Chaos and Discord: Infection
Chapter 4: 4. Chapter 3
Previous Chapter Next ChapterChapter 3: Shadow's Return to Ponyville
Shadow sat in the small shack, he attempted to get on his feet, but felt pain flood through his body. "Shadow I keep telling you, this is not a common flu." Zecora said to him. Shadow ached all over, he had caught something while he was out searching for the green honey. "You'll need plenty of rest, sleep now Shadow that would be best." Zecora said, while Shadow began to close his eyes. Shadow soon found himself asleep, plagued with nightmares that haunted him.
"Shadow… Please… Help me…" Maria said as her blood ran across the floor. Shadow ran to her and tried picking her up. He found that no matter what he did his hands moved through her like he was some kind of ghost. "Shadow… Please… Please…" Shadow bent down onto one knee he rest his hand on Maria's head and began stroking her. "Maria… I'm sorry… There's nothing I can do…" Shadow said, he felt tears drip down his face. "Shadow… Why do you hate me…?" Maria asked, shocking the black hedgehog. "I don't hate you! You mean more to me than anything else!" Shadow said, getting a sick feeling in his stomach. "Fine! Then I hate you too! If you cared about me… You'd have… Done… Something…" Maria said as her eyes slowly shut. "Maria!" Shadow shouted, hearing a laughing behind him. Hundreds of Black Dooms moved towards him, Shadow got onto his feet and prepared to fight. However each attack he made did nothing, the Black Dooms remained unharmed and then began their assault. They attacked Shadow, hitting him with energy, meteors, and many other forms of magic. Shadow fell onto the ground and looked up at Black Doom, who lifted a large stone and dropped it onto the hedgehog.
Shadow woke covered in sweat, he looked around the room rapidly, and found no sign of anyone. He got onto his feet despite the burning pain, and began to search for Zecora. "Zecora? Are you here?" Shadow asked but heard a voice say "Shadow! Shush! They are near! If you speak too loud then you they will hear!" Shadow got onto his hands and knees before crawling over to the source of the sound. Zecora was hiding underneath a table, and Shadow crawled under there as well. "Who will hear us?" Shadow asked, but heard someone speak. "Come out, come out, wherever you are… Don't you want to join us?" Shadow peeked out and saw another one of those zombified ponies. "Another one?" Shadow asked, as quietly as he could he reached for the top of the table. He searched with his hand until he felt the handle of his knife. He grabbed it and yanked his hand into cover as the pony looked in the direction. "You said there was a cockatrice nest nearby?" Shadow asked, getting a nod from his Zebra companion. "Good. We'll need it." Shadow crawled out from the table, moving nearly silent he managed to sneak up on the pony and dug the knife into its skull. The pony let out gasps of pain and surprise as it slowly began to dissolve into the gray liquid.
"Cockatrice blood kills them, nothing else will. I cut one of their heads off and it reattached." Shadow explained. Zecora and Shadow began packing some things, items and objects they would need for the journey to the nearest town, which just happened to be Ponyville. "Got everything?" Shadow asked. Zecora nodded before the two left the shack, heading towards the nest to collect the blood.
They moved past the now empty nest, bottled cockatrice blood had been added to their bags, and their guard on its absolute high. "We should be near town…" Shadow muttered when Zecora cried out in pain. He whirled around and saw a plant had dug some form of teeth into her leg. Shadow severed the plant's stem and grabbed onto the "head" before forcing the jaws open. They both looked at the wound and realized it was deep. Shadow could see the bone through the wound, so she was lucky it didn't snap any of them. Shadow heard bushes shake and rumble as a Manticore approached. "Shadow go on without me… I'll wait for my death in this pain and misery." Zecora said between gritted teeth. Shadow picked her up bridal style and began to run, after a few moments his shoes activated allowing him to float above the ground.
