it out of mounting frustration.

"What can cause such a malfunction?" Fluttershy asked as the two continued on their way.

"Eh… I never had anything that caused any malfunction to this exact radar before." Miles replied as he was limping next to pegasi girl; "On my watch at least. But… theoretically it might be brought by a strong source of electromagnetism that is causing interference with my device." Tails said as he showed it to Fluttershy, as her presence near him helped to calm him down a little and settle his nerves.

"Electromagnetism?" Fluttershy asked, to which Tails became excited as he now has a term he could explain.

"Yes. Every single power station, or a very powerful source of energy, or power substation… anything that charged with a huge amount of positively charged particles causes an electromagnetic effect." He started lecturing her to which Fluttershy reacted like a schoolgirl who just learned something new from her teacher; "A massive search of electromagnetism in the atmosphere, or… wherever it is, causes a malfunction in the work of any device that works on electricity or radio waves, sometimes to a complete failure."

Fluttershy nodded as she looked like she was ready to pull out the notebook and write everything he just said, as the fox guy moved further with his verbal surge.

"If my radar's going crazy, it means that we may have found ourselves not far from a massive source of electromagnetic field which causes this malfunction." He clarified as he looked around through the forest; "The more we approach to this thing… whatever it is… the more our devices are going crazy."

Fluttershy pondered over his explanation course; "And what if I have a working smartphone and I accidentally entered this electro-magnetic field, what will happen?" She asked, curious about the consequences.

"Like I said, your phone will stop working and get broken." The two tailed fox-guy answered; "That and if you're too sensitive for electromagnetism, you feel pain in your head and weakness of your body."

Fluttershy blinked her eyes wordlessly at his explanation, and then she checked on her temperature with her hand. She then shrugged and looked at him again.

"I feel completely good." She said simply.

"Then it means that you're not sensitive." Tails clarified, as he then looked around; "Anyways, we gotta try and find that power source, and try to turn it off unless we want to make it to Ponyville blindly." He then looked at her; "You recognize anything here?"

Fluttershy shook her head wordlessly, as she then looked up; "I could fly up and see where we are at the moment." She said as she looked into his eyes again, to which he shook his head negatively.

"Nope, that's too risky." Miles said, glancing at the skies; "The sky is clear now, and you could get caught by the MS-37 robots." He then continued limping deeper in the forest; "Let's get moving on walking."

The pony girl stayed unmoving when he resumed his limping process, and then she flapped her wings and soared up. She quickly caught up with his pace as she continued flying near him, and gazing upon his thoughtful and skeptical expression on his face.

"You think so?" She asked; "I could fly on the top of the tall tree and see the whole forest from there."

The fox-guy sighed at this; "Fluttershy, let's not risk right now at least, alright?" He said as he looked into her eyes with a look of concern; "We have just come out of the shelter into a world full of chaos all around, and I… I just don't want to stick my ass into another bloody adventure for now at least. The same goes for you, okay?" He asked her, to which she couldn't help but sighed.

"Alright." She said, as she then looked up again; "To tell you honestly, I missed flying so much for the last week…"

"I feel you." Tails understandingly said; "If my tail wasn't injured, we both could have eased up our journey home while flying…"

"But you cannot fly, Miles." Fluttershy claryfied; "And… I am not strong enough to carry you for such a long time…"

"You won't have to." Tails said as he smirked; "I can fly on my own, really."

Fluttershy grinned; "You're kidding me." She said snidely.

"I am not." Miles grinned back; "When I was a kid, I learned to spin my tails with speed big enough to raise myself into the air. It's not super fast, but fast and agile enough to maneuver between the buildings… or trees in this case. I can even use them to propel myself like a swamp vehicle on terrain, to help me keep up with Sonic." Tails added to Fluttershy.

"I'll believe it when I see it." The pegasi girl stated as she squashed her friend's shoulders, making him chuckle.

"You'll get the chance." he said as the two procceeded deeper in the forest to find something that looks like power generator big enough to produce the electromagnetic field.

Meanwhile, somewhere else.

There was tension between the two rescuers all the way they were checking on the abandones ruins of the buildings which were once inhabited. Twilight again stood on the top of the debris, and cast a telepathic spell to contact Rarity, but all she was getting again was silence, and no signs of her friend being somewhere around.

Shadow was standing not far from her, and remaining silent, not speaking a word with the young Princess of Equestria. He was still extremely mad at her for shouting at him, so he refused to speak with her until she apologized. Not that Twilight was about to speak with him. He kept scanning the surrounding area and holding the gun in his right hand.

Soon, Twilight gave up with using a telepathic spell and sighed deeply in frustration, as she then walked back to Shadow.

