Shadow skates through a hallway of a dilapidated office complex, he pushes in a button on his earpiece, "Rouge, I'm in pursuit, where's the last one?"

"He's a floor beneath you, hon."

Shadow bounces up, then rockets himself down to punch through the floor. As broken wood and tile falls around him. He locks eyes on the target, a skinny human. The human's brown hair was greasy and unkempt. Pairing with his dirty grey sweatpants is his stain-covered green turtleneck, all tied together with smudged up glasses, which wouldn't help anyone's visual impairment.

Unfortunately for him, he's also carrying a very important-looking black leather briefcase, far out of his price range, at least based on this particular human's fashion choice.

The human sees Shadow and makes the seemingly logical choice. He breaks out into a sprint, zooming around the corner. His posture that would tell anybody that he'd never ran a day in his life. Before the human could blink, Shadow appears in front of him, hovering in the air with his Air Shoes just to add to his intimidation.

Shadow glares, his blood red eyes piercing through the man's soul, "If you like your arms being in their sockets, I suggest dropping the intel. Now."

The human tries to throw a punch at Shadow.

It does make contact, and in a playground fight it would easily stumble a fifth grader. However, it's only as good as a pool noodle hitting a boulder.

This wimpy, trembling human knows he's out of his depth, but didn't quite know how much before trying to slug the Ultimate Lifeform.

For a brief moment Shadow's eyes furrow, his brows wrinkling in fury, that this human would have the gull.

The hutzpah.

To try to actually hit him.

The human takes a step back, he feels a wave wash over him, holding the briefcase in front of him like it's a shield.

Shadow closes his eyes, he places his hand on his chest as he takes a deep breath, then pushes his arm forward on the exhale. A breathing exercise he picked up from a certain somepony, "I'm going to hurt you when I open my eyes. Prevent my unyielding violence by dropping the suitcase. And don't move."

Shadow's ears twitch hearing a dull thud echo in the hallway. He opens his eyes and sees the suitcase on the ground and the human giving a thumbs up, a nervous smile on his face, "Dropped it. So can I just go?"

Shadow's face remains unimpressed, "No. The anti-Mobian group you're associated with committed the most heinous domestic terror attack in United Federation history. Did you honestly think you were going to go home?"

"Kinda-"

Then glass shatters at both ends of the hall as G.U.N. soldiers rappel through the windows, boots first. Shadow takes a step back as they all surround Shadow's target, high-powered rifles aimed at this lowly peon.

These big, armored men yell variations of, "Get down!" and "Hands behind your head!" Seeing the armed soldiers, the man does as he's told, sniffling and crying the whole way through.

The leader of the squad walks up to Shadow from behind, her helmet covering most of her face, "Agent Shadow, excellent work as usual. Every suspect you detained before we arrived has been booked. Well, besides that guy of course. You can report back to headquarters at your leisure."

Shadow gives a wordless nod and then teleports away with an effortless Chaos Control.

Thousands of miles away, he reappears at G.U.N. HQ with a blink of blue light, specifically in front of the open doorway to G.U.N.'s break room.

He walks into the fluorescent filled break room, with its cheap linoleum tiles.

All there was in this room was a few tables, chairs, a cheap white fridge, a microwave, and a kitchen counter. But the one thing Shadow walks up to is the coffee maker, which he had to bring to work himself. He also had set it to brew right before he left on this mission.

He sees that it's been done for about thirty minutes, but regardless, Shadow pours himself a cup. Slowly sitting in a rickety plastic chair, Shadow puts his mug on the table and rests his head in his hand.

He takes a sip of his coffee, so bitter it could strip paint. Perfect.

"Well, Shadow, you got through today pretty fast, I thought cleaning up that little hate group was gonna take all night." Rouge the Bat leans on the doorway, her face stained with that smug smirk.

Shadow responds without turning his head, "Yeah, I was rushing. I want today to be over with. I took Twilight's advice and I'm taking a week-long vacation."

She puts her hand on her hip, "That is just precious, you and her all domestic now," Then she crosses her arms and pouts, "But now you you've gone and made it to where I have to get outside help and hun, I hate working with temps. Last time we had Espio on as a temp, it was so boring, anytime I tried to tease him, he wouldn't even react."

"I feel so bad for you." Shadow's eyes roll.