Shadow heard the Manticore continue chasing them, no matter what it just kept following. "It must be her wound… A predator will almost never refuse an easy meal…" Shadow thought, still hovering away from the large predator. Shadow saw bright light seeping through the thick forest bushes and trees, meaning the way out was straight ahead. "We're going to have to break through the bushes, so this may hurt!" Shadow shouted, bracing for impact. Zecora went to protest, but she felt branches whip her, leaving visible red marks. Shadow had taken most of the abuse, turning so that his back faced the bushes, the branches digging into his back drawing blood. Several ponies gasped at the sight of a hedgehog and a zebra bursting through bushes, some ran, others stayed to investigate. "Zecora?! Are you all right?" Twilight asked, while Tails, Knuckles, and Rarity followed. Zecora lifted her head and looked for Shadow, she saw him lying on the ground in a shallow puddle of blood. "Please, you have to help us… Help quickly without a fuss…" Zecora said attempting to get up. Twilight stopped her and asked "Knuckles, can you take her to a hospital?" Knuckles nodded before heaving the zebra over his shoulder and moving towards the hospital. Twilight looked over at Shadow and frowned. She walked over him and he began to lift himself with his arms. "I should've known you'd have something to do with this." She said to him. "Good to see you too…" Shadow muttered before spitting out blood.
"What did you do to her?" Twilight asked, getting on eye level with the black hedgehog. "I rescued her… Some kind of plant attacked her… I carried her through the forest, while being chased by a Manticore." Shadow had begun to glare at the princess, knowing that she would like nothing more than for him to die. He had been responsible for millions of deaths if not more. Shadow waited for a response but one never came. Twilight was staring at something in the distance. Shadow turned his head and saw what she was looking at. A mirage or at least he hoped it was one. Sonic stood there, he had his same cocky grin. Only he was different, his left eye was missing, pieces of him had fallen away, but Shadow could see his heart, it beat in a steady pace. Shadow blinked and Sonic was gone, Twilight looked at the black hedgehog and helped him onto his feet. "Like it or not… I'm going to have to trust you…" Twilight said with a frown.
Tails sat in the library with Star Mane and Gizmo. "Hand me that beaker." Tails instructed. Star Mane crossed her hooves and replied "No." Tails looked at her and asked "NO!? WHY NOT!?" "You didn't say please." Star Mane answered. Tails sighed before saying "PLEASE hand me that beaker." Star Mane appeared to think about this before saying "No." "What!? WHY!?" Tails asked furiously. "It'll be too late." Star Mane replied. Tails slammed his fists on the table, spilling the chemicals on the floor and the desk. "See." Star Mane said. Tails looked at her and asked "Why are you even here? You're more interested in space and such right?" Star Mane nodded before saying "I was bored. I'd also heard something from Knuckles… What is the 'Spruce Monopoly Arf'?" Tails asked "You mean the 'Space Colony ARK'?" Star Mane nodded, and Tails smiled. They heard the door open and they assumed it was Twilight so they continued with their conversation. "To tell you the truth I don't know that much about the ARK, you'd have to ask Shadow… Who knows here he is…" Tails answers but a voice began to take over the conversation.
"The ARK was my home. Hundreds of humans were onboard… Then the lead scientist, Professor Gerald Robotnik created me with the assistance of an alien being known as Black Doom. Black Doom tried to destroy Earth, and he manipulated me into assisting him. However Prof. Gerald knew that Black Doom would return so he attempted to build the Eclipse Cannon. A part of the ARK that fires a beam of energy powerful enough to pierce stars. Then a government agency known as G.U.N. mistakes the Eclipse Cannon as a weapon to be used against them. G.U.N. stormed the ARK killing anyone who stood in their way. I was then discovered and set as a primary target to be eliminated. A young girl was in danger as well, I had to help her escape. We managed to get a room that would allow us to escape to the planet below… But she was killed in that room… I couldn't save her… I had destroyed a monster that bonded with the ARK, I couldn't have done it without Sonic's help…"
Tails looked at Shadow and asked "Shadow? What are you doing here?" Shadow sighed and said "I had to help Zecora escape from those zombie like monsters." Tails noticed the bandaged that were wrapped heavily around his torso. "Did they get you?" Tails asked, while Shadow laughed. "No, a bush cut the fuck out of me. Zecora was lucky she only some marks." Shadow explained. "Well it's good to see you again." Tails muttered, giving a small smile. "Same here buddy." Shadow said with a grin.
Sonic picked up the file, it was the cartoony type. The kind you'd see someone break out of prison with. He brought it to his fangs and began to file. He had to do it, he had to. He filed them down despite the pain that it caused. He stopped when he was able to close his mouth, despite this he still had the fangs. "Man this feels so much better. Who's next?" Sonic asked, holding out the metal file. Scourge took it and began to copy the process. He held it out to Trixie who used magic to file them down. Silver then took it and filed his own down, before assisting Fluttershy and Applebloom. Sonic smiled and moved his jaw a few times, he heard it crack and he laughed. "That felt great!" Sonic shouted. "Now what? The Princesses have refused us… Do we attack?" Silver asked. "Not yet… We will eventually… Until then… We grow our numbers…" Sonic said with a wicked grin.