"It's nothing again." She said as she was near him. The dark hedgehog, however, didn't even look at her.

"Then let's keep moving." He said simply as he walked towards the next building. The alicorn girl stared at him with a suspicious look on her face when he refused to meet their gazes again. He learned in these three days hat Shadow always looks into the eyes of the person with whom he speaks. Every time but now.

She then followed him with a quick pace, as she quickly caught up his position, and walked on his left hand's side. She gifted Shadow with an unamused look of hers, but he didn't do the same with her, and just prefer to stare where he was walking. Twilight again started losing her patience.

"You're not even going to look at me?" She asked.

Shadow gave her a quick ten second glance of indifference, and returned his gaze forward. Twilight sighed annoyingly.

"Shadow, that's not what I mean…" She said; "You're staying silent for most of the time after… I…"

"After you screamed at me?" Shadow asked as he got a little angry, and then he stopped and turned to face her; "And what did you expect from me? A medal?"

Twilight gasped; "What?" She asked as she then frowned again; "Shadow, you started it yourself, when you…"

"All I asked is what's bothering you, and instead of an answer, I got shouts." Shadow interrupted her again; "For no reasons whatsoever!"

"Will you stop interrupting me?!" Twilight angrylly barked at him as she turned away; "I was shouting at you, because you deserve it! You told me that you're ready to drop the commoners to a certain death just to keep the VIPs like me safe."

Shadow sighed; "Princess, there is a protocol that clearly says that the royalties are the high priority objects to be protected." He stated; "Your death will send a massive negative effect even amongst the commoners…"

"And you let the most unloyal and inconsistent guy in the entire world join the strongest forces in the world!" Twilight interrupted Shadow as she then made a sad look on her face, almost like ready to cry. The dark Mobian was surprised by this sudden turn of events, and walked closer to her.

"Excuse me?" He asked, wondering what she meant. Twilight turned away and walked over to the rock to take a short rest from walking. She sat on the top of a rock and leaned her head against her hands.

"When I heard from Flash Sentry that he's going to join GUN, I first thought that it was a joke." She started; "But when you confirmed it, I thought that… you're making a big mistake. Flash is terribly inconsistent, and… he can't keep his word… to those who love him."

Shadow now realized that she's just making this whole tantrum because she's still terribly mad at her ex-boyfriend, and, though, he hated the whole melodrama around him, he still thought that he should at least explain how the world works. He thought that she didn't know it exactly. He quietly walked over to her and stood on her right hand's side.

"Twilight, I can understand that you're mad at young Flash because of what he did to you." He spoke, making her look at him still sad; "But I invited him not because of that, but because he helped me a lot in chasing the robot down. And he was absolutely selfless when it came down to warning Princess Celestia about the upcoming threat, and when assisting me in combat." He then shook his head slowly; "Personal life stuff doesn't matter when we're talking about the service. And more so, it doesn't really matter when we're on a rescuing mission."

Twilight sighed as she turned away, frowning again; "That's so easy when it comes out of your mouth." She said as she stood up; "You've never walked in my shoes, and you don't know what it's like being broken hearted." She then started her slow pace towards the next ruined house, still having her head dropped.

The dark hedgehog was staring at her with a look that was saying that she understands nothing if she says so. Sighing, he just followed her to catch her up.

"I actually did." He suddenly said, making Twilight look at him, and seeing that his eyes were down; "A long time ago… but I learned how to deal with that."

Twilight looked away again; "How?" She asked.

"Simple." Shadow answered as he looked at her with a corner of his eyes; "I evolved with a knowledge that one day I will meet with a woman who will love me for who I really am, and who wants me. Not because someone else asked her to do so, not because of my money, not because of my popularity. Just because it's me, and that's all that stays."

Twilight sighed again, as she shook her head and looked forward to seeing where they were going. She decided not to argue with him on that, however, she wasn't convinced by these words of wisdom, if she could even call it wisdom. She just thought that making a look that she agreed with him on that would be better for the mission. She also knew that Shadow knows that she didn't believe in what he was saying.

Soon, the two walked into the bushes. Their further path was a descending way downhill deep into the forest thickets. Twilight was still annoyed, but now it was not just because Shadow doesn't treat her as a Princess, but also because it was the forest again. They just left the forest, where they faced these new WD robots mentioned by Fleetfoot in her story of how the Wonderbolts ended. It was not just a simple robot, but a dead body covered in a metallic shell.

They soon found the forest trail, and stopped their path temporarily. Shadow pulled out the compass and a map to check on if they're going into the right direction. Twilight looked at this with a weird look on her face.