Rouge, her heels clacking against the tiles as she walks to the fridge, then she takes out an energy drink. She pops it open, filling the room with a smell of overly sweet citrus crossed with battery acid but Rouge takes a swig, "Anyway, what do you plan on doing on your week off? Taking Twilight out on a date? A little night on the town?"

Shadow glances over, "At some point sure, tomorrow however, I have nothing planned."

Rouge's face scrunches in confusion, "Nothing? What are you going to do, lay in bed?"

Shadow squints at her, giving her a look as if she should already know the answer, "That's generally what one does when they do nothing."

"Sounds a little boring, if you ask me."

Shadow finishes his coffee and places his mug on the table, "It only sounds boring to you, because you need to be on edge to enjoy anything."

Rouge's words halt for a moment.

"Yeah, I don't enjoy boring, what kind of a lunatic would? Why don't you go and get some amnesia again so you can't have any comebacks?" She stands just a bit more dramatically.

Shadow smirks, "My memory is a steel trap now, Rouge. So, unless I fall from orbit in the near future, you're just going to have to deal with it." He stands up, and switches the subject, "By the way, Twilight wants to meet some of my friends from here, so you should come over to the Library sometime. Portal to Equestria is in Tails' Workshop."

Rouge's brow raises, "Oh, so you're finally gonna introduce me to this girl? I've been waiting!"

"When you come over, you should introduce yourself to Rarity, you two are similar in many regards. Both probably love to gossip as well."

Rouge taps her fingers on the counter as she leans back, "Rarity's the pony with the spell that can find jewels along with that incredible sense of fashion? Oh, hun I'd love to meet her." She grins, with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Shadow sighs, "Just don't try to rope her into some gem heist, Rouge, worrying about you is the last thing I need on my mind." His face softens, "Regardless, I'll text you when I get back to the library, or when I talk to Twilight about you coming over." he gives her a wave.

"Okay hun, be safe, see you in a week." she waves back.

Then Shadow vanishes, as is the cycle every day.

Rouge sits there, mulling his words around in her mind, "Well, this should be fun, meeting Rarity, seeing what this Twilight is like. Come to think of it they've been dating for a few months now, Shadow even moved in with her and everything… from everything that happened over there, I guess I'm not surprised he got so close to someone."

From Central City all the way back to New Mobotropolis, Shadow appears at Tails' Workshop. He briefly looks at the sunset but couldn't ignore the tall chrome-ringed portal to Equestria outside the workshop rather than inside.

Shadow looks at Tails, who was on his hands and knees kneeling over a wire. Shadow's voice cuts through the silence, "What are you doing?"

Tails doesn't flinch at Shadow's voice suddenly arriving, He just plugs in a bunch of cords and wires. With a spark, the green Chaos Emerald in the circular base of the portal glows as it thrums with energy, then the familiar glow of silver light blinks to life filling up the empty space in the ring.

Tails turns to face Shadow. His frown was deep, borderline a snarl, with tired unamused eyes, which was odd for Tails of all people, "People keep walking in and out of my house. You know what that means?"

Shadow opens his mouth to say something, but Tails cuts Shadow off, raising his voice, "It means I have no privacy! None. Nada. So, this," He gestures to the portal, "is outside now."

He mumbles, "I put an awning up too, rain wouldn't be good for the wires and stuff…"

Shadow's gaze becomes a touch more concerned, "Tails, I didn't know that this was such a problem for you."

Tails sharply exhales, "Yeah, it really has been, I've just been kind of doormat about it but that's on me. However, at least you have the decency to warn me before you cross the portal." Tails looks back, "The main offender is Pinkie. She just appears in my workshop and pranks me while I'm doing something, just yesterday I was taking a really stubborn bolt off of the Tornado,"

Tails points at his workshop, both of his tails puffing up as he raises his voice an octave higher, "Then she shows up while I had a wrench in my hands and blew a kazoo in my ear! I flinched so hard I stripped the bolt and the bolt's hole completely! Now I have to fill it and rethread it! I love Pinkie to death, but now that back panel is just- grr." He takes a quick breath, "I just want an ounce of privacy."

"Do you want me to get Twilight to talk to her about this?"