Shadow sat outside of the library, he was doing something that he didn't do very often. He placed the cigar in his mouth and lit a match. He lit the cigar then quickly shook out the match while got strange looks from the occasional passerby. "Shadow. I believe Zecora is… Are you smoking?" Twilight asked, looking at him. "Yeah. So what?" Shadow replied. Twilight sighed in annoyance and asked "You know that's not healthy right?" "Yeah. After all I've been through I need this…" Shadow answered, he held one out to Twilight who looked confused at the motion. She figured it out and began to speak quickly. "Oh! No thank you… I don't really want any of your cigars… Not because of you! I just don't smoke! It has nothing to do with you!" Shadow placed the cigar back into the bag he carried and blew out smoke. "You don't need to worry. I'm not going to kill you over your opinion on me. I may maim you but that's another story." Shadow said playfully nudging her.
Twilight was a little nervous, something about him was hard to tell if he was joking or not. "So you were saying something about Zecora?" Shadow asked. "Yes, Zecora should be able to leave the hospital today, and you two are welcome to stay in the library as long as you need." Twilight finished her earlier started report. "I can't say I know why you're treating me so nicely… I killed hundreds… Thousands… Millions of innocent ponies… I can't really do anything but thank you…" Shadow commented, making her feel shocked. "Everypony deserves a second chance… Even if you aren't a pony…" Twilight said. Shadow nodded and looked at her. "Cockatrice blood kills them… The Infected… You know that if I have no other choice… They will have to be killed…" He said, she nodded grimly and began to walk away.
Shadow put out the cigar and dropped it onto the ground. He walked towards the hospital and entered. Zecora was walking for the exit when she spotted him. "Shadow, I just don't know how to thank you… Perhaps there is something I can do?" She asked him. "Don't worry about it, I was just helping a friend." Shadow replied, he placed his hand under her chin and looked into her large turquoise eyes. Shadow turned and began to walk away. He hadn't noticed that Zecora still stood there in a daze.
Tails looked back at Star Mane was had been tied to a chair, something Tails didn't want to do but was forced to in order to actually get some work done. "Gizmo hand me the blue beaker." Tails ordered, getting the blue beaker placed in his hand. Tails narrowed his eyes as he tried to pour a single drop into the green chemical. Tails watched the drop lengthen as it went to break away from the beaker's edge and fall into the green solution. Suddenly the door was flung open, causing Tails to jump, the entire bottle was poured into the green solution and it began to fizz and bubble quickly… Tails' eyes widened as he shouted "OH FU-!" He was cut off by the explosion, he was flung across the room and landed on his back. He looked at the destroyed desk and let out a whimper of sadness. "Three weeks of research… Three weeks…" He muttered as a smiling Pinkie Pie came into his view. "Tails! I need to give you something!" She shouted dropping a pink envelope onto his ash covered lap. He picked it up with his now blackened gloves and opened it. Inside was a card that read "You're invited!" Tails was confused, so he opened the card. "Dear Tails, You are invited to your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party! There will be games, food, and lots and lots of fun! See you there! From, Pinkie Pie." Tails looked up at the pink mare and groaned. "I'm sorry Pinkie, I just don't have the time. We need to find a cure as quickly as possible. Maybe another time." He said with a forced smile.
Pinkie looked sad and her hair deflated like a balloon, it went flat down at the side of her head. "I've already sent out the other invitations… I've got all the decorations and food out… Please?" She asked starting to get teary eyed. Tails let out a sigh of defeat and said "All right… When is it…?" Pinkie suddenly cheered up the tears disappeared and her hair went back to normal. "Later tonight! See you there!" She shouted happily. She bounced out of the room, leaving Tails sitting in soot and a clutter of books. Star Mane managed to get the rope out of her mouth and inhaled deeply. Tails looked at her as she began to ask questions about his home and other things in an endless strain, not giving him time to answer a single one of them. Tails simply sat there as his right eyelid began to twitch.
