Alright everybody, er pony, er...whatever. I don't know where Pinkie flew off to, but before

we get started, I'd like to thank…

*Pinkie pops out of a houseplant...*

Pinkie: "Hey LoveandEdify! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D"

Me: "Pinkie?! How in the world did you fit in my vase? That is ridiculously too small for

even a goldfish to fit in there!"

Pinkie: "I know. I was waiting for the end but I thought, why wait when I could say hi to

my awesome author friend right now! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D"

*Pinkie then proceeds to hop out of the flowerpot and bounces around the house

happily.*

Me: "Oh boy. Anyhow, I just want to remind everyone again, that both this story and

"More To Me Than That" are companion stories that are meant to be read together. If you

need help figuring out how to read both stories; follow both these stories for clear

guidance. For those of you who have followed from the beginning, the most recent

chapter from either story is where you would need to start next. (For example, if I recently

publish a chapter for this story before the one for "More To Me Than That", then read that

Chapter first and go by the most recently updated one) If you just decide to follow both of

these stories (which isn't necessary, but will help you understand the flow of either story

better) then start with the first 4 chapters of "More To Me Than That", then read the first

two chapters of this one.

Pinkie: "Ooooooooooh. Ok. Anything else before we get this party

STARRRRRRRRRTED? :-D :-D :-D"

Me: Actually yes. I want to thank everyone who has read both these stories and would

like to say that between these two stories, I've gotten 437 Views, 6 Reviews, 4 Favorites

and 2 Followers."

Pinkie: "Oooooh. It's ok. I'm sure things will look up after you rebound from having 0

Followers and Favorites from this story as well as only 1 Review on it as well as only 37

Views on it and…

Me * "slightly" ticked off* : "Pinkie Pie?!"

Pinkie: "Yes Favorite Author Pal?"

Me *muttering*: "I was expecting Applejack to be the overly stern one; and I already knew

Pinkie was going to be the annoying one. But to have her be both stern and annoying…"

Pinkie: "What are you muttering about? Is everything ok?"

Me *sneakily grinning*: "Oh, I'm just thinking. Twilight taught me a new spell yesterday

and I want to see if it works; but I'm gonna need your help with it to see how much it

works."

Pinkie: "Ooooooooh, how EXCITING!

Ialwaysenjoyhelpingoutmyfriendsnomatterwhatespeciallymyveryverybestestoffriendslike

youand…

*Pinkie continues to ramble on and on about how much she likes helping her friends*

Me *looks at audience and whispers to them*: "This really isn't that impressive of a spell,

but I got a wand here, and I'm LITERALLY going to throw that pink bouncy ball over to

her house, by literally rolling her into a bouncy ball and throwing her home. *laughs like

Ernie from Sesame Street*

*Pinkie continues to ramble*

Me: "Ah, Pinkie?"

Pinkie *stops rambling, at long last*: "Yes LoveandEdify?"

Me: "How about we wait until after this chapter? Ok?"

Pinkie: "Okie Dokie Loki Broskie.

Me: "Alright then, time for the next chapter..."

Determination of the Strong

Chapter 2: White is Black and Black is White; Night is Day and Day is Night

Normally, Shadow would have teleported straight over to Princess Celestia and Princess

Luna's Castle; but he didn't want to get lazy, especially in a place where magic seemed to

be too much of an overused luxury already. He skated on his hover-shoes out of the

Whitetail Woods and back towards Ponyville for a lap around Equestria.

As the thoughts he had earlier continued to run through his head, Shadow skated as

quick Sonic could run around the Ponyville countryside. Which to him, was as

commonplace as roller-skating at a skating rink. He was careful not to bump into

anypony who was happening to walk by or anyone else for that matter.

He was thinking about how to approach the two royal rulers of Equestria, Princess

Celestia of the Day and Princess Luna of the Night, about the United Universe so he

could obtain more information about it. What their real motives were, if he needed to

worry about a possible corruption within the ranks as the earlier version of G.U.N. (which

was always likely because as Shadow knew, all it takes is one domino to fall and

everything else in the universe collapses). Although he was aware that he's

now irrelevant on Mobius, he knew that this development could only mean that

somewhere in this "United Universe" something could, or would, eventually become

suspicious enough for him to overthrow.

After all, he was Shadow the Hedgehog. Surely he had some relevance left in the

universe.

Doesn't he?

He shook that thought aside and ended his little skating exercise at Winsome

Falls, where he already had a plan in mind. Truth be told, there was still plenty of time in

the day to visit the royals.