"Don't you think GPS will be easier to use?" She asked, seeing how he kneeled on one knee and put the map on the ground. He then put the compass at the centre of the map.

"GPS signal is transmitted by satellites, which is probably non-functional at the moment." Shadow answered; "Plus, the robots of MS series were designed to intercept the signals of satellites and track down the point of transmission. In this case, almost all kinds of radars, GPS navigators, and smartphones are turning into location trackers."

"Almost?" Twilight asked, as she heard that he is a bit dark about certain things. Shadow sighed as he then explained.

"Miles Prower invented a special design for the radar, which prevented the location tracking." He began; "His original construction helped the device to reflect and suppress any kinds of backing signals sent from the interceptor robots."

Twilight then rolled her eyes; "Let me guess… this radar exists as the only example, huh?" She asked, being sarcastic, to which Shadow looked at her a bit irritated.

"You're blaming me for that?" He asked, to which Twilight sighed again.

"No." She answered softly, and a bit wearilly; "I'm just… I want this to be over very soon. I mean… this whole… crisis."

Shadow shook his head as he then looked down at the map to check out their location, and see if they are far from the next village of Canterlot outskirts. He then connected both points on his map, and folded it again, as he then stood up. He hid the map, and the compass into his belt bag, and looked at the right direction.

"This way." He announced.

"Are you sure." Twilight asked him.

"Not really." Shadow said a bit puzzled; "But do we have many options? I don't think so."

He then walked down the trail, with Twilight walking on his tail.

"You know, we actually do have a lot of options, Agent Kintobor." She stated, as she was staring at him with a slight annoyance on her face; "We can move literally in every other direction."

"We gotta find the next town or village with buildings, Princess." Shadow clarified his statement as he then looked at her; "That's what I mean."

Twilight sighed deeply; "Alright." She said with no emotions whatsoever.

Their further way went in an almost complete silence, as Shadow held the map in his left hand and sometimes opened it to check if they're walking in the right direction. They went deeper and deeper into the forest while following the trail. Twilight was silent and never took her startled eyes off the bushes. Last night's encounter with TWD robots left a huge mark on her behavior. Now she finally realized that there were no safe places left.

Suddenly, behind the two travelers, a shadowed silhouette appeared. This thing towered slightly over a dense bush, and watched attentively after our heroes. When they were out of its sight, it left the bush, and rushed deep into the forest.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Everfree Forest.

The forest seemed quiet and peaceful. The animal crickets echoed through the trees and could be heard a mile away. Almost perfect place to hide for two travellers who were still on their way to Ponyville. A certain fox-guy kept staring angrily at his radar and punching it over and over again, as if he thought that this is the only way he left to fix this damn radar. Very soon he gave up with this, and just uttered a deep sigh of weariness. He dropped the radar on the ground, and buried his face into his own hands.

"For god's sake…" He muttered out his frustration, and then he folded his hands across his nose, thus diving deep into his train of thoughts.

His female pony companion was still flying around a short distance away from him. She kept that happy smile glad to get back into the air, and her ability to fly. She floated above the small glade which is covered by beautiful flowers of various colors, as she picked them up one by one. As she gathered enough flowers, she hugged them by her arms, and sniffed their delicious smell deeply. She then fluttered her wings and flew back to her companion.

As she flew out of the bushes, she saw her companion sitting on the log, his hands folded across his nose. His radar is now on the ground, and he himself did not look satisfied. Fluttershy learned in these two weeks, that he can be frustrated when something goes not according to his plan, so she then laughed at this softly, and flew over to him. She landed next to him, and sat on the log on his right hand's side. She was looking at him silently with a smile on her face, at first she did not do any movements towards him, as if waiting for him to notice her.

Her patience was soon awarded. The expression on Miles' face soon twisted into puzzled just as he felt someone staring at him. He dropped his hands off his face, and slowly turned his head to the right to see his pony-girl companion giving him a smile, and holding a huge pile of flowers in her arms.

"What?" He asked, thinking that she wanted to ask something.

"Nothing." Fluttershy answered; "I just… thought that you needed some company?"

Tails smiled; "I'm always in need for some company, but…" He said as he then struggled to stand up; "I just… ouch… I kinda feel lost…" He then scanned the area of the forest with his eyes in an attempt of calculating a location of an interference source; "If we do not find the source of this interference, we may not get out of the forest, and have to stay here until the crisis has passed." He said as he then scratched the back of his head; "Though, considering the things we saw, that might be the better alternative." He concluded, to which Fluttershy uttered a charming giggle. Miles looked at her questioningly, not knowing why she's so laughing in all of the sudden.

"Why are you giggling?" He asked, to which Fluttershy stopped her giggles and looked at him with a look of an anxious look on her face.