Shadow and Zecora walked towards the barn, that's where the invitation said to meet, and he wasn't going to question it. He heard hushed whispers as Tails, Knuckles, Metal Sonic, Gamma, and Omega joined the two. Shadow pushed the barn door open and they were greeted with a loud "SURPRISE!" Almost everypony in town was there. Pinkie was in the front of the group, she had a large grin on her face. "Come on in!" She shouted, prompting them to enter. Shadow couldn't help but smile at this. He walked in with the others following and the party then officially began. Pinkie had ushered Shadow and Tails to a game that was familiar. "Pin the Tail on the Donkey!" Pinkie shouted. "I've seen human children play this before, but I never saw what the interest in it was." Shadow said, Pinkie giggled and wrapped a blindfold around Tails' face. "What the…?" Tails asked startled. She spun him quickly and grabbed him, forcing him to stop.
Tails moved forward and placed the pin on the target. Pinkie removed his blindfold and he saw that he had missed. "Your turn Shadow." Pinkie shouted, wrapping the blindfold around his face. "Let's make this a bit more interesting. I'll do it with one hand behind my back…" Shadow started. "I don't see how that makes anything more interesting…" Rainbow Dash muttered. "Facing backwards." Shadow finished getting some reactions from the crowd. Shadow was spun around, then he placed one hand behind his back. Instead of walking backwards, like all thought he would, he threw it backwards, striking the target dead on. Pinkie took off the blindfold and showed Shadow that he had gotten a perfect hit. The crowd cheered for him, and he gave a small bow. Shadow moved around the party and saw a table of food, lots of sweets filled the table nearly covering the entire thing. Shadow smiled and took a single chocolate cupcake with dark red frosting. He took a bite and was flooded with memories.
"Hey Shadow. Guess what I made." Maria said to the black hedgehog. "What?" Shadow asked, Maria let out a few giggles before revealing in each hand she held a single cupcake. They had dark red frosting neatly placed on the top. "Here." Maria had said thrusting out her hand to Shadow. He took the cupcake that she had held out to him and smiled. Shadow looked at Maria and took a bite. "I think I might have burned them a bit." Maria confessed. Shadow was trying his best not to gag on the sweet, which had been burnt to the point that it was almost rock like. "It's fine… The frosting really makes… Makes up for it…" Shadow said with a weak smile. Maria smiled and took a bite from hers. "Oh, I guess I might have burnt them more than a bit…" She said looking upset. "Don't worry. You'll get better with practice… I'm sure Shadow likes them. Don't you Shadow?" Professor Gerald asked, startling the duo. "Grandpa! Don't scare us like that." Maria said laughing. "I can't help it… It seems the older I get the quieter I move." Professor Gerald said. He then looked at Shadow and asked "Well? Do you like it?" Shadow nodded and swallowed, not matter how hard his stomach told him not to. Shadow smiled and said "It was great. Next time you'll have to make one for the Professor." The three of began to chatter and move on in several conversations.
Shadow noticed Tails standing next to him, Tails was surveying the various sweets and treats. "You enjoying the party?" Shadow asked, not getting a response from the fox. "Tails?" Shadow asked noticing that he had frozen in place. Shadow looked around the party and saw that everything had been stopped. Pinkie was in the middle of a jump and was floating inches off the ground. "Hey Shadow." Sonic's voice was suddenly behind him. Shadow whirled around and saw Sonic standing there. "Sonic? What happened to you?" Shadow asked taking a step back from his blue friend. "The Infection happened to me. I just wanted to thank you." Sonic replied. "Thank me? For what?" Shadow was confused, this just didn't make any sense to him.
"If it wasn't for your little spring this wouldn't have happened." Sonic explained. "My… Spring…?" Shadow asked, he felt the room spin and he was in the Corrupted Spring Chamber. Sonic pointed upwards and Shadow tilted his head to see what Sonic was pointing at. There were several bee hives on the roof of the cave. "Months of Rainbow Honey…" Sonic began, the hives each began to drip different colored honey drops. Red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple. "Mixed with one test subject…" Sonic continued, the scene changed once again. A rabbit was trying to drink from the spring but fell in the thick blood like liquid. It rose out zombie like. It tried to attack a Manticore but it was able to escape unharmed. "Gave birth to the Infection." Sonic finished. Shadow felt his heart stop.