The sun wasn't setting anytime soon as the sun was set exactly over in the middle of

the sky. Shadow didn't exactly have to pick this particular time to visit, or have to lap

Equestria consistent times at the speed he did for as many times as he did.

He didn't even have to pick today to do any of this.

But he did it because he wanted to. He saw something he felt like he wanted and

needed to do and did it.

Because he's Shadow the Hedgehog, and that's who he is. He does what

he believes is right, knows is right, and whatever feels good to him. As he paced back

and forth right around the same location Sonic and Rainbow Dash were resting from a

couple of days ago, he heard the distant voices of aforementioned Rainbow Dash and

another Southern voice he thought he recognized before and the galloping of hooves

right towards him.

He hid near some bushes to avoid being seen so he could hear their conversation.

"So what do you think Applejack, give me your honest opinion about it." When the two

figures came closer to the light, Shadow then could tell who the other figure galloping

next to Rainbow Dash was.

"Ok," Applejack said, "I honestly think that you're making too big of a deal about

nothing." Shadow heard enough of this.

He teleported out of the bushes and right in front of the two galloping horses.

"Who are you calling nothing?" Shadow retorted to Applejack's comment. "Whoa, hey

Shadow." Applejack responded, a bit nervously. Just the way Shadow liked it, as he

smirked at her. "Just letting you know Rainbow Dash, I'm not even here to fight you. And

even if I was, I know from last night that you couldn't even catch me if you tried. Even if

no one was holding you back."

Rainbow Dash was about to fly at Shadow with forceful speed right towards him but

Applejack stood right in Shadow's path. A rare move Shadow had seen anyone do for

him. He wasn't necessarily ungrateful for that, but he was a little ticked that someone

leaped in front of him like that when he didn't really need "saving."

He knew that Applejack didn't really know him that well or what he was capable of

because the two weren't together that often. While he did hang with her from time to time;

ever since he first met the ponies, it was Twilight who he was the better friend to and

spent more time with.

Was it because he hated everypony else? Well, there were some ponies in particular that

really annoyed him to the verge of hatred. Pinkie Pie was the closest with how overly

optimistic and disconnected from reality she could be; but with how much she was

unwilling to try and understand him or what he's been going through, Rainbow was flying

faster and faster into a good second place in his mind.

But it would take a lot for someone to make Shadow actually "hate" them. (Although,

some may misinterpret Shadow's simple annoyance as hatred because what could seem

like a slight annoyance to someone else could vary to Shadow, according to how he felt

about a certain situation, to the same amount annoyance, to none at all, to extremely

ticked off to...well, you get the idea.)

But he never let those feelings or thoughts lead into actions that would demonstrate

hatred, unless he felt that it was truly deserved.

"Get out of the way Rainbow! I'll take it from here." Applejack shouted in a stern voice.

Rainbow's expression was one of shock. "Well, this just happened." she said in

confusion, looking off in the distance then turning to quickly fly the other way.

Shadow and Applejack then looked at each other for some time. "I gotta say there

pardner, Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to make bacon out of you." she said,

with a confident smirk on her face.

Shadow looked at her, unimpressed. "You know I don't need anyone to save me, right?

All you should have done was munch your popcorn and stick around for the Easter Eggs

after the closing credits." He remarked at her.

Applejack then looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

"Yeah I knew that Shady. I just wanted to be right there next to ya just in case something

were to happen to ya. While you were fightin' Rainbow Dash obviously."

Her embarrassed grin did not convince Shadow, who still had the same edgy scowl on

his face, which said enough as Applejack worked to regain her countenance.

Even Shadow's looks were edgy enough to cut through someone, if he so desired.

She shook her mane as a way to try and get herself to refocus.

Shadow just pushed her aside, then turned to her. "Listen here Fuji-face. I'm Shadow,

Shadow the Hedgehog. The last time I needed saving was before the universe was even

born." Applejack looked at him confused.

"But, we weren't even here when the universe was born."

Shadow smirked at her, "Exactly. And that's why I don't need anyone. Not as a sidekick,

not as a friend, not as anyone." Applejack now

had her neck towards the ground, about to cry.

Did she actually hear Shadow correctly? That he truly didn't

want anyone? Everybody wants somebody, right? She knew that she was the Element of

Honesty and out of the Mane 6, she was the bluntest of them all. But this truth, especially

hurt.

She however, was able to control herself enough to ask, "If you don't need anybody,

then why do you bother saving those you don't need?" Shadow looked off into the

distance and said, "Because even though I don't need them, I'm certain they need

someone to save them." Then, turning to Applejack with an edge-smirk, said, "And why

not me?" as he teleported towards the Royal Castle of Celestia and Luna.