Tails wipes his face with his hand, pushing back the strands of hair on his head, "No, its fine, I should talk to Pinkie myself. Thank you for listening to me rant."
Shadow nods, "You're welcome." He steps onto the platform to head over to the other side, then looks down at Tails. His face softens, "Me and Twilight are on the other side of the portal if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

Tails blinks a few times, as if taken aback by the offer, but he smiles, "I'll be sure to if I need you guys, thanks Shadow! Also, I'll be sure to tell you if I come up with any alternative ways to power the portal."

Shadow steps through the silvery light of the portal and sees the Equestrian sunset. The layers of reds and oranges, matched by hues of purple slowly ebb into the sky, as the sun dips below the horizon, leaving the sky in a state of twilight. He arrived just in time to see it, it was as if Luna herself was welcoming him home, as the moon peaks its shattered pieces over the sky.

Pulling his eyes away from the peacefully darkening sky and Shadow walks through the door of the Golden Oaks Library. The warm air inside hits his face, he smells the comforting scent of books and lavender in the air. As well the faint smell of tea brewed some hours ago. To Shadow, it was the scent of home. He takes off his Air Shoes by the door as he notices Twilight looking at him.

She looks up from her book, "Have a long day on Mobius, Shadow?" her question teased a little bit but there was more concern and care in her voice.

Shadow sits on a pillow on the floor next to Twilight and sighs, "Yes, it was rather tiring. I apprehended and dismantled a small terrorist organization, around a hundred people in total. Some ran, some cried, one guy tried to hit me." he waves his hand dismissively, "He was a moron."

Twilight scoots a little bit closer, "You didn't hurt him too bad, did you?"

"No, I threatened to dislocate his arms, but he's in G.U.N. custody now, arms still in their sockets."

She gives him a small smile, "Well you got him at least. What did this 'organization' even do?"

"They were an anti-Mobian group. They long for the days when The United Federation and Kingdom of Acorn were at war. They were nonviolent for a while but then they got big, and someone committed an actual hate crime the nature of which, I won't elaborate on with a child in the room," Shadow nods his head to Spike mindlessly reading a comic.

Twilight shakes her head, "That's terrible. I couldn't imagine anypony being so hateful."

Shadow looks over, "Yeah I can't see Equestria forming any terrorist organizations."

She leans on him, nuzzling into his shoulder while reading. Then she starts thinking out loud, "There probably are some, but we don't have ready access to information like everyone on Mobius does, what with all your tech." She gestures with her hoof, twirling it in a circle in the air, "I bet there's a 'pony supremacist' group somewhere on Equestria and if it were ever found, me and the girls would probably get sent to take care of it. We have a decent track record of talking misguided ponies out of their ways."

Shadow rests his head on Twilight's, letting his shoulders relax he then curiously asks, "What would you do if you couldn't?"

Twilight shrugs, "Hmm. Probably turn them to stone or something."
Shadow raises an eyebrow, a smirk on his face, "That's quite the brutal punishment, how long is that sentence?"

Her eyes glint mischievously, "It's for all time, obviously, we ponies have brutal prison sentences." She pauses for a moment as Shadow looks down at her with widening smirk.

Then she giggles, not able to keep it contained, "Kidding! Though, if they were just some stubborn ponies, we would probably put them in a normal jail. The stone-prison-type of punishments are usually meant for creatures like Discord, who would be a real problem in any kind of jail."

Shadow, wraps an arm around her, "Intelligent and oddly dark? You're a mare after my own heart."

She teases playfully, "Well, duh, I'm after your heart, I thought I was being pretty blunt about that."

Shadow's eyes started to pan to the book Twilight's reading. Shadow notices the age of the cover and the pages as he tries to compete with the reading speed demon that is Twilight Sparkle.

Though he is woefully unequipped to keep up, as Twilight could read a whole page by the time Shadow finished a paragraph.

Though he does recognize words and phrases that he's seen when he's tried this before, he became curious, "You've read this particular Daring Do book seven times since I've been here, is there anymore entertainment to gain from it?"

"It's more about the nostalgia really. This was the first one I got as a filly. My mom got it for me, I always enjoyed reading but I never read fiction, it was always history or magic theorem. I was very devoted to my studies if you couldn't tell."

She smiles warmly as the memory reenters her mind, "But then one night I started reading it and got whisked away. Sure, my mom got me the third book in the series without knowing it, but it was so enthralling that I wanted to read every chapter of every one of the books."

Shadow chuckles softly, "It was just last week when you met A.K. Yearling. You were so excited when you did, couldn't stop talking about it for hours."