"Is that frustrating you?" She asked, a worrying tone in her voice; "I'm sorry… I-I-I-I… d-d-didn't mean to… f-f-f-frustrate you…" she stuttered afraid that she had angered him.

Miles reached out his hand to make her quiet; "Fluttershy, chill out." He said calmly, to which the girl instantly fell silent; "I was just... nevermind…" He then smiled as he spotted the flowers in her hands; "You like the flowers I see?" He asked, to which the pony girl aimed her eyes down at her own laps, to see the flowers she gathered. She then smiled and looked up at her companion.

"Oh, yes… I spotted this glade not far from here, and… I thought it could help your mood to lift up?" She asked, to which Miles limped over to her and sat down on the log next to her.

"They look beautiful…" He said as he sniffed the flowers and his smile widened; "And it smells nice, too." He then sighed deeply; "But I'm in a bad mood, though." He confessed, "I'm just pissed that this silly excuse of a device refuses to work." He complained to Fluttershy, as he then kicked his radar a bit. After that he dropped his hands to his knees again, and looked at the ground to see bugs crawling across the trail.

"I just hate when everything goes not according to what I planned." He said a weary tone in his voice. Fluttershy gave him a curious gaze, and sat closer to him. She did not even pay any attention that she moved so close to him that there was no personal space left between them.

"And what did you planned, initially?" She asked; "Aside from walking me back to Ponyville, and continue your further path to Canterlot?" She asked not being privy to what he planned to do about this obvious situation they were currently facing that was happening all over the world.

Miles looked at her; "To keep both of us alive." He said, a moment before his eyes caught something in the bushes. He then struggled to stand up, and limped towards the forest. Fluttershy looked at him questioningly.

"Miles?" She asked; "Miles, where are you going?"

The fox-guy stopped near the bushes, and spreaded the leaves to have a better view on a distance. He then narrowed his eyes for having a perfect focus on a strange black structure he saw through the thickets of the trees. The distance wasn't too big, but big enough for giving him trouble with its identification. He then looked at Fluttershy over his right shoulder.

"I see a building over there." He said, as he then limped back to her; "Maybe it's a source of a white noise on my radar."

The pony girl lifted up one of her eyebrows; "You think so?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered, as he then picked up one bag, and tried to hang it across his shoulder; "Help me with this…" He asked Fluttershy to help him, and the pony girl obeyed. She stood up, and helped him to hand the bag. Just a second before they started picking up their things, they heard the sounds of a jet engine booming over the forest. They both then looked up to see something flying over the forest, pretty far from them. Miles gasped as he recognized what it was, as he then grabbed the pegasi girl and they both ducked into the bush.

"Get down." He snapped quietly, as they both hid under a massive thick bush, thick enough to give them good cover.

The MS type robot has its eyes aimed down at the forest, as it scanned it on the subject of lost survivors. It kept its pace slow to avoid any misses.

Fluttershy and Tails sat quietly under the bush as they held each other tightly, while aiming their startled gazes at the metal machine to see if it was approaching them, or not. The yellow pegasus was shivering heavily from fear, knowing way too well of what these things are capable of. Miles tried to give her any kind of comfort to ease her shivers as he had his arms wrapped around her, which she accepted as if it was her only chance to survive, as she was holding onto him as if onto her dear life.

The robot, however, continued its slow flight further over the forest, without noticing them.

The two travelers breathed out a sigh of relief, as they then looked at each other.

"We both got lucky." Miles stated, to which Fluttershy giggled quietly. The two then stood up, and walked into the forest quietly, and not making any big noises. Suddenly, the fox-guy stopped upon remembering that he forgot something. He then looked at the trail, and spotted his radar was still lying there. Much for him to ugh in annoyance, as he then looked at his companion.

"I'll be right… back..." He then suddenly cut himself off when he saw that Fluttershy had some flowers stuck in her hair. He then gave an awkward grin as he thought that she looked beautiful with these, not that she wasn't already beautiful already without them. As a response he got a questioning expression on the face of the pony girl.

"Ummmm… Miles, are you… well… alright?" She asked, a bit awkward that he was looking at her with an unhidden admiration.

Tails pointed at her hair with a left hand's index finger; "You have flowers in your hair." He said, a slightly laughable tone in his voice, and a small vocal tremble could be heard as well. Fluttershy was confused by that at first, but when she checked on the tips of her hair, she saw that he was not joking. She then gasped and began shaking the flowers off, as she developed a nervous smile on her face and with a bright blush on the cheeks.

"Oh… sorry…" She said through a nervous chuckle. Tails then limped towards the trail. He then picked up his radar, and limped back to her, as they both then went through the forest thickets to see the building the fox guy saw just recently.