Inside the Throne Room...

"So, we're going to make sure that everyone's on their best behavior, right Princess

Celestia? I don't want anything bad for Sonic or the rest of the Mobians." Luna asked her

sister as she was examining a large wooden torch to see if it would produce a good

enough flame for the party. Celestia stared off into the now sunset sky and said in a calm

tone, "Yes sister, we don't what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala to happen here."

Her voice then changed to one of somberness.

"As much as I'm sure the Mobians can handle themselves, we owe it to our new friends

to be more courteous and respectful than that pitiful rendition of the Gala." Blaze, who

was wearing a beautiful white dress made of flexible and lightweight material that had the

beauty of diamonds and pearls yet the durability of vibranium

(she was also testing the torches Luna had earlier by using her pyrokinesis to put a flame

inside the torch to see if the flame would be big, bright and long-lasting enough for such

an important holiday; but safe enough to not cause any damage to the party grounds)

turned around at Celestia's statement and asked, "What happened at the Gala? And why

is this Grand Galloping event so important?"

Before Celestia could answer, a voice in the distance said, "There are some things you

should probably never know Blaze." The three princesses

turned to see Shadow, signature scowl and all, standing right behind them.

"You insolent black stag," Blaze shouted at him, "What gives you the right to interrupt

preparation for our sacred affair?"

Shadow smirked and said, "The right of living, of course. Otherwise, how would I be

here?" Blaze's anger was really fuming now. She got ready in a fighting stance with her

fists curled into two flaming orange knuckles, her temper flaring out, her jaw clenched

and her whole body ready to pounce like the cat she was.

"Enough Princess Blaze," Celestia called out to her in a stern voice, "I'm sure

Shadow has a reason for showing up unannounced like this." she said, in a much calmer

tone now.

Shadow weighed his options. He could storm in and demand what he was seeking

(information about the newly and recently formed United Universe), but he couldn't risk

having a target painted on his back by anyone higher up in Equestria yet. He knew he

could take down this planet in a flash using Chaos abilities alone if he wanted to, but he

wasn't brash in his thinking. He wanted information about this "United Universe" before

taking any course of action that could be regrettable.

So he decided to play it safe. "Yes your majesty," he said, bowing before the three

princesses. "I do. I request an audience with the princesses." All three of them came

before him, "The Princesses of Equestria, I mean. My mistake." Shadow interrupted.

Blaze's anger started to slowly rise now. "If you wanna talk to them, you can talk to me

too, 'faker!'" Celestia knew that her new friend had well- intentioned and understandable

rage, but (hardly knowing Shadow herself) she couldn't allow Blaze

to make things any worse than they already were.

"Blaze!" she shouted to her in a brief panicked

second, but then took a deep breath to calm down. "Luna, take her to our personal

quarters so she can cool off. I can address Shadow fine from here." The other two

Princesses complied, as Shadow and Celestia strode towards each other. "You don't

have to kneel before me Shadow; just ask me what you want to know." Shadow then

asked her, "I want information on the United Universe that

Equestria and Mobius are starting with other planets." Celestia looked at him confused.

"Where did you hear about that?" she asked. "The commander of G.U.N., an agency I

worked for back in Mobius, made me aware of what was happening earlier today."

Shadow replied. Celestia was still confused.

"So if your G.U.N. commander told you everything, then why are you still asking me

about the United Universe?" Shadow coughed to clear his throat, then spoke again.

"Because he only gave me some basic information; there are other things I would need

to know about this new universe I'm gonna be

living in." Celestia nodded. "If all of the good planets of the Universe aligned themselves

like this, what about the evil that would still be going on there? Like if someone on a

planet was still doing evil or if someone wanted to overthrow you guys from the inside or

Outside?"

Celestia threw her head down rather downcast. "I'm sorry. We can't promise to rid

ourselves of all evil, Shadow. Sometimes the evil is within us, other times it's external.

There might be no such thing as perfection Shadow, and sometimes there's no best way

to deal with it," she said as she paced back to her

window where she saw the moon and stars start to appear. "Just the best way we can

deal with it." Shadow gained a better understanding of Celestia's intent, (which he

believed was good) but saw her logic as not good enough. If simply using good enough

judgement was your best bet, what would happen if you smite out evil once? It will come

back again to bite. And who knows? Maybe while they're smiting out evil in a few areas at

a time; they could multiply and eventually grow into an anti-U.U. of sorts and then,

instead of peace; there would eventually be a greater war with more

casualties in order to stabilize this "peace" no matter how Utopian it might seem.