Even unknowingly he had once again caused the possible deaths of thousands. He turned to face Sonic who took on a softer expression. "Don't look so upset, after all… We could really use you. What do you say? Partners?" Sonic asked reaching out a hand. Shadow slapped it away and said "You were a hero once… Now you've become the very thing you used to fight." Sonic looked confused and asked "I've become Eggman?" Shadow looked angry and replied "NO! A villain!" Sonic smiled and Shadow noticed a flashing. "Looks like Chaos Control is fading… Goodbye for now…" Sonic said. Shadow blinked and the party had resumed. Pinkie landed, and Tails noticed Shadow. "Shadow…? You all right? You looked like you've seen a ghost…" Tails noted. Shadow looked around the room and said "I need to speak with you privately." Shadow grabbed Tails by the arm and began to lead him through the crowd. They exited the barn and moved towards the deep orchard. "What is it?" Tails asked. "I know what caused the Infection…" Tails went wide-eyed at the information given.
"You do? What did?" Tails asked. "I… I did… I didn't even mean to. It was this spring I had used when I led the changelings… It was mutated by magical honey or something I'm not sure…" Shadow explained. Tails was in utter shock, he wasn't sure how he should feel. "I… I can understand if you hate me." Shadow added. "Shadow. I could never hate you. You're one of my friends… I cannot, I repeat cannot, hate any of my friends." Tails said with a smile. Shadow nodded before the two rejoined the party.
Flare moved through the forest, he leapt over the fallen tree in his path and continued forward. He held the yellow Chaos Emerald in his right hand, not letting go of it for anything. He looked back and didn't hear his pursuers anymore, so he began to slow his pace. He looked up and saw clear morning skies. He heard the chatter of animals ahead. He moved onwards and saw a small cottage ahead, there was a fenced off area with lots of animals filling it. He saw a familiar face and approached. Knuckles spread bird seed around for the birds and squirrels, he seemed to be at peace here. He looked over when he heard a twig snap. He saw an orange hedgehog with black shoes standing there. "Flare? Is that you? How's it going buddy?" Knuckles asked. Flare stepped forward and smiled. "Things have been going great. I'd heard about Fluttershy… I'm sorry…" Flare replied. His smile had turned into a frown. "I never thought this would happen… I mean…" Knuckles had begun, but stopped.
"Knuckles, before I forget I got the yellow Chaos Emerald. Here." Flare handed the jewel to Knuckles who showed him inside. "You can stay as long as you'd like… If you don't mind doing some chores from time to time." Knuckles said with a large grin. "I don't. I think I should help out a bit anyway." Flare replied. Knuckles began to give Flare a task, while he went outside and continued feeding the animals.
Well, I got another chapter up! This one comes with a special message! No longer on Hiatus, POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON GATES TO EQUSTRIA! I'm still looking for some Pokemon OCs. Please submit them via review on the story (OCs submitted on this story will NOT be accepted. You have been warned!), or Private Message me with the details. You'll need the name, Pokemon species, team name, four moves, and short backstory. Thank you! I also wanted to talk about this story, I believe it is going very well so far, but I want your opinion as well. Please give me anything that could improve the story. I really want to make this as good as I possibly can!
I'm also throwing out some ideas for other crossovers and you can decide which one I do! Only Private Message votes will be accepted, I apologize if that inconveniences any of you, but it makes things simpler for me. These are the ideas:
Battle of the Dragons (MLP/Multi-Crossover)
Spike and the Mane Six find themselves in a different world, where dragons, good and evil battle for dominance over the beautiful place. Some dragons include: Paarthurnax (Skyrim), Valoo (LOZ Wind Waker), Spyro (Spyro series), Ridley (Metroid), Bull (Nickname for the single male dragon from movie Reign of Fire), and Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon).
Ben 10: Ridley's Chaos (Ben 10/Metroid Crossover)
Ben, Rook, Gwen, and Kevin have to face the biggest threat ever, blood thirsty pirates led by a giant Space Dragon. However, they will not face this threat alone, for the Hunter is on their side.
Shadow and Samus: Heroes of the Galaxy (Sonic the Hedgehog/Metroid Crossover)
Shadow and Samus team up to defend earth from both a resurrected Black Doom, and a vengeful Ridley. Who will win?
Fluttershy's Dusk (MLP/Pokemon Crossover)
While investigating a mysterious report of ghosts, Fluttershy bonds with a Pokemon none would have expected her to like. Join Fluttershy and her Pokemon on a journey to prove she can be a strong Pokemon Trainer.
So tell me what you think and if I get nothing then I'll randomly choose one of them… Please leave me a vote and remember! Private Message only! Thank you!