Determination of the Strong
Chapter 5: … Two Steps Back
Well, Shadow didn't exactly know who to "ask" because let's be honest, who in Equestria would
actually want to go with him? So after asking everyone from the Wonderbolts (think MLP's
version of the Blue Angels) to Rainbow Dash who pretty much…
*door slams*
Me: What the?!
Pinkie: Hiya LoveandStuff! :-D :-D :-D Miss me at all?!
Me: Uh, not really Pinkie. Because you either keep visiting or are in my house every single day.
Pinkie:
ButIwasn'thereinthelastchapterbecauseIneededtogetsuppliesformyguestroomIwasgonnabuildiny
ourhouseincaseIneededtostayoverhereandIPinkiePromisedMrandMrsPiethatIwouldbabysittheirt
winsagainand…
Me: Alright, alright! *sighs and takes a deep breath to calm down* You just freaked me out is
all.
Pinkie: Sorry. I just knew you were gonna write something along the lines of "So after asking
everyone from the Wonderbolts (think MLP's version of the Blue Angels) to Rainbow Dash who
pretty much literally slammed the door on him…" I knew that you could use a nice sound effect
from your bestie pal, Pinkie Pie!
Me: Uh, yeah. Thanks Pinkie. :-D Can I get back to writing though?
Pinkie: Okie Dokie Broskie! :-D :-D :-D I gotta go get supplies for that other project I'm working
on. You're gonna LOVE it because it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo EDIFYING!
*proceeds to happily bounce away and gently shuts the door*
Me: Which is why I should be wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Anyhow…
I think you all get the point by now; everyone was either too busy or they just didn't want to show
up. Afterwards, Shadow quickly hovered on back to Sweet Apple Acres where he saw Applejack
drag a tractor tire that was lying flat on the ground with a rope attached to it across her barn
floor.
Shadow was impressed. She was actually pulling the thing, not struggling or flinching, but
pulling it with pure force and power. Shadow
smirked, then tapped Applejack on the shoulder. "May I?" he asked, pointing to the tractor tire
and rope. She jerked the tire right over to her and told Shadow, "Be my guest." Shadow then
looked around the barn. "Is there any way we can take it outside?" he asked her. She then
proceeded to open two extremely large barn doors that were there in case there needed to be a
lot of things stored in there. Shadow then rolled the tire a considerable distance out of the barn.
Applejack followed them until the two of them were at an open field a considerable distance
away from the barn. He then proceeded to go to the end of the rope; but instead of pulling the
tire to him, he swung it around like he would a hammer throw and then let it fly towards the
woods like it was nothing. Shadow smirked and then clapped his hands softly to try and dust
them off. "Well I'll be darned, Shady." Applejack said, clearly impressed with the hammer throw.
"How were you able to do that?" she asked, clearly in awe of the feat. "Let's just say you don't
know everything about me." Shadow replied, "And even if you did, I'm not sure that your puny
strength would be enough for you to convince me to let you come along. If you still want to, that
is." he challenged. Applejack was unphased. She smiled with determination and said, "Oh don't
you worry. I'll be the best decision you'll have ever made!" Shadow just looked at her with
confusion. "Uh, you taking me along with you on this mission, of course. Nothing too crazy now."
she said, nervously attempting to cover that embarrassing moment up. Both of them got into a
fighting stance. "Hmph, this'll be easy." Shadow thought to himself. "I know I'm not gonna
teleport to keep things fair; but I wish my little pony 'friend' would reconsider." Shadow attacked
first, going slower than usual to hold himself back as not to totally knock Applejack out. He went
for a weak (for him, anyway) attempt at a falcon punch to nail Applejack down, but she rolled on
the ground, dodging the attack and quickly standing back up on all fours. Shadow then hovered
slowly over to her face to throw a punch, but before he could throw a punch, Applejack quickly
went 180 on the ground, putting her rear hooves up and kicking Shadow square in the jaw which
sent him careening in the air before he backflipped and landed on all fours like a cat before
getting up. "Now hold on a minute, Shadow?" Applejack asked her competitor, smirking, "How
can I prove to you that I can keep up with you; if all you do is keep holding back?" Shadow then
realized something. She wanted a full-fledged fight. With all the punches, kicks and dodges
galore. No holds barred. She was stubborn enough to get him to at least try her stupid little bet
to begin with; the least he could do, was see it 'til the end. He then smirked. "Maybe that wasn't
me holding back. I can't help that I feel nothing from you." he said, winking at her; prompting the
two to shout, "Bring it!" at the same time before charging faster and harder at each other before
the fight resumed.