Shadow uses this moment to read the full page, while Twilight blushes slightly. Her eyes flicker up to Shadow, "Oh, I'm sorry, you know I tend to get carried away."

"I know you do, you're passionate about what you like," Shadow kisses her on the cheek, "you're cute when you ramble about what you enjoy."

Twilight's face erupts into a shade of pink, "Sh-Shadow…"

He gives her a quick hug, then stands up and stretches, "I'll be right back, Twilight, I have to wash this stressful day off of me in the bath."

"Alright, don't be too long."

Twilight's violet eyes follow Shadow, he looks back and they lock eyes for a moment, his crimson gaze passing over her with a look of protective warmth. He shows her a smile and Twilight melts a little as she feels the warmth he's trying to project. It buries itself deep in her chest as it blooms and meets the blush on her face. He continues up the stairs only breaking eye contact when he's out of sight.

She blinks a few times dreamily at the staircase, but she exhales. After a moment she refocuses on reading, though somewhat distracted by the adoration she felt from Shadow's eyes.

Spike looks up from his comic, not noticing the displays of affection, "You know Twilight, I didn't think you were the kind of pony to get a coltfriend."

Twilight's head slowly looks up from her book, to glare at Spike, "Oh, thanks so much Spike, glad you have faith in me."

Spike corrects himself, "No, I didn't mean- I meant uh, that I never thought all this would change."

Twilight's stare softened as Spike continued, "I mean, it was already an adjustment moving to Ponyville, then you became a princess, not to mention the Princess of Friendship, and now you're dating Shadow," Spike perks up, "and he's so cool! I like that he's around and he makes the Library feel safe. but…" His expression droops, "it feels like I'm not going to able spend as much time with you with how awesome Shadow is."

Twilight's gaze softens completely, as she holsters her sarcasm for the moment, "Oh, Spike. Shadow would hate it if I spent less time with you. Believe it or not, he actually mentions things we could all do together, so we don't exclude you. You're my little brother Spike, and Shadow knows how important that is. You know you're always going to be my Number One Assistant, right?"

Spike smiled, blushing a little at the heartfelt words, "Yeah… I guess I just needed to be reminded. I should also thank Shadow for keeping me in mind, huh?"

Twilight yawns, as she places an old bookmark in her favorite Daring Do book, "That would mean a lot more to him than you'd think." She looks at a clock on the wall and sees that time had flown by since Shadow made it home, "Well I think it's time for me to head to sleep. Don't stay up too much longer Spike, I don't want you reading your comics all night again."

Spike frowns, as he follows her up the stairs, not really wanting to be alone on the first floor, "That was one time! In my defense, the newest issue of Power Ponies came out that day. Tonight, I'm just rereading my favorite parts of the last arc."

Twilight rolls her eyes, a smile still on her face, "Just go to bed at a reasonable time Spike, you staying up late is going to stunt your growth."

He looks back at his comic while walking, "I just need to finish this next page."

After a while Shadow comes out from the bathroom. His fur was dried but steam rolled off his body, he smelled like lavender and a little bit like pine. With the lights off and the candles out Shadow's red eyes almost glow in the dark.

He wanders in the dark to look up and see Owlowiscious, Twilight's pet owl, he peers down from his perch and gives a soft hoot. Shadow gives back a respectful nod. As the shattered moonlight peaks through the windows, Shadow sees Spike sprawled out on the floor. His little form fully illuminated and his head resting on an open comic. Shadow kneels down, gently lifts Spike's head and slides out the comic. Shadow is startled by Spike making a light groan, but Shadow lays his head down gently.

Shadow then looks around for a stray bookmark, and after scanning the room he finds one lying on Twilight's desk, unused. He slips it into the comic, right where Spike left off.

He closes it and puts it into Spike's pile of comics. Seeing the disorganization his eye twitches but lets it go, not his pile of comics.

Shadow kneels down again and nudges him, whispering, "Spike."

He doesn't respond, clearly out like a light.

Shadow sighs, then gently scoops him up, taking care not to jostle him too much. While in a very deep sleep Spike nuzzles into Shadow's freshly cleaned chest fur.

He couldn't help but give a small smirk, then shadow whispers, "Wouldn't this be an embarrassing moment for you?"

Shadow makes it to the loft and leans over Spike's bed. He separates Spike's head from his chest fur, though, like removing a cat from a couch, Shadow feels Spike's claws try to grip into his fur, pulling a few hairs from his chest. Shadow bites as Spike lets go, allowing him to lower Spike on to his little bed.

