Shadow not wanting to be left without assisting walked out of the castle with Flurry Heart still attached to him.
He looked at her and sighed, "Look, just don't get in my way."
She giggled and held onto him as he began to skate toward Casino Park at high speed.
Shadow, still keeping in mind that he had a small filly attached to him began teleporting and speeding up with every second that past trying to cut the time in half.
In Casino Park
Shadow teleported on a platform and looked at the scenery around him.
Bright lights, interesting sounds, and many games to be played got the attention of Flurry Heart whose eyes grew at the sight of the potential fun around her.
Shadow groaned as he pried her off him, "This is a serious mission! Not playtime!" He told her sternly.
Flurry Heart made a face with big puppy eyes and Shadow tried to resist.
"Don't look at me like that…you wanted to cling to me, so face the consequences." He said still trying to resist.
She still kept starring and eventually got him to cave in.
"Alright, fine, 1 game but then we get back to the mission." Shadow said carrying her up a small flight of stairs and taking a look around, "Which game would you like to play?"
Flurry Heart looked around and pointed to what looked to be a large pinball table and giggled while Shadow walked over, "No. We aren't playing that. That requires I roll into a ball and I'm not sure if I can hold you while rolling or spindashing. Sorry, it could be too dangerous…and I made a promise to someone that I would protect you."
Flurry Heart was set down and watched as Shadow curled down and rolled into a ball and zipped around her in a circle making her giggle, "Vroom vroom!" She said.
Shadow uncurled and slightly smiled at her, "Uh, yeah, vroom vroom." He watched her try to spindash but to no avail, "Sorry kid, but is not easy for just anyone to spindash. Give it a little more work and you might get it…or not, you never know." Shadow then picked up Flurry Heart and pet her, "Good try though."
There was a clicking sound behind him and he turned around to see some of Eggman's old robots getting ready to fire at them.
"Shit! Change of plans! We are playing that game after all!" He yelled before jumping onto the large pinball table and rolling down and around it while still clenching on tightly to Flurry Heart.
Flurry Heart giggled with delight as she was rolling and felt Shadow bouncing off of walls and bouncy pegs while trying to avoid their pursuers at all costs..
Shadow heard the sound of flippers and braced himself as he was launched into a large slot machine.
The panels started rapidly turning as inside the machine, Shadow was waiting by a large button with Flurry Heart in his arms still ok. Oddly enough, he saw that with her in there with him, he was getting a x5 multiplier to his rewards.
"What the hell…since when did Casino Park become so generous? I remember when this place used to give me, Rouge, and Omega the worst payouts ever." He pressed the button once and got a jackpot panel then gulped as he pressed it again and got another jackpot panel. Shadow looked at Flurry Heart, eyes wide and palms sweating he held her up to the button and let her press it.
Right before they dropped out of the machine, Shadow heard loud fanfare, "Hell yeah baby! Got a jackpot!" He yelled excitedly. Flurry Heart cheered loudly and held onto Shadow as he rolled down a small pathway onto another pinball table where there were billiard balls rolling around with him.
Before he could get off the table, Shadow fell into a pinball launcher and was shot through the air onto a golden table, "The V.I.P tables! This is where the rich come to gamble!"
With the help of Flurry Heart, Shadow was able to angle himself precisely into multiple large and small slot machines, "Alright Flurry Heart, let win it big!"
Flurry Heart cheered as with each slot machine they went in, they were earning more, and more to the point, Shadow had to forcibly fail to get out of the V.I.P table.
He managed to maneuver himself to bounce off a couple walls and fall past the pegs onto a large roulette wheel.
He slowed himself down a little and managed to land on a space marked with a ring symbol on it netting him 50 rings before getting launched off and onto solid ground.
Flurry Heart let go and fluttered next to him giggling and Shadow started laughing, "Who knew you were so lucky!" They high fived and started laughing. When he realized he was smiling, he turned away until the smile was gone before looking back at her, "Ahem, well, that was a close one. Eggman's robots nearly ambushed us so we need to be careful. I don't want you getting hurt alright?" He began walking away until he heard the sound of a stomach growling.
Shadow turned around and sighed knowing what was going to come next, "Let me guess…you're hungry aren't you?"
Flurry Heart looked at him and nodded while being picked up by him, "Fine, let's get you something to eat."
Shadow walked down a couple paths before finding a place to sit and relax. He took a look at a menu and got himself a burger with fries and a soda while getting Flurry Heart some chicken nuggets and some juice.
They ate their food with Shadow mostly having to feed Flurry Heart, "There we go. Feeling better?"
