Pinkie: Hey everypony out there, it's me, Pinkie Pie! :-D :-D :-D
So, LoveandEdify needed to go run some quick errands in Equestria and I'm on my way over
to my friend Fluttershy's to help get his surprise all nice and ready.
He said I could borrow his drone-thingy here for a bit and he's already got a spare drone to
keep up with ShadJack.
Oooooooh, I'M SO EXCITED! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
*drone starts vibrating*
Pinkie: Oooooh. Looks like the drones gonna connect with the other drone for the story now,
and since the drone's programmed to the same writing brain-lengths as the world's best
LoveandBuddy EVER, it's gonna be just as if he were here actually here writing! :-D :-D :-D
*sighs dreamily* Ooooooh, I better get working on his surprise. I've got SO MANY THINGS I
need to be getting ready! Catch ya on the flippity-floppity-flip! :-D :-D :-D
Determination of the Strong
Chapter 7: The First "Date" (Updated: 3/21/2021)
A brief few seconds after the chaos control, Shadow and Applejack safely landed on what
looked like street pavement. "Well I'll be darned." she said, clearly impressed. "You told me to
think about somewhere with a street with some tall lamp-posts heading towards a
couple of big, white rectangular buildings; we're actually in said street with said
lamp-posts towards…" "Yes, it's Chaos Control, that's how it's supposed to work." Shadow
sternly interrupted. Applejack was still excited about being in Mobius, but decided to keep it
cool, respecting Shadow's wishes. "Is Mobius always this
dark though?" Applejack asked Shadow as the two walked towards the two buildings. "No,"
Shadow responded, "Mobius and Equestria are inverse in times of days. It was evening in
Equestria when we left…" "So it's just starting to be about sunrise here." Applejack finished.
Shadow turned over to her. "Yes. But we do have to be back by the Week of Elements in
order to find what we're looking for." he replied. "So what is this thing we're looking for,
exactly?" Applejack asked him, out of curiosity for the purpose of this quest. As soon as she
asked that, the two made it to the large building and went inside. "We're going to get
extra supplies first. I'll tell you the rest after these errands." Shadow informed her. Applejack
nodded in agreement as they went towards a cashiers booth. Shadow mentally made a
checklist for what they could potentially need for their trip. Once he made
the list, he then decided to slip back into reflect. He never really "needed" a partner for this
mission. The only reason he decided to agree to take Applejack along was so that he could
find out why she was so into him. He didn't feel the same about her; but he figured that just as
long as the Element of Honesty stayed in her lane and focused on the adventure, everything
would be fine. Even though he didn't get emotional about it, he quietly whispered mentally, "I
wish you were here right now, my Rouge."
Flashback…
At the ASST Great Metropolitan Niguarda…
Rouge's limp body layed down on a hospital bed with a window view. The vitals sign monitor
read that her heart was beating, but slowly. Even if Shadow wanted to use chaos control right
now, it might have already been too late. Shadow knelt next to Rouge's bed with his head
bowed down and his eyes closed, as if to ponder what happened next. "Shadow?" he heard a
voice weakfully call out to him. At that, he rose up to see Rouge smiling at him. She looked
and felt weak, as she only slightly turned her head towards him; but it was enough to give
Shadow a sliver of hope. "Is Eggman…" she asked, gasping for air. Shadow nodded, verifying
that the evil Dr. Eggman indeed did perish and that his plan did work. Rouge then breathed a
sigh of relief. "Rouge?" Shadow called out to her, "I love you." he acknowledged to her, wiping
a tear from his eye. Rouge nodded and then softly spoke, "I… love… you, … Shadow." before
finally lying limp on the hospital bed for the very last time. It was then that Captain Oliver knelt
down next to him with his arms around his shoulders. "I'm sorry Shadow," he offered his
condolences. "I know how much she meant to you." Then all of the sudden, Oliver's body
jolted as if his tail was stuck in an electric socket, then he was bowled over and saw his 3
fellow agents get tranqued down. Shadow then tossed the gun and the shock puck aside.
"Yeah," he said edgily bold, seeming to be unphased by Rouge's death. "Me too." He turned
to face Oliver, who was cornered against the doorway.
Back To The Present…
Shadow was then packing much more adequate gear than Applejack did when she packed,
but also made sure to leave extra room in their bags in case they needed to fit other
emergency supplies in there. "I think that will be everything, Stingray." he told his yellow jacket
ally. "I'll pay you the rest after we retrieve the Phantom Ruby." Stingray just shook his head.