Meanwhile, somewhere between Canterlot and Ponyville.

Twilight scanned another demolished building with her telepathic spell, while Shadow stood behind her, keeping his hand on his gun holster just in case. His eyes were obviously attached to the princess' silhouette, and sometimes scanned the surrounding area of the forest in case they'll have a surprise attack.

The lavender alicorn princess soon stopped the spell, and sighed in a big disappointment and a slight depression at the fact that she may not see her friends ever again. When she turned to face Shadow, she gave him a negative shake of her head, thus letting him know that she found nothing in here.

The dark hedgehog nodded silently a moment before he breathed out the air from his nose. The two then moved further on the forest trail.

A few minutes later, they saw the end of the forest line, and another open area. Shadow was checking his map to see if they were going in the right direction.

"That's the edge of the forest…" He stated; "When we're out, we will be on the final stage of our mission."

"And what's that?" Twilight asked, also looking at the map; "The hermit houses?"

"That's the name." Shadow commented as he again folded the map and hid it in his overall's inner pocket; "Pretty weird name to be honest."

Twilight sighed; "Well… a long while ago, this place was really a town of hermits, who refused to live according to the Princesses rules." She began; "That was long before the capital city of Canterlot was built, and became the new capital of Equestria with Princess Celestia being the only Royal heir at the time Canterlot was being built and established." She said like the typical tour guide, history buff, or plain out nerd that she was who was relaying facts.

Shadow nodded sadly; "I know the story." He said a bit sadly, as if experiencing the same pain Celestia felt upon banishing her little sister, and of course for a certain dark blue alicorn woman to whom he had special feelings for. The two then left the forest territory, and appeared at the edge of the forest. They stopped when they saw a big distant open area, filled with green hills, and rare trees. There was even no concrete road, however somehow they saw a few buildings, which indicated the small village. Shadow then crossed his arms in the chest area.

"Hmmm… Alright here's the place." He commented again.

Twilight stood at his left hand's side; "You've been here before?" She asked.

"Once." He answered; "When I was sent here for the first time on a mission of capturing Geoffrey St John."

The alicorn girl gave a smirk; "Your first time in Equestria was a working visit?" She asked; "Princess Celestia asked you to come here?"

Shadow shook his head as they started walking slowly towards the village; "No." He said; "Back then my status wasn't high enough to approach royalties. I was sent here as incognito. My mission was to quietly neutralize St John, and transport him back in Mobius."

"Neutralize?" Twilight shockingly asked.

Shadow looked at her; "Neutralize doesn't necessarily mean killing the said target." He explained much to Twilight's relief; "St John needed to be transported alive. Plus… he didn't really resist arrest when I found him."

Meanwhile, a few dark silhouettes appeared behind the duo, as they walked slowly out of the forest, and began approaching Twilight, and Shadow slowly.

Meanwhile, the alicorn girl developed a nervous grin on her face as she felt hesitated to ask a question, and to be honest, she was even thought that it was a stupid question since he was a special service agent, but she also felt that she had to ask it.

"Ummm… Shadow, don't think that I'm interrogating you, but… did you ever have to kill your target?" She asked a bit quietly and with a slight shiver in her voice. Shadow stopped as he never looked at her, and his face never changed even after he heard the question, but his fists clenched heavily. Twilight saw that he tensed a bit, and she felt a bit startled by his reaction. She then put a hand on his shoulder, already forgot all of their quarrels they had earlier this day, and yesterday. She just wanted him to remain stable.

"Shadow… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to ask a personal question." She said calmly, trying to ease the tense in his nerves.

"This isn't a question that is personal, Twilight Sparkle." Shadow answered as he looked at her; "My answer will be personal, if I…" He then cut himself off and frowned deeply, as he then pulled the gun out of his holster, and began looking around in a search of a threat. Twilight gasped at his sudden mood change, and backed away from him, and started doing the same things he did.

"What's wrong?" She asked, startled.

"There's something around us." Shadow said, as he then looked at her; "Quick, come here…" He commanded a moment before he felt something sharp penetrated into his neck. He then argh'd and pulled that thing out of his neck, but what he saw was a tranquilizing dart. Shadow looked at this questioningly, and he noticed that his vision began blurring. When he looked at Twilight, he saw that her image was blurring as well through his eyes. He then felt that he began losing his balance. He tried to approach her, but quickly fell to his knees.

Twilight caught him to prevent him from falling; "Shadow, stay with me, don't fall…" Shadow heard her saying, but he couldn't feel his own lips. His whole body went numb and his mind was turning off slowly. He still saw Twilight's startled eyes were blurring in his vision.