Flurry Heart nodded then looked behind Shadow to see Twilight walking with Pinkie Pie, "Twiwight." She said pointing at Twilight.
Shadow looked behind himself and saw them, "About time you showed up. For a bunch of magical horses, you are very slow."
Twilight and Pinkie saw Shadow and ran over, "Shadow? What are you doing here? I thought you stayed behind at Canterlot Castle to keep an eye on Flurry Heart."
Shadow crossed his arms, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm investigating Casino Park and Bingo Highway efficiently."
"Really? Because from here, it actually looks like you're enjoying lunch with Flurry Heart." Twilight commented raising an eyebrow.
Shadow cleared his throat, "Yes, well, we were investigating until we got ambushed by some of Eggman's robots. I ended up having to flee with her and after we got away, she was hungry so I got her some food. This is merely just a lunch break from the normal kick ass work I do."
Before anyone could say anything else, "Halt. Do not move." Came the sound of a clanking machine approaching them.
Shadow looked and saw some of Eggman's robots had found him again, "You useless heaps of metal never seem to learn. Twilight, protect Flurry Heart. Looks like this one's for me."
Twilight levitated Flurry Heart over to her and covered her and Pinkie Pie in a magic bubble.
Shadow cracked his knuckles and his neck before rolling into a spindash and launching at one robot while the other started shooting at him. He landed behind another other robot and grabbed it, using it as a shield before charging at the firing robot.
The firing robot was run down by its former ally and thrown off the side railing of the path they were on leaving their only other ally alone with Shadow.
Shadow smirk before jumping and homing attacking the robot close to the edge before teleporting behind it and kicking it away, "You're not getting off that easy."
Flurry Heart was clapping watching Shadow fight and saw him throw the robot in the air.
"Chaos…spear!" Shadow launched a chaos spear at the robot and hit its head before kicking it over the edge. "Natural." He said to himself.
"Chawos speaw." Came Flurry Heart as she shot magic at the robot causing it to detonate once it was out of sight.
Shadow saw that then looked back at her, "What the…" He was shocked to say the least but he managed to get out of the fight unharmed. "Damn…nice shot kid."
Twilight dispersed the magic bubble and smiled, "That was amazing. Nice job."
Shadow dusted himself off and walked over, "I'm used to dealing with machines. It's what I do best."
Pinkie looked around, "This place looks so cool! Everything is so bright and loud! I love it!" She said bouncing around.
Shadow took Flurry Heart off of Twilight and started walking away.
"Where are you going?" She asked him confused.
"To Bingo Highway. Casino Park is connected to it via a large pinball table with a cannon at the end. You girls should learn how to roll into a ball. It's the only real way to travel around these 2 stages unless you want to fly the whole time. Seeing as 1 of you have wings, start trying while you still got time." He responded before skating off.
Twilight and Pinkie looked amongst each other, "Well…how do they do it?"
Shadow set Flurry Heart down and showed them step by step, "Ok. First you have to tuck yourself down like this. Imagine a vertical fetal position then start spinning and launch off." Shadow said as he began spindashing around them.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie watched him confused as he unrolled next to Flurry Heart and picked her up, "Got it? Good. See you in Bingo Highway."
Shadow walked away giving them a thumbs up and raced off leaving the alicorn and earth pony alone.
Pinkie Pie shrugged before attempting to try a spindash only to crash into a wall, "Owwie…"
Meanwhile, Shadow had found the pinball table and was rolling down it with Flurry Heart in his grasp, "Alright, we are almost to the cannon. Try not to lose your lunch kid and hold on tight."
He went through small slots only winning 10 rings when he went through them and started avoiding any flippers in his way when he saw them.
He had fell off the pinball table and into the cannon before being shot out high into the air and landing onto a new more blueish colored pinball table.
In Bingo Highway
Shadow had started rolling down faster when he passed a large score card overhead, "Hm…hey Flurry, you up for some bingo?"
"Bingo! Bingo!" She said giggling.
"Then let's play some bingo!" Shadow said hearing her squeal.
Down the pinball road were large chips numbered 1-9.
Upon touching one, Shadow saw that the number 1 on the scorecard had been lit up showing he had collected it.
He had missed a couple chips that were out of his reach but managed to grab most of the numbers, "Double bingo!" Shadow yelled.
Flurry Heart cheered as her and Shadow were flung off the pinball table by a flipper and onto a solid platform.
Shadow radioed in to Tails who was shocked to hear his voice, "Tails, it's Agent Shadow, come in."
"Uh, Shadow? You do know you don't have to radio unless you're on a mission right?" Tails responded with confusion.
"I am on a mission. I'm investigating Casino Park and Bingo Highway as we speak." Shadow responded.