After letting out a sharp exhale, Shadow still tucks Spike in. He even letting himself smile, whispering, "That hurt like hell, but your secret is still safe with me, Spike."

He stands up to turn to his and Twilight's bed, expecting her to be fully asleep by now.

However, Twilight's big violet eyes proved otherwise. She was covering her mouth with her hooves, small bits of tears on the corners of her eyes.

Shadow blinked. Then he looked at Spike then back to Twilight.

Before he could say anything, Twilight removes her hooves from her mouth to show a big smile, "I was just about to get up and get him." She covers her mouth again, her wings fluttering, then moves them again, "Then you came in and- oh my gosh, you were just so thoughtful and sweet, I kind of want to squeal? Or kiss you? I don't really know what I want to do."

Shadow's lips curved into a smirk as he takes his gloves off. Twilight's eyes follow him as he lays down to her right and lets himself under the covers. He rolls over to look at her with his tired crimson eyes, he murmurs softly, "Twilight, scoot closer to me, please."

Twilight's cheeks burn pink as she scoots closer. Shadow lays his ungloved hand on her face, running his thumb over her cheek. He stares at her lips, his chest thumps, then he leans in to steal a kiss from her. Twilight's eyes widen as his warm lips touch hers, then she giggles sweetly, closing her eyes and taking a kiss for herself. She wraps her forelegs around Shadow's neck, as Shadow runs his hand through her soft mane.

It was soft and warm. In that moment it was just them, connected, and this love beating between them as their chests press together. After a few moments of comfortable bliss, they both pull back, to look into each other's eyes.

Shadow blinked slowly, "Between kissing and squealing, I made the choice for you." He teased.

Twilight exhales, "Well, I was going leaning on kiss anyway so I can't complain."

He gazes into her violet eyes one more time, as if he'd never see them again, "Goodnight Twilight… I love you."

Twilight's eyes gleam, "I love you too Shadow."

Then Shadow's eyes slowly shut, his exhaustion and a caffeine crash claiming him into sleep. His arm goes slack. Twilight's gaze shifts left and right, mischievously, then carefully lifts Shadow's slack arm with magic and lays it over her side.

She lets out a 'he he he' with a grin covering her face, shifting herself down a little so she can rest her cheek against Shadow's fluffy slightly pine-smelling chest fur. As she closes her eyes, Shadow hugs her holding her just a bit closer.

This was Twilight's plan all along.

She lets out a content sigh, wrapping her forelegs around his back, letting his rhythmic heartbeat be the lullaby that slowly brings her to sleep.

The next day arrives as Celestia's morning sun bathes the room in a bright, yet soft, golden light. Shadow's eyes open, at the same time it always does, at the crack of dawn.

He is warm under the covers as Twilight firmly nestles herself in his chest fur and is holding him in a semi-loose hug.

Twilight has snuggled him like this a few times before. So, he shifts his body with practiced motions, like moving a treasure from a pressure plate, one wrong move and she hugs tighter. Shadow scoots out backwards, then when he feels Twilight twitch, he deftly pivots out of bed.

In her sleep Twilight frowns, and Shadow cannot have that, so he places the pillow he was laying on in her grasp. She snatches and snuggles it fiercely, as if placed into a bear trap. Twilight rubs her face on the pillow, still warm with his presence. She settles and breathes out deeply through her nose.

Now standing, Shadow yawns and stretches, popping his back. He turns his head to look out the window, He sees other ponies in Ponyville, starting their days, he even sees a scrawny colt with a white coat and brownish-gray spots, about to deliver the daily newspaper to the Library. It was the first day of his vacation and he wanted to start it right.

A few hours later, the morning light aimed itself into Twilight's eyes. She winced but her eyes flickered open. Her smile crept onto her face as she smelled two scents: The first one was the smell of horribly bitter coffee being brewed, the bitterness in the air used to make her nose scrunch up but now it's a staple of her life. Usually, it means that Shadow is up and starting the day.

She also smells the lightly sweet aroma of chamomile tea which somehow defeats the bitterness. Shadow knows how to steep the tea in just the right way, he puts in a splash of milk and one sugar, just how she likes it. He always pours it into her favorite teacup, one that she's had since she was a filly, with the accompanying saucer.