"Shadow, don't black out, please… Stay with me, do you hear?" Twilight said desperately to the fading consciousness of Shadow, hoping that Shadow had it in him to resist the drug adequately enough to get them to at least get them out of danger.

He heard her saying more and more, but soon he fell on the ground, thus he knew that Twilight was no longer holding him.

"Hey, let me go!" He heard her yelling; "What do you want from us? Who are you?"

Shadow opened his eyes to see someone's boots stepping straight at him, but that was the last thing he saw before he passed out.

Meanwhile, in the Everfree Forest.

Miles tried to spread the thickets with the help of his walking cane. As he did he continued walking on the trail he created by his own steps. Fluttershy followed his tails, both figuratively and literally. She carried the bag with food on her right shoulder, and for some reason she was smiling.

"You know… Right now I wish I had Machete with me." Miles commented as he spread another thicket by his cane. Fluttershy said nothing in response, because she kinda wished she had it, too, and thus she agreed with his statement. Although, she also felt that she was agreeing with him way too much already and not giving any opinions or comments of her own, but…. of course…. As always…. lacked the assertiveness to argue or even speak her own thoughts on the matter.

Tails, though, heard no answer from her side, and so he decided to continue on their conversation; "You have nothing to say?" He asked casually, to which the pony girl chuckled a bit.

"No." She said simply; "I just… I wish you had it, too." She said in an unconvincing sort of way, to defect the question, rather than share her thoughts.

Now it was Miles' turn to chuckle; "Heh… Alright." He said, as he continued on his procedure of making a trail; "Don't you think it's kinda weird that only saw one bot flying over the forest?" He asked a question, as he then stopped his path, and looked at her. The yellow pegasus stopped as well, as she looked at him straight in the eyes.

"And you want to demonstrate your masculinity, and to face them all alone?" She asked in a kinda flirty manner as she gave him a smirk. Miles widened his eyes at her manner of conversation, but only to return her smirk with his own wide and teasing grin. He then put his hands on his own waist, and began teasing her back.

"Whoa… is that me, or you're trying to flirt with me?" He asked in a joking manner, to which the girl giggled in response. She then shoved him jokingly on the shoulder when she stopped her giggles.

"Not in this life, you… naughty fox-boy." She said, still being joking and playful. The fox, who did not know what Fluttershy really is, looked like her regular self. Shy, but playful girl, who likes having fun, and fooling around, so he then let it go just like that. It was normal for him. But what he did not know is that Fluttershy never acts like that around her friends, and that she's waaaay too timid even when she's having conversations with Rarity, or Rainbow Dash. Especially when she's around Rainbow Dash. If he knew her well, he'd already suspected something. Fluttershy, though, also had a different perspective on him, which she wanted to share. She wanted to share her perspective with him, when they were in that house hundreds miles away from here. She then bit her lower lip, and spoke.

"Ummmm… Miles… may I speak with you on something… well... personal?" She asked, making him to widen his eyes and looking at her with shock. And hope as well. Fluttershy, though, didn't look at his face, so she hasn't seen his reaction to her question. On the contrary, she tried to avoid looking into his eyes.

"I mean… When I went to your factory, I expected to see … well… not the one I saw, and learned later…" The pony girl said, to which Tails uttered a deep sigh of… well… disappointment, as he thought that she's going to speak about another kind of personal thing. Though, he let her speak.

"I thought that you are like all these other elitists… well… you know." She said as she then looked at him timidly. The fox guy then gave her a grin, and shook his head slowly.

"Come on, do not try to hide behind beautiful words." He said, a calm tone in his voice, to which Fluttershy clenched her teeth in awkwardness, and blushed heavily.

"Well… jerky… snobby… arrogant…"

"Dickhead." Tails finished for her, to which Fluttershy again looked at him, and gave him a hesitant nod. The orange fox then rolled his eyes to the skies, and made a deep breath in/out. He took a moment of silence to process the information he just received and to take it rightfully. He quickly finished with his thinking process, and looked again at her as he then spoke.

"Well… most elitists are really snobby jerky arrogant bitches and pricks." He commented, shrugging his shoulders; "Though… I wasn't always among this so-called high society lot to begin with. My path to the top began from the dirt."

"Yes, I remember that…" Fluttershy answered, slouching a bit; "I just… I had to face many elitists in my life, and… most of them weren't nice."

"And what did you think of me when you first saw me?" Miles asked as he lifted up one of his eyebrows, and gave her a toothy smile; "You thought that this jerky and arrogant Mobian fox dude is going to dictate his own rules?"