Shadow kept throwing punches, but this time he made sure they were hard,
powerful and hit their mark. Applejack toughened through it all and managed to bring some
powerful kicks and bucks on Shadow as well. As the fight continued, both of them had noticed
that they were both stronger than the other had expected. At one time, Applejack tried to buck
Shadow off when he hopped onto her; but realized a little too late that he wasn't trying to hop
on, but rather roll off of her back to easily and unsuspectedly pick up and throw her then
unbalanced body to the ground pro-wrestler style and slam her down. Shadow then expected to
seal the deal by drilling a destructive punch to her ribcage ala falcon-style as he did the first time
around; but Applejack threw her front hooves at his fist to block the punch for a split-second long
enough for her to recover, stand up on all fours, then just trample Shadow on the back once
before she snapped and realized that she might have hurt him. "Oh my goodness gracious!
Shady!" she shouted in shock and worry as she quickly galloped over to him. She saw him
lying still on the ground, apparently unable to move. "I'm so sorry Shady." She said, with tears in
her eyes, on the verge of crying. "I just wanted to impress ya. I didn't know that I was gonna kill
Ya." She then stood over Shadow, crying. A decision she would find out would be a HUGE
mistake. The way she was standing over him, her torso was right below where his legs would
be. And then, she later felt like an axe being used by the universe's strongest being to split a
knotty piece of wood and saw herself get literally launched up in the air like someone really
muscular hitting a high-striker and cracking the bell (if the rock that cracked the bell turned into a
rocket and flew hundreds of feet in the air.) She flew almost touching Cloudsdale and then
started to immediately careen and scream, almost pulling off a Sonic Rainboom (or Sonic Boom,
depending on which universe you like more) before Shadow, who pulled off a hovering start by
going all the way back to Sweet Apple Acres to gain the momentum he would need, hovered,
jumped and caught Applejack flawlessly right when she was about 100 yards off the ground. He
then timed the landing so perfectly, that it practically was like there was almost no gravity at all.
Applejack was startled shocked. First she thought that she killed Shadow, then she gets
launched somehow into the most terrifying in-air experience of her life, and now Shadow just
recovered to pull off that?! She stared at him happily while she received a scowl from him. "Are
you done holding back yet?" he asked. She was about to speak when Shadow noticed that the
sun was coming down. He had to admit, the fight was actually more fun than he anticipated.
Surely she proved that she had what it took to, well, try to keep up with him, he guessed?
However, he didn't wanted what happened to one friend, to happen to any potential other…
Flashback…
Shadow's Fatal Mission…
After receiving coordinates from Captain Oliver, Shadow teleported to the center of Milan and
then brought a map from a tourist guide and hightailed it to the ASST Great Metropolitan
Niguarda (the hospital where Rouge was). A lot of emotion filled inside of his head, and a lot of
memories too. When Shadow first met Rouge; it hardly seemed like the two were going to be
nothing more than distant work relations that would be as opposite as opposite as can be. But
as the two worked closer and closer together, they started to have a mutual relationship until
one day, in Solennia, Rouge finally worked up the nerve to tell him her true feelings for him.
Shadow, feeling like this was a second chance for him to solidify a friendship after the death of
Maria Robotnik (his friend that was there for him through the beginning of his life), he returned
those feelings for her. Although their friendship was extraordinary, he knew that Rouge's
birthday was today and he originally thought that after the mission would be the opportunity to
tell her that he was ready to be more than friends with her and enter a romantic relationship.
And then… she decided to do what she was supposed to do as a G.U.N. agent. Finish the
mission, even if it cost you everything. That's one of many things Shadow admired about her.
And now, he might not get the chance again. As soon as he got to the hospital, he hovered
really fast and practically bulldozed anyone who was going to get in the way of him seeing
Rouge for possibly the last time. When he finally got to the hospital room Rouge was staying in,
the next thing he saw horrified him…
Back to the Present Moment…
"Uh, Shady?" Applejack asked him, snapping him out of his distraction, "Are you ok there,
buddy?" Shadow decided to brush it off and act like nothing was wrong. "It's fine." he said, in his
usual, stern tone. No time to lose his focus now. He had an adventure to go on. "Alright
Applejack, you can come along." he said. After he said that, they both noticed that Applejack's
family was applauding in approval behind them. When Applejack and Shadow stared back at
them, they stopped their cheering and immediately resumed their farm work. Applejack would've
been acting excited too, but now she was too embarrassed by her family to do it. "Listen here
Shadow, I know you've already made a trip around Equestria and I've already packed and
prepared for the trip; but if you don't mind, there's something I need you to do for me." Shadow
looked at her and said, "I'm listening." Applejack then handed him an envelope with Rainbow
Dash's name on it. "Would you mind taking this over to Fluttershy?" she asked him, "I figured
you don't wanna actually take it to Rainbow, but this needs to get to her before I leave. You
should find Fluttershy at her animal shelter." Shadow took the letter and strode off slowly in that
direction. "I know where that is." he then turned back to Applejack for a brief moment. "I just
realized that I have a little unfinished business to take care of as well." he then turned and said,
"I'll meet you back at your place." he said, before teleporting, which utterly shocked and amazed
Applejack. "WOW-wee-WOW!" she exclaimed, "I didn't know he could do that!" she said in
amazement.