Shadow knew that everyday, way too many beings in the universe fought for such a

peace and saw it tumbling down to the ground.

There was no way he was about to see another thing like this happen. Not while he was

around. Maybe if things were different. If he were in charge of the universe. All of it. If he

ruled it in the way he saw fit; then not only would the universe benefit from "peace

without apathy" as he would call it, but he would finally be at peace himself. There was

just one more thing he needed to ask Celestia. "Is there anything else you're curious

about Shadow?"

Celestia asked him at the perfect timing. This caused Shadow to perk up and smile as he

turned towards Celestia. "I don't have to worry about microchips being installed into our

brains to make us obey our demands or restrictions on travel, do I?" Celestia laughed at

the thought. "Oh Shadow, the main thing we're concerned about

is everyone living up to decent moral standards. We're not trying to change their overall

personality and we're certainly not going to limit their travel or anything else basic. What

we're trying to do is encourage the universe into a path that is righteous, pure,

harmonious, moral and...well I hope you could see with Equestria what we're trying to

aspire it to be, but we still want the universe to feel like they can be themselves, you

know?" she spoke softly, hoping to reassure Shadow. He was pleased about

being allowed to travel under the United Universe, and he was pleased to gain more

insight into how she aspired to maintain citizen freedom and still encourage honorable

ethics. But he still thought her strategy was off. "I know what you mean Your Highness,"

he said, bowing down in polite reverence.

She simply smiled at him. "You're more than free to call me Celestia. Are you planning on

going somewhere? I'm only curious as to why you asked about that in particular."

Shadow turned and answered, "One; if I'm going to be a citizen of this new universe, I

might as well know my rights about it. And second, I thought I'd be taking a break for a

bit. Have an adventure, see new planets, sharpen my edgelord, still be back in time for

Harmony Weekend. The usual awesome hedgehog

stuff, you know?"

Celestia laughed, "Shadow, you know you can be honest with me, right? I don't

mind you wanting to take a vacation from Equestria. You don't need to have my

permission for that."

Shadow smiled, nodded, turned to leave again before Celestia called out, "Hey, by the

way; it's called the Week of Elements so come back any day you like during that then you

can have fun any day."

Shadow turned to thank her, then teleported back to Winsome.

It was now night at Winsome. The stars shone across the sky like crystal, the dew of the

grass feeling nice and cool along Shadow's back as he lay down with his back on top of

the luscious green grass. He smiled as he gazed at the huge, illuminating moon just

above him. "Well, I'm not impressed with the entirety of her

thought-process; but I must admit her intentions are something good to build around."

Shadow thought to himself internally. "She's definitely someone I could use as an ally."

Shadow rarely used the word "friend" to describe someone close because of how

laser-focused he was on his personal mission and also consequently, most of his

relationships were business. A friendship, to Shadow, was something that was earned;

not automatically given (like he felt like a lot of ponies in Equestria

were). "I'll pack for my trip to Mobius tomorrow. It's the best place to get what I need for

my little adventure." Shadow thought inwardly in content as he nestled along the grass.

He was so peacefully and contently enjoying his sleep, that he didn't notice a familiar

orange face popping out of a quaint, country style tent popping out; staring at the black

Hedgehog.

Alright everybody/pony/whatever-you-are. Thank you SO much for reading into this

story. Also, update; this story actually has 40 views now. But I would still like to have

more views on this story. That's what I'm aiming for. Feel free to send a Review or PM

about what more you would like to see from this story. I can't promise I'll use every

single request; but I will take a look at it and then continue to strive for a great story.

Anyhow, I'm taking a break from Equestria for a bit to update the next chapter of "LITO:

Infinity Rising" but after that, stay tuned for the next 2 chapters of "More To Me Than

That." Anyhow, see you guys next time.

*looks around the house for Pinkie Pie*

Huh, looks like Pinkie's not here right now, so as always; Keep Loving, Keep Edifying,

Keep LoveandEdifying.

*doorbell rings*

Oh, and perfect timing…

*door opens*

Derpy: "Hey, are you LoveandEdify?"

Me: "Yeah, that's me."

Derpy: "Pinkie Pie wanted me to mail you this" *hands out a pink-colored envelope* "She

also said not to open it until the next chapter of "Determination of the Strong."

Me: "Alright, thanks."

Derpy: "Sign here on the clipboard please."

*LoveandEdify signs clipboard*

Derpy: "Alright, have a great day."

Me: "Thanks Derpy."

Oh boy…. :-P