"Wait, weren't you babysitting Flurry Heart?" Tails asked him.
"Yeah, and I am. She is here with me in Bingo Highway." He responded.
"YOU BROUGHT MY DAUGHTER WHERE?!" Came a worried and angry Cadence.
"Relax, she is perfectly fine. She is having fun and is perfectly ok." Shadow responded irritated.
"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT YOU BROUGHT HER TO A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS PLACE, SHADOW! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Responded Cadence.
"It was fine, she knew what she was getting into by sticking around and had no problem with it!" Shadow responded.
"THAT IS NO EXCUSE! WHAT IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO HER?! YOU MAY BE SUPER STRONG BUT SHE IS STILL A FILLY! WHAT WILL YOU DO THEN!?" Cadence fire back.
"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP! SHE IS FINE! NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HER! I'M NOT GOING TO LET ANYONE HURT MARIA!" He shouted back at her causing everyone to go silent.
Realizing what he said, Shadow shut off his communicator and stopped sitting down putting his head in his knees, "I already let something happen to her once…I wont let anything hurt her again…I cant."
Flurry Heart crawled over to him and tapped him causing him to look at her. She could clearly see his pain and climbed up on his head and hung off it upside down looking into his eyes.
"What are you doing Flurry Heart? Cant you see I'm sulking here?" Shadow said still upset.
She tapped his nose with a smile, "Boop."
Shadow slowly started to smile and picked her up off his head and sat her in his lap looking at the large casino amusement park around him just taking in everything, "You know…I've been here before. My first ever friends and I came here. Their names are Rouge and Omega."
Flurry Heart looked at Shadow, "Rouzze, Owega."
"Shadow smiled and nodded, "Yeah, Rouzze and Owega. They are very good friends of mine. The things we did here were amazing. We won so many rings and had a great time."
Flurry Heart listened to Shadow and helped him settle down.
They pointed at different buildings and games laughing before Shadow held out the yellow emerald and gave it to her, "Think of this as a lucky charm. When you feel scared, or alone, hold this close to you, and no matter how far I am, I will protect you."
Flurry Heart held the chaos emerald then looked at Shadow before hugging him.
Shadow started having flashbacks to Maria and hugged Flurry Heart tightly feeling a tear fall off his cheek and onto her head.
She looked at him and wiped his face away before fluttering in the air and landing back onto his head.
Shadow started to chuckle, "Alright, stay up there, but if we get into trouble, I need you to hide, got it?"
Flurry Heart nodded and smiled at him as he stood up and started walking down this new path that seemed to branch out to multiple ways.
"Hmm…the energy spike is coming from that way. Guess we are heading to the left." Shadow said as he started skating away.
He hopped onto a new pinball table and started rolling down it while holding onto Flurry Heart, "Let's play some more bingo!"
Flurry Heart giggled as they started grabbing chips all over again.
Shadow tried his hardest to get a perfect bingo but only manage to get 4 bingo's this go around, "Quad Bingo!" He yelled as they shot through 5 speed rings into the air. "Alright, this is our last chance. Aerial bingo!"
With the help of Shadow's hover shoes and Flurry Heart's little wings, they slowed their descent tremendously.
"1, 2, 3!" Shadow started.
"4, 5, 6!" Flurry added.
"7! 8! 9! WE GOT'EM ALL!" Shadow yelled, "BINGO BLACK OUT!"
"Perfwect bingo!" He heard Flurry Heart squeal.
There was a loud fanfare and they landed on a platform safely and Shadow sat her down giving her a couple rings to hold on to.
She took the rings and began to levitate them above her while Shadow watched.
Shadow looked at her then saw a few robots start to surround them, "Flurry Heart, go hide!" He commanded her.
She listened and ran away watching Shadow start to fight off the robots though something was off.
Shadow started to notice these robots were teleporting around and managed to combat his chaos control keeping him at bay.
The robots managed to contain him and zapped him to keep him down.
Flurry Heart yelled for Shadow as she noticed more robots landing on the scene that looked like Shadow and they all were holding something jet black and pointing it at him.
Shadow looked around him, "You're all fakes…I am the true ultimate life form…" He said before collapsing.
Flurry Heart ran out to him and hugged his body trying to protect him as best she could using her magic on the machines.
Shadow…please…you have to get up. You are the only one who can save her. Promise me you won't let anyone hurt her.
That voice…Maria? Is that you? Please, Maria, where are you!
Shadow, promise me…promise me that you will keep her safe, for me.
Flurry Heart? Yes, I promise, I wont let anything hurt her! Tell me where you are Maria!
Thank you, Shadow. Farwell.