Shadow made Spike some tea as well, placing the cup and saucer right next to Twilight's.

Twilight mutters to herself, "Shadow's home…" Then her eyes shoot open and Twilight bursts upward, launching the pillow she was snuggling clear off the bed, "Oh my gosh! You're starting your vacation today!" She squeals, beaming at Shadow. He is sitting on a stool near the base of the twisting staircase that leads up to the loft, while reading a folded newspaper in one hand and holding a mug in his other hand.

His face was coated in a silky lime green lotion, which was step nineteen of his twenty step facial skin care routine, ending with a thorough rinse. Sitting on a table near him is the tea he had made for Twilight.

He gives her a small smile, "Good morning, I trust you slept well?"

She flies down to him and gives him a peck on the side of his cheek with a 'Mwah!', avoiding the green serum covering his face, "Thanks to you I did!" She flies back a bit to land softly on the ground and picks up her tea with her magic, "What's the newspaper saying today?"

"Tomorrow is when the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum comes to town but I'm sure you already knew that." He smirks.

Twilight sits down, "I did know and if you don't have anything planned tomorrow, we should go!"

Shadow thinks for a minute, having a sense of clarity from a night's rest, and then looks at Twilight, "I was just thinking, when I got home last night, I didn't ask you about your day, I'm sorry."

Twilight sips her tea, she gives him an understanding smile, "No need to apologize. Yesterday was just a small Princess meeting, discussing ways to fix the moon, so far, our ideas are: unseal Discord and have him just do it after some mild reforming or I go Super and do it myself."

"I have no doubt you could." Shadow's brows furrow for just a moment, "While you were there, did you get to talk to Cadance?"

Her eyes light up, "Yes, I did! It was so nice seeing her after everything. I think we should spend more time with her."

"Yeah, we should, I imagine being alone up north isn't good for her mental health. Would she be willing to come here? I know better than most that a change of scenery is better for the mind."

"That's a wonderful idea Shadow! I really do miss spending time with my Sister-in-Law." She looks off in the distance wistfully for just a moment.

Shadow hears, 'Sister-in-law' and he feels his heart drop a bit, "If you wanted to spend the day with just her, you can. I'm sure you want to have a day with just the both of you."

She frowns, "No, I'd want you to be there too, besides I've been wanting you and Cadance to get to know each other a little better for a while now."

He puts the newspaper to the side, giving her his full attention, "It's not that I'm opposed but why?"

Twilight's eyes start to shine, "Because you're a part of my life now, Shadow, and it would mean the world to me if you got along with the important ponies in my life. I know you two met before, but the circumstances were… not the best for a normal first meeting." She beams a little wider, "Also, I want to meet the important people in your life. Like Rouge and Omega!"

"Rouge said she be willing, but Omega isn't much of a conversationalist, nor is he a 'people person'… nor much of a 'person' really..." Then he shrugs, "But I'll send Rouge the text anyway and see what time she's available this week. When would we be able to meet Cadance?"

She flies over to her calendar, "Hmm. Maybe tomorrow?"

Shadow reaches over and grabs the P.D.A. from a nearby shelf, he texts Rouge,

Hey Rouge, it's Shadow. Twilight wanted to know if you'd like to cross the portal and visit, we'll probably get lunch.

Before hitting 'send', he sighs and then adds,

Also, bring Omega, she wants to meet him too.

Rouge responds instantly, almost startling Shadow.

i was waiting for u to text me hun tell the princess i can be over tmrw like noon or smthn

Shadow's eye twitches at Rouge's complete lack of respect for the English language but looks up, "Rouge is saying she wants to meet tomorrow as well, but at noon."

"Well Cadance would probably get here far before noon, so if the trains are on time, we get to spend the whole morning at the Traveling Museum with Cadance! So much quality time!" She claps her hooves together, "Then we can brunch at noon with Omega and Rouge! Ooo, gimme a split second so I can write Cadance a letter for Spike to send." She lifts up a feathered ink pen with her magic and deftly writes Cadance a letter.

"I thought Spike could only send letters to Celestia."

"Ponies think that all the time, but Spike is much more multifaceted than that," She flies up to the loft where Spike is still sleeping, who is now laying on his back, and gently nudges him, "Hey Spike, it's time to wake up."