Fluttershy giggle; "Sort of…" She answered through her giggles, but she quickly stopped and continued on; "I'm glad that I learned that you're not one of them… You spoke with me like I am your… well… friend… to begin with." She friendly concluded, as she then looked at him with a smile. Tails smiled back.

"You are flattering me. I was just trying to appease you, and your group to get a free ecological pass." He said, a teasing tone in his voice, to which Fluttershy laughed again, knowing that he was just fooling around. When she finished, she looked at him with a smile on her face, and sighed deeply in happiness.

"You're so funny." She commented, to which the fox guy said nothing in response, but uttering a small chuckle. Fluttershy then bit her lower lip and turned away from him a bit, as she squeezed the strap of her bag.

"And what do you think about me?" She suddenly asked, making Tails look at her quizzically; "I mean… what did you learn about me in these past days?"

Tails scratched the back of his head; "Ummm… I don't know where to start… I learned so many things about you." He then glanced upon her; "You're… very caring, friendly, pretty, you love talking about things…" He then shrugged; "There's many things I learned about you, both negative and positive, but… It's kinda balancing…. in a way."

Fluttershy nodded, as she smiled; "Okay." She said simply, not really eager to continue this conversation. She felt her cheeks were burning from redness, especially when she heard that he found her pretty.

Miles shook his head over her behavior, before he turned his eyes to check on what was before them two. When he saw that they almost went out of the forest, he sped up his limping.

"We're almost there." He said. Fluttershy, though didn't share his pace of limping, as she was left a bit behind him. She was still smiling, when she gazed upon him, but that was a smile of affection on her face.

"And I think you're handsome, too." She whispered, as she then quickened her pace to catch up with him.

Meanwhile, Tails went through the bushes with a pace as quick as it was only possible with his injuries. When he spread the final bush that was on his way, he finally went out of the forest, and appeared outside. He then dusted off his own clothes, and looked up to see the building which he saw from the distance. Fluttershy slowly walked over to him and stopped on Tails' left hand's side, as she shockingly stared at the dark mystical structure before her.

The two stood a few hundred meters away from the tall, and dark castle which towered over the grassland. It looked completely abandoned, many stained glass windows were broken, a few towers were demolished after time. The structure still looked massive, and magestic after all these years it stood here. It was built on the top of a peak which was divided from the rest of the grassland by the deep and wide cliff. The only way to get there was a rope bridge on the left side of the castle.

Fluttershy slouched a bit in fear before this place, as it brought many unpleasant memories to her mind, while Miles arched his eyebrows in a confused manner, not expecting to see what remained of a once huge castle in the middle of a jungle forest, or at least not outside of Mystic Ruins back in Mobius, which were in much better shape than this place. He eyed the castle from bottom to up to check every visible corner of its massive structures, and its surroundings.

"What the hell is that place?" He said a random comment, before he heard his radar's beeping. He then widened his eyes, as he heard the beeping sounds of his radar. He then pulled it out of his tool bag, and looked at the screen to see it being overfilled with rapidly flickering white noise, and its four indicators; yellow, green, red, and white, all flickering sharply. Tails then turned off his radar, and hid it back into the tool bag, before his eyes faced the building again.

"I don't understand." He spoke, making Fluttershy look at him; "This castle is certainly not a power station… so… why the hell is my radar going insane?" He said to himself skeptically as this place was way too old to have any working power source for his radar to pick up he initially thought… However Fluttershy suspected it might be something more sinister that his radar was picking up that Tails was not aware of, as he did not know the history of that place in particular.

"Miles, please let's leave this place quick." Fluttershy quietly spoke, as she grabbed him by the arm around his elbow, to which he looked at her, confused.

"Hey, hey, easy there…" He said, not knowing why she was so scared again.

"Miles, please…" She said again, now speaking in a begging tone of her voice. Miles sighed in response.

"Fluttershy, what's wrong… is it the castle that's giving you the creeps." He asked, already knowing that she's scared of this place and, thus, deducing that she already has been here, or at least heard of this place before. Fluttershy bit her lower lip again, and looked at the massive structure again.

"This is… This… is an ancient… The Castle of the two Alicorn Sisters." She squealed, a startled tone in her voice, to which Tails' eyes grew as wide as dishes.

"Seriously?" He asked as he then looked at the structure; "That's where the Princesses lived before that whole… Nightmare Moon story? This is the place?" He asked, keeping his mouth opened in awe; "I thought it collapsed a long time ago, and no longer exists… but there is it… it's still actually standing…. hmmmm..." He commented as he then began approaching it to have a better look. Fluttershy gasped at this as she grabbed him again, and tried to pull him back.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, still being startled. The fox gave her a questioning look.