"Shadow, we have this stuff in the storage for a reason anyway. You and Apple Barrel take
what you need." he generously imposed to him. "Uh, where is Cracker Barrel?" he asked
Shadow after they both turned to see that Applejack was missing. Luckily, they didn't have to
look very far. She was just in the other corner of the room observing a small pistol and bullets.
"What's this thing even for?" she asked out loud to no one in particular. "A signaling device or
something?" Shadow then walked over and then she handed the gun to him. "It can be used
for that, but that's not exactly why I use them. I don't want you to use it though, ever! Except
in an emergency situation, got it?!" he sternly warned. "Got it," Applejack responded with
respect in her tone. "So what else is this thang for anyway?" she asked Shadow. He then
looked at his watch, "I'll tell you more about that on the way. Right now, we got a crew to get
back together. Plus, I want to get you acquainted with Mobius as well." Applejack smiled,
"Alright sugarcube, it's a date." she said happily. "It's not a date." Shadow replied to her, "We
need to be on our way though." he said. Applejack nodded and followed behind him.
A few hours later…
It was lunchtime now, and the pair were at a city called Station Square at a small bistro cafe.
Applejack was sitting down and soaking up the scenery. The
sun was barely visible in the sky, a slight breeze tickled her fur and gently played with her
mane and tail. She dreamfully gazed at the street hustling with people being busy as can be;
whether that would be strolling along the sidewalk, the firm grip of traffic on the road between
them, or the thousands of people she saw rapidly tapping away at their laptops or guzzling
down their various kind of drinks. "Excuse me, mam. Here's your drink." Applejack then
awakened from her daydreamy gaze to notice a waitress with blonde hair made
into a ponytail of her own, give her a drink. "Oh, thank you mam." Applejack kindly replied, which in
response made the young woman chuckle a bit. "I know you don't know this, but 'mam' is
what you call an old woman. I'm 20. The name's Misty by the way." she said, offering out her
hand to shake. Applejack was then about to spit on her hoof when she
saw Shadow briefly turn from his phone, sigh in embarrassment, and say, "Don't spit on your
hoof for this! Just shake her hand." Applejack then shrugged in indifference and shook
Misty's hand normally. "Name's Applejack. Pleasure to meet ya Misty." Misty then set
Applejack's hot cider down on the table. "Let me know if there's anything else you two need,
ok?" Misty asked. "Alrighty there. Have a nice day pardner." Applejack replied back, grateful
for the friendly gesture. Misty waved back and then went back to work. Applejack took a sip of
her drink, then turned back to Shadow who was just putting down the phone.
"You might get away with doing that in Equestria; but if you try any of that hoofsptting here, a
lot of people would question your intent and even call you unsanitary. They might put you in a
research hospital to see if you would contaminate anyone else. I know it's difficult for you to
understand some things here, but the most important thing is that you have to trust me. Got
It?" Aplejack was about to open her mouth to defend her case, but then she remembered that
Shadow was only trying to help, so interjecting wasn't the best idea here. Besides that, she
figured that after being heartbroken by Twilight, verbally abused by Rainbow-Dash and having
various other forms of mockery uttered behind his back; she knew that right now, Shadow the
Hedgehog needed someone he could trust. As for her own feelings for this noble,
misunderstood hero; those feelings were growing stronger and boiling quickly, but she knew
that she had to turn those emotions down to at least a simmer in order to earn that trust. "You
got it, Shadow." She affirmed, matter of factly. Shadow nodded in approval, with a small smirk
on his face. Applejack couldn't help but feel a little bit warmer inside, herself. "So, what were
you doing on that doodad of yours?" she then asked, wondering why Shadow was spending
a good bit of time on this strange hand-sized contraption anyway. Shadow sighed in
annoyance, as he realized that this tour around Mobius was going to turn into potentially
having to write The Encyclopedia For Dummies. "That 'doodad' you're referring to is my
Android phone, otherwise known as the Google Pixel 3. Think of it as a smaller version of the
Miles Electric if you will." Shadow said, trying to explain the details of his phone in a way that
would seem less foreign to an extremely outside of an outsider like Applejack. "Oh, alrighty
then." Applejack said, starting to grasp the concept a bit. "So what were you doing on it?"
Applejack asked. "I was trying to get the rest of my old G.U.N. crew to come with us to search
for the Phantom Ruby. I'm waiting for a response from all of them to see if they'd make it."