ALRIGHT EVERYONE THAT IS IT FOR THIS CHAPTER OF DETERMINATION OF THE
STRONG! NEXT CHAPTER'S GONNA HAVE SHADOW TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AND IN
CASE YOU'RE WONDERING, APPLEJACK TALKING TO HER FAMILY IS GOING TO SERVE
AS A FLASHBACK! YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY LATER! LET ME KNOW IF YOU KNOW WHAT
SONG I REFERENCED IN THE TITLES OF THE LAST
TWO CHAPTERS! AND AS FOR WHY I'M YELLING SO LOUD HERE!
*proceeds to go downstairs*
Me: PINKIE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A "GREAT FANTABULUSO IDEA" IF SHE HAD A
GUEST ROOM TO STAY IN IN CASE SHE CAME OVER! HANG ON A SEC. PINKIE WILL
YOU TURN OFF THE POWER TOOLS?!
Pinkie: Oh yeah, of course you're cool! About 40% cooler in fact! :-D
Me: THANKS PINKIE, BUT I NEED YOU TO TURN OFF YOUR POWER TOOLS!
*noise from table saw stops*
Pinkie: Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I had to turn off my power tools. What were you saying,
LoveandBuddy?
Me: I… Never mind. *facepalms* Ow!
Pinkie: Everything going alright pal? I told you I was going to be getting stuff for a project earlier,
remember?
Me: YES, er I mean, yes. But I didn't realize you were going to be building a guest room down
here… today!
Pinkie: But… I told you I was building a guest room here earlier too.
Me: You did?
*Pinkie nods*
Me: That must have been when you were doing all that fast auctioneer rambling you were doing.
Pinkie: Oooooooh… auctioneer rambling?! WHAT A GREAT IDEA! :-D :-D
Me: Is it?
Pinkie: Of course it is. Your ideas are always great. I just need to
getafewthingstogetherfortheauctionandthenI'llraisethemoneyIneedtobuynewsuppliesformyguestr
Oom! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Me: Now THAT I understood. *whispers to the readers* (Does that seem weird for anyone/pony
else?) *shrugs shoulders and turns attention back to Pinkie*
Pinkie: GREAT! And I'll do that right after I finish building with my AWESOME Power Tools!
:-D :-D :-D
Me: No Pinkie, not NOW!
*proceeds to turn the tools back on*
Me: I HATE IT WHEN SHE DOES THAT! ANYHOW, PLEASE SEND A REVIEW ON WHAT
YOU THINK OF THIS STORY SO FAR! NEXT STORY THAT'S GONNA BE UPDATED IS
"DON'T FIDDLE WITH IT" SO THAT ONE'S GONNA BE FUN! NEXT SONIC-MLP STORY
THAT'S GONNA BE UPDATED IS "MORE TO ME THAN THAT"; BUT THAT'S IT FOR NOW,
SO KEEP LOVING, KEEP EDIFYING AND KEEP…
*Pinkie unplugs the power tools*
Me: … LOVEANDEDIFYING! *struggles to catch breath*
Pinkie: I'm sorry I didn't know this earlier LoveyDovey, but you don't look so good. You're out of
breath, I heard you screaming at the top of your lungs over my power tools, your throat looks
sore and you look like you could faint at any second… *gasps* *gets back to being, well, Pinkie*
I KNOW what you need… *proceeds to carry LoveandEdify to his bed* There! Now I'll tuck
you in *procees to* HEY, I DON'T NEED THAT! *so sorry. continue… * and there.
NowI'lljustmakeyousomenicesoupstopbyTwilight'sforsomegoodbooksforyougetyousomethroat
spray AND… use your duplicator to create another pair of noise cancelling headphones like the
ones I've been borrowing for my guest room project so you can rest while I get back to my
power tools! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D Ooooh, I love you SO much LoveandBuddy! I can't believe I
haven't thought of it sooner! HOLLER IF YOU NEED ME! *happily bounces away*
Me *raspy and exasperated*: If I have any yell left in me… *proceeds to fall fast asleep on the
bed.*