"I'm trying to find a way inside." He answered, to which Fluttershy went even more startled.

"What?" She asked, to which Tails now narrowed his eyes, as he then took her by the hand.

"Fluttershy, we gotta find the source of the electromagnetic phenomenon, which blocks the radar's signal, or we won't find our way out of this forest." He said a bit sternly, as he then lifted up one of his eyebrows; "Plus, it's getting dark, and we need to find the place, where we could set up camp for the night."

Fluttershy gasped again; "What? N-Noooooo!" She asked quietly in a whisper, as she let go of him, and started backing away; "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…" She kept mumbling under her breath, making Tails confused, as he then limped over to her, and took her by the hands, thus stopping her backward steps. He looked deep into her eyes, but she continued on her mumbling as averted his gaze.

"No, no, no, no… that's crazy, crazy, crazy…n-not here… a-a-a-a-anywhere but here." Fluttershy mumbled, to which Tails took her by the shoulders and shook her heavily.

"Fluttershy." He called out; "Fluttershy."

After a few shakes, Fluttershy gave him a pleading look, and shook her head in a negative way while trying to suppress tears.

"Miles, please… I've been in this castle before, when Nightmare Moon came back. And I visited it again once, with Rarity… this place has numerous backdoors, strange sounds echoing in it's corridors, and… many other creepy things that are said to haunt it's corridors." She pleaded with him to not go there, however, Miles' deduction figured out some curious facts from her past; "Please, let's camp somewhere else." Fluttershy finished her pleas, as she held him tightly on the hands.

"Wait, wait, wait." Miles spoke calmly, as his voice sounded calm; "Now take a deep breath." Fluttershy did as he said, and breathed in/out. When she calmed down a bit, Tails looked into her eyes, and spoke.

"Now, let's get things straight." He began; "You've been here before?"

Fluttershy nodded silently.

"So it means that Ponyville isn't too far?" Miles asked again, to which Fluttershy nodded again.

"Ummmm… it seems so." She finally gave him a wordy answer; "It took me and Rarity a few hours to get here, when we went here for the second time. We went out of Ponyville in the daytime, but we reached this place at nighttime."

"Do you remember where Poyville is exactly?" Tails asked as he did an eyebrow trick, to which Fluttershy sighed and lowered her head helplessly. Her actions said more than words to the two-tailed fox. He understood that she doesn't remember the direction they need to go, to finally get to their destination point. He then sighed deeply, and took her gently by the cheeks, to make her look at him, and as always, it worked.

"That's why we need to get inside and find that source of energy which blocks the radar's signal. Without it…. we won't be able to find our way out of this forest." He explained to her, a soft tone in his voice. Fluttershy bit her lower lip, while looking into his eyes, and then she again looked at the castle, which still gave her the major creeps. Miles saw that she was still scared, so he then shook his head, knowing already, that it will be faster if he will do it alone, and leave her outside. He then sighed as he then scanned the grassland on the subject of some sort of a cover for her to wait for him there. He saw a thick bush where she could hide not far from the castle.

He then looked into her eyes again, and pointed his left hand's index finger at the bush; "Look, I'm not forcing you to go in the Castle with me." He clarified; "See that bush? Hide under it with the bags, and wait for my return." He then smiled at her, and grabbed his walking cane, as he then began walking towards the roped bridge which connected the cliff side with the castle.

When he walked closer to the bridge, he looked down to see how deep the abyss actually was, but saw no bottom, and only the fog which covered the bottom from anyone's vision. He shivered a bit at the fact that he has to limp across this unsteady and with a very fragile balanced bridge. He then stepped onto the bridge and heard the sounds of creaking boards. He gulped deeply, before he began crossing the bridge in a slow and a very careful pace.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was staring at him, a bit shocked and surprised by the fact that he left her here, outside, while he himself went into the castle alone. That was something new. Maybe he was annoyed by her finally? And did not want to hear any of these moans of fear from her anymore? It was hard to tell, but that smile of his looked sincere at least. She saw how he entered the castle, and disappeared inside.

She then gulped deeply, when she learned that she's now left alone in the scariest forest of Equestria, and she might face the robot while Miles is off. When she glanced at the bush however she saw that it was very thick, and thick enough to hide her from literally anyone. The bush was covered by numerous green leaves and was twice as tall as she. She then looked again at the castle, and thought that she maybe acted a bit stupid, when she let him to go there alone with that injury. Sure he was not limping as hard as he used to be, but the injury is still an injury. Moreover, she gave a promise.

The pegasi girl then shook her head, and grabbed their bags. She flew over to the bush, and dropped there the bags so no one would steal them. She then flew after Miles into the castle, and soon she disappeared inside.