Applejack was confused. She heard that Shadow was a government agent of Mobius and that
he would have had to work with others before; but this outcast was now… no, he couldn't
have been thinking… "Why Shadow, Are you
asking for help?" Applejack teased, she almost giggled a bit as she couldn't resist going for that joke.
Shadow turned to her unphased. "First off, I don't need help, as I said before. Second, I
thought that since I'm taking you along on this, the last thing I would do is go into anything
unprepared." he clarified. Applejack looked at him, confused. "You tend to be a bit more of a
'pack' pony, somepony who would prefer to go through things with a company of creature or
'friends' by your side.
Whether that would be Sonic and his delinquents, your magic pony pals or your farmer
family. I know
you're plenty 'capable' on your own, but thismission requires taking certain precautions. If
something were to happen to me, I could bounce back from it easily; you on the
other hand, would die in my arms. Something I would never risk for anyone. Especially us."
he clarified, as he stared off into the distance for a brief moment. Applejack, on the other
hand, stared at him in a different way Although Applejack always felt like she was in love
with him, she tried her best to hide those feelings with respect. Any childish foal would let
those feelings explode in full bloom right away, not knowing or caring what the other person
Thought. Applejack, was no small colt; yet in that moment, she felt like she should be.
"Consarnit Applejack, why are these darn feelings showin' up now?! Fight it, girly!" As her
eyes were fluttering randomly, sweat was dripping down her skin like a waterfall, and her
hoof was tapping out of control. As she fought to keep her bubbling emotions under control,
she let one more emotion-fueled question escape her lips before capping her feelings once
again. "Wait a minute, did you just say, 'us?'" she asked sincerely, before snapping back to
reality. She scanned Shadow to see what kind of emotions there were and hope that he
wasn't angered or embarrassed by that kind of display of humiliating lovey-doveyness.
"Yes, but not that kind of us." he respectfully replied. "Oh, right then." Applejack said, with
obvious disappointment yet knowledgeable understanding in her tone. "Just the platonic,
buddy-buddy, teammate us." "Exactly." Shadow replied, nodding happily that she got the
message. While Applejack wasn't a master of deduction like the black and red hedgehog, she
could tell by the way he looked at her and spoke during that brief exchange, she saw that he
wasn't ticked or humiliated. But rather… concerned and confused, maybe? There was a lot
going on at that time. Just
then she heard some kind of vibrating noise and saw Shadow pull out his phone. "Is it
supposed to buzz like that?"
Applejack asked, in curiosity. "Only when there's an alert on there. If someone's trying to call
me, the vibrating lasts longer." Shadow responded as he analyzed the texts.
"Looks like I really am alone." Shadow thought, doing his best to hide the increasing feelings
of despondency he was feeling inside of him. But one could only hide from the honest truth for
so long. "Somethang's clearly wrong with him." Applejack thought inwardly, as she saw
Shadow gaze downward as if his whole world had just ended. And in both ways she known,
and how she wasn't aware of, it had.
Misty then arrived with the check and
Shadow then handed her the Mobians needed to pay for the drink. He then noticed that
Applejack's mug wasn't even close to being empty. "You don't like your drink?" Shadow
asked, hoping not to have offended his companion with the poor drink choice. "No, it's not
that," Applejack nervously responded, attempting to think of a way to be honest about the
drink but not offend him and his noble gesture. "it's just that it seems like Mobius apple cider
tastes more like someone poured flavorless crystals in water, mixed the crystals with apples
and they were hoping for a good drink. I mean, you really can't tell that this is apple cider, you
know?" Applejack asked. "I get what you're saying." Shadow replied, which earned a sigh of
relief from Applejack.
"Most companies here process foods like apples so that they can last longer for
people to enjoy; but you're right, I can see why that drink wouldn't be a good choice to you." "I
know you meant well in doing that for me, and I truly am grateful." Applejack said happily.
"Thank you, Shadow dear." She immediately gasped in embarrassment, forgetting for a
second that Shadow wanted things to be platonic. Shadow just shook it off, "You're welcome."
The two then went off to explore the rest of Mobius because they had plenty of time before
getting to where their adventure would take them next.
Now, in case you're wondering, Pinkie texted me saying that I need to pick
up some things over at Zecora the Rhyming Zebra's hut for her, so no Pinkie interaction on
this outro, but we'll see what happens from there. Anyhow, signing off for now; Keep Loving,
Keep Edifying, Keep LoveandEdifying! See you all next chap! :-D :-D :-D :-D
A/N Update coming soon...