Spike puts his clawed hand on her face, as if she were an alarm clock, "Five more minutes…"

His hand lazily slides down Twilight's snout as she just stands there, unbothered and looking down at him. She excitedly bounces up and down.

Spike sighs from underneath his covers, "I can feel you staring at me, Twilight." He kicks off the blankets, "Fine, I'm up."

Spike rubs his eyes and stands up grumpily, "What do you want?"

From downstairs, Shadow raises an eyebrow.

Twilight was a little too chipper to notice his sour demeanor, "Spike. I have a letter I need you to send to Princess Cadance."
Spike groans, "Just give me a second, I can't just wake up and breathe magic fire."

With his hands on his hips, he looks left and right, then sighs, "Okay, I was exaggerating, I can."

Spike takes the scroll then breathes a green flame onto it, burning the letter and whisking it off to its destination. He puts his hands on his hips, his face lightly scowling, "Now, I'm gonna start my morning, Twilight."
As Spike walks away, Twilight shakes her head, "Such a drama queen."

Only, halfway down the steps, Spike burps up a green flame and a light pink scroll is made manifest in the whirl of fire. Twilight catches the letter with her magic. She tears the seal and reads the flowery cursive aloud.

"Dear Twilight,
I would love to come to Ponyville! I'll be there as early as possible so we can spend the day together!
Your dearest Sister-in-Law,
Cadance."

While flying, she hugs the scroll her chest, squealing with glee, "I'm so excited for tomorrow, but," her eyes scan to Shadow and she lands right next to him, "What are you going today?"

Shadow stands up, he leans in close, "I don't plan on doing anything." He declares with amusement.

Twilight gives him an incredulous look, "Nothing? You mean you're just gonna lay in bed or…?"

"That was my plan. Stay in, get some light reading done," He looks at Twilight, "Though I would like it if I could do nothing with you."

"Is the Ultimate Lifeform asking me if I want to lay in bed with him all day?" She teases.

Shadow smirks, "And is the book-loving Princess of Friendship going to decline the opportunity to read with me for as long as she wants?"

She playfully pokes him in the chest with her hoof, "You make a very compelling argument… even though it wasn't an argument, and I was on board the moment you offered."

Spike looks between them, "Here I thought Silver and Fluttershy were the most lovey dovey couple in Ponyville. You two might have them beat."

Shadow looks at Spike, choosing to ignore his comment, "You can do nothing today as well Spike."

"I can?"

Twilight giggles, "Of course you can, Spike! It's an impromptu 'do-nothing' kind of day."
Spike pushes his claws together, "That means no cleaning, no- "
She interrupts him, "Nope. Don't lift a claw. Just grab your favorite comic, lay in your bed and relax."

It didn't take much to convince Spike to be lazy.

As Spike shrugs and grab his comic, he scratches his head seeing the bookmark, "Thanks for putting a bookmark in my comic, Twilight."

"Oh, it's no problem, Spike." She shoots a knowing smirk at Shadow and winks.

Shadow smirks back, but he starts to remember that Step Nineteen was still on his face. So, he goes into the bathroom and scrubs the face mask off with a damp towel. Then rinses what remains off, he stares into the mirror, analyzing his muzzle and every angle of his own face for any lime green spots. He holds up a bottle of moisturizer with the ever-practical label 'Step 3', He mutters under his breath, "Someone's been using my moisturizer… interesting."

He reenters the room and Twilight and Spike were laying in their respective beds, relaxing before he could. Shadow walks up to a shelf and gently slides out a book, one that's old and weathered. An old book with a brown faded cover, one he had brought to the Library from G.U.N. H,Q, when he lived in the barracks. He holds it gently, as if the slightest jostling could scatter its contents to the floor.

After a few moments Shadow had joined Twilight in bed. He sat against the headboard, crossing his legs. He picks up the pillow Twilight had launched in her earlier excitement, and props up his back with it.

Twilight lies on her back, hovering a book over her face with magic, it her old reliable; 'Principles of Magic', reading through it would be her hundredth or so time. She found herself yawning at the prospect.

In response to the oncoming wave of boredom, Twilight sat up to look over at what Shadow chose to read.

Shadow's book is one Twilight has never even seen before. So naturally her interest was piqued.

She snuggles up next to Shadow, she sweetly asks, "Can I read with you?"

Shadow looks over at her big sparkly eyes and adjusts himself so she can get a better view of the book's pages. To her pleasant surprise it was a book about Mobian astronomy, but there were notes in the margins, in a hard to decipher cursive.