Wait, Maria, don't go!
Flurry Heart hugged Shadow's body as the robots started closing in only for her horn to react with the chaos emerald mixing the 2 energies together.
The chaos magic shot Shadow's body and started to fuel him with power like he's never felt before allowing him to fight back the paralyzing electricity being pumped through his body..
Shadow started laughing as he began to stand, "I warned you didn't I? I am the ultimate life form, Shadow the Hedgehog. But for now, you may refer to me as," He pulled his arm back and thrusted himself forward cutting a couple robots. Now wielding a sword, Shadow spoke louder with more confidence, "Sir Lancelot! Knight of the round table!"
Flurry Heart watched in shock as Shadow was now adorned in silver armor.
"It all starts with this… a sword containing the ultimate power…" Lancelot started, "Just as a knight pledges his loyalty to his king, I pledge to use my blade to defend princess Flurry Heart! Have at thee!"
The robots and Shadow androids started firing at Lancelot as he skated toward them, deflecting their shots and disappearing.
Lancelot appeared a few feet away from them and started glowing red as multiple chaos spears were readied by his side. In a swift blade motion, he fired every chaos spear at the androids simultaneously.
The Shadow androids weren't able to block the spears as Lancelot flash stepped behind them all slice them clean in half, detonating them in seconds.
Flurry Heart started clapping before being grabbed by a robot and held hostage.
Lancelot looked at her and watched her shoot a magic bolt knocking the robot away allowing him to dice the robot in a blink of an eye, "Don't you dare lay a hand on the princess, scum!"
The robots and androids were all decimated and Lancelot sheathed his sword before kneeling once Flurry Heart went over to him.
She hugged him and the armor and sword went away.
Shadow looked at her before smiling and hugging her back, "Hm?" He looked around and saw that the surrounding area looked to be shifting, then stopped.
Once he turned his comms back on, Shadow had seen that he had so many messages and pings.
"This is Agent Shadow…what is it?" He asked.
"Thank goodness, Shadow. We thought something happened to you. Are you alright?" Came a worried Tails.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Though something weird just happened." Shadow responded.
"Really? What was it?" Tails asked him.
"Well, I just had to fight some Shadow androids and Eggman robots. After that, this place started to phase and shift but its all settled down." Shadow responded.
"I noticed that! The spike in chaos energy settled down like it just disappeared." Tails said. "Its almost like whatever you did there, calmed the place down. Its officially stable again."
"Really? Hm…" Shadow said.
"Wait, did you say Shadow was back?" Came a less worried Cadence.
"I'm here…what do you want?" Shadow asked sounding annoyed.
"I just wanted to apologize, for earlier. Sorry, for snapping." Cadence said.
"Its fine. We are returning back to Canterlot anyway." Shadow said before picking up Flurry Heart and skating away.
In Canterlot
Shadow arrived back at Canterlot where he saw Tails, "Am I the first one back?"
Tails shook his head and pointed to Twilight and Pinkie Pie, "They got here just before you. They said you did something weird."
"What did they say?" Shadow asked setting Flurry Heart down allowing her to crawl around.
"They said you grabbed a sword and managed to fend off a bunch of robots." Tails said.
"That happened? I don't remember much…but I kept hearing a name…" Shadow said trying to remember.
"Lancewlot!" He heard Flurry Heart say with a giggle.
"Yeah, that was the name! Lancelot!" Shadow said surprised.
"Like the knight?" Tails asked.
"He was so cool! He was all like, 'You will not hurt princess Flurry Heart!'" Pinkie Pie commented.
Shadow blushed, "I do not sound like that! Shut up!"
Everyone laughed as Shadow hid his face in embarrassment.
Tails stopped laughing then went and grabbed a few gadgets and looked at them, "Hmm. Well this is just fantastic."
Twilight walked over, "What's up, Tails? Something wrong?"
"No this is great! I'm not sure what Shadow did in Casino Park and Bingo Highway, but the readings I'm getting are astronomically stable. To give a comparison, it looks like both of those stages were apart of your world to begin with." Tails explained before showing Twilight the readings.
She seemed confused, "I don't know what any of this means, Tails."
"Tails smiled, "Well I can show you. I noticed your dimension doesnt have really much technology. Maybe we can use that to our advantage." He took her hoof and used the phantom ruby to teleport to the workshop.
Shadow walked outside and found that Flurry Heart was following him and crossed his arms, "You know…you don't have to follow me everywhere."
She giggled and kept following him around forcing him to pick her up, "Well, after a successful mission, I say we treat ourselves to some ice cream. What do you think Flurry Heart."
Flurry Heart giggled excitedly and clanged to Shadow again