Twilight focuses away from the margins. What she found fascinating is that the planets were different but most of the stars were the same, which intrigued her more and more. Then there was that same flowery cursive, and some words highlighted. It was becoming clear to Twilight that this was someone's textbook from school.

Her gaze shifted from the words, then to Shadow. His eyes were half lidded, as if consumed in thought even as he went from page to page. Twilight put some puzzle pieces together, based on the handwriting, the subject matter and his reverence for this book.

Her heart clenches upon reading 'Maria Robotnik' in the margins, confirming what she had just thought.

He then points to a page, "Here. This constellation. Orion. When we went stargazing, I saw it in the sky. I thought it was familiar."

Twilight looks back at the book and she almost does a double take. It was the constellation 'Orion'. Shocked that it was identical to Equestria's own 'Orion', her mind races as to the implications of that.

Are Equestria and Mobius parallel to each other after all?

Shadow notices her thinking intensely. She has easy tells; hoof to the chin, eyes up and to the side, somewhat mumbling. Yeah her brain was spinning up some kind of theory. Shadow stares at her with curiosity mixed with a hint of anticipation.

She sits up straight with a little smile on her face as she starts orating while looking forward, "We have to stargaze on Mobius before your vacation is over, because if I see the position of Orion on Mobius and compare it to the position of Orion here on Equestria I could see if our worlds are parallel or not!"

She looks over at Shadow expecting him to be looking at the book, but he was listening to her intently, she had the full attention of his crimson eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.

He smiled faintly, "I know a place that has a sky clear enough for stargazing, it's in a field of white lilies near Westopolis, I think it would be rather beautiful. Though I imagine New Mobotropolis may have the more scientific view you're looking for if you're looking for similarities."

She imagines a picnic, just the two of them in a field of white flowers. She imagines the smell of the flowers and the faint breeze ruffling the gentle petals. The impassioned kiss under the stars with the city skyline behind them. She giggles dreamily to herself. That is until she snaps herself back to reality as she sees the face of Shadow, giving her a look somewhere between quizzical and concerned.

Twilight's face turns bright pink, "We-we can go to Westopolis, if you want to!" Her voice cracked, but then, she holds a hoof to her mouth, "Ahem… My scientific pursuits can wait just a little bit longer."
Shadow lets out an amused breath through his nose seeing her blush, "I think you'd like it. It's not Central City, but there are museums there and they've rebuilt most of downtown since the Black Arms invasion."

Twilight remembers Shadow talking about the Black Arms, the race he owes his genetics to, "It sounds like that place is pretty important to you."

"It was fairly significant for me. Westopolis is where I first took a step for myself, rather than what I was made for. Of course, a lot of inane events led up to that… computer rooms and… secret discs." His voice uttered that like a curse.

She stifled a bit of laugh, but her eyes were still full of admiration, "I'm glad you did, and I'd bet my bottom bit they have a statue of you there."

Shadow leans his head on hers, "I don't think they have the funding…" he mumbles wryly, then his voice softens, "But, thank you for saying that."

As the minutes turned to hours, and the oranges and reds of the sunset filter through the window. Shadow and Twilight find themselves standing up and stretching. Both realize that they might have indulged in a little too much 'nothing'.

Spike was still indulging in his comic as Twilight and Shadow left the library for a moment.

They stood outside, the air of Ponyville felt nice and cool as the wind passed them by. The two look up as the purple and red in the sky start to reveal a few twinkling stars, as the sun, yet again, sinks below the horizon. They stand there long enough for the shattered moon to peaks its head over the horizon.

Shadow takes a deep breath, letting the non-polluted air fill his lungs. Breathing on Mobius felt like huffing gasoline mixed with burnt copper fumes. All done from years of constant pollution and devastation caused by Eggman and not necessarily helped by the United Federation's military-industrial complex.

By contrast, the air of Equestria was untainted and fresh, the breathing equivalent of drinking a glass of ice-cold water.

He looks over at Twilight, the breeze somewhat tousling her bangs and mane, the colors of the twilight reflect off of her eyes. Shadow simply stared as she looked up. He noticed her eyes dancing between the lines of the stars, creating the constellations above them in her mind, almost in preparation for what they'll be doing later in the week.

Shadow lets out an amused breath from his nose and looks up with her.