Chaos and Discord: Infection
Chapter 6: 6. Chapter 5
Previous ChapterChapter 5: Canterlot Ahead
Shadow looked at Twilight and Rarity as they both had shocked expressions. "You could hear us!? How?" Rarity asked, now fearing for her life. "Like I said you're both three feet away from me. Add the fact that you two whisper like dying cats and you've got the problem. I have no trouble telling you or anyone the truth. After all beings a G.U.N. Agent means I have to have good ties with people." Shadow replied.
"What is it a G.U.N. Agent does?" Spike asked, Shadow rolled his eyes and replied "A G.U.N. Agent is meant trained to take on dangerous missions, so we're ready to capture, steal, defeat, and kill anyone or anything that our mission requires us to." Spike knew Shadow had killed, but even before having come here he did? "You have no problem killing others do you?" Rarity asked, expecting a wave of hidden emotions and confessions to come washing over her. However he instead answered with "No. I don't. If I need to kill them, I do. If I don't, then I don't." Rarity scowled at the black hedgehog and rolled her eyes. "Listen Shadow, she didn't mean to offend you, she's just scared is all. We all are… Well except for you… Does anything scare you?" Twilight asked, but Shadow didn't reply. "We staying here? Making our own little town? Or we moving on? Heading somewhere else?" Shadow asked. Twilight hadn't even begun to think about that. "Perhaps… We should head for Canterlot." Twilight said looking at the rest of the group.
"Besides, we need to get Tails to a doctor before his cuts get infected." (Remember back when he was attacked by Metal Fluttershy? Those cuts.) Twilight added. "Tails is Infected!?" Scootaloo asked, which made them all back away from the fox. "No! He's not Infected, he could get an infection. We don't have any medical supplies, none of us know any healing spells, and we're in the middle of nowhere!" Twilight shouted, attempting to calm them all down, she succeeded but for how long they she was unsure. "I'm fine, really! It just burns a little bit." Tails said, trying to get the topic off of his injuries, he didn't want to be a burden. "Tails that burning could get much worse and you know it. You have some medical experience." Knuckles told his friend.
"I'm more of scientist not a doctor, but I guess you're right… Are we gonna get going?" Tails asked. Shadow nodded and began to gather supplies. Such as water and food. He picked up a long branch with a broken end and prepared to get moving. "Let's go." Shadow ordered, he started walking deeper into the forest, having traveled through here many times during his exile. He knew the way to Canterlot, he had often snuck in and stolen food and anything else he needed. Even so, he would most likely not be welcomed in the large city after he led the Changeling Invasion. He had heard others talking about it, they called it the Shadow Incident, he had seemed like such a good guy to start out, but then he had worked with the Changelings. Where he had heard about the entire city and Ponyville getting rebuilt in a matter of months. He found that impressive considering the entire town was burnt to the ground and Canterlot was totaled. However he began to wonder where the Changelings had gone off to, where they were hiding. "Cowards…" He muttered under his breath. "Who?" Rarity asked, but Shadow didn't reply. "Who are cowards?" She asked, now demanding an answer.
"The Changelings. If they weren't wouldn't we see more of them around?" Shadow asked, which made Rarity stop. "Shadow, Rarity wasn't trying to offend you." Twilight once again attempted to explain, but Shadow before Shadow could reply something that sounded exactly like him said "I could care less what that fucking slut thinks of me. I'm doing this to survive. Because I don't plan on dying anytime soon." Rarity was now furious, he had directly insulted and humiliated her. "Just who do you think you are!? Talking about me like that! What makes you so high and mighty?" She asked, before pushing him. Shadow pushed her back, and took a step forward. "I didn't say anything! I haven't opened my mouth in the past five minutes!" He shouted in anger. "You brutish thug! I'm not an idiot! I clearly heard you!" Rarity yelled back. "I will not hesitate to beat some sense into you!" Shadow said. Twilight however had seen enough she rushed forward and began to separate the two. "Stop it! We shouldn't fight each other!" She shouted, while Flare held back Shadow. "Just one punch is all I need!" Shadow bellowed, but Flare continued to keep his grip on the hedgehog. "One punch from you may kill her! Shadow! Cut it out!" Flare tried reasoning with him.
"Go ahead! Destroy each other, it only makes it easier for us!" A voice rang through the forest. Sonic was standing on the thick branch of a tree. "It was you wasn't it!? Trying to turn us against each other!" Shadow shouted, but Sonic shook his head. "Believe me, I wouldn't be able to copy your voice. However, there are certain creatures that can." Sonic replied, he smiled before jumping away. "Does he mean…?" Star Mane began, but was answered when a second Shadow walked out from the deeper parts of the forest. "I've finally found you! You'll pay for trying to lead them into certain doom!" The second Shadow shouted. The two Shadows leapt at each other and began to fight, but Tails knew how to tell the difference.
"Shadow use Chaos Control! Then we can tell you apart!" Tails yelled. Shadow revealed the green Chaos Emerald and shouted "Chaos Control!" Shadow slowed down time and avoided the fake's attacks and kicked him the back of his skull. The fake fell onto the ground and attempted to rise, but Shadow jumped on his back knocking him back down. The fake was surrounded by green fire and revealed its true form. Chrysalis sat under Shadow's feet, she had an expression of agonizing pain on her face. "I should have known you'd be here to fuck with us. I'll make sure you never fuck with anyone again!" Shadow said, he pulled out his knife and prepared to stab her through the skull, but she produced a bright flash with her horn and knocked the hedgehog off before rushing away to escape. "God dammit!" Shadow shouted once the flash was gone.
"She got away… What should we do?" Flare asked, but Shadow didn't reply. His vision was blurred from the flash being directly in his face, but he would recover… Hopefully. He stumbled a bit but regained his balance fairly quickly and shook his head. "Son of a bitch! Everything is all… Blurry!" Shadow yelled, while he rubbed at his eyes. "It might have caused permanent damage to your eyes." Tails said before walking over to his friend. Tails forced Shadow's eyes open and began to look at them. "I'm no doctor, but I think you'll be fine." Tails said in a soft tone, as the pain from his cuts began to burn. "I think it's clearing already. We should keep moving…" Shadow muttered. He began to walk forward with the others following slowly behind. "So was that thing… One of those Changelings you all keep talking about?" Tails asked, but only got a nod from Shadow as a result. That seemed to satisfy him for he didn't ask anymore.
"Why did you help? I say let the Changeling bitch do away with them. Better for us! That way they won't be able to interfere with our plans anymore." "To make it more fun. I think keeping them all alive will improve our chances of taking Canterlot." "How!? How is keeping them alive going to improve anything for us!?" "Once we Infect them… We'll be unstoppable." "Have you thought about if we aren't able to Infect them! Then what!?" "We can destroy them… If we follow my plan…"
Shadow hacked away at the thick flowering bushes that hindered their progress, and Tails was getting worse. It hurt to walk or move, the wounds were getting red and pus began to seep from them. "Ow!" Tails shouted as Twilight dabbed the wounds with a white cloth. "Sorry." She said before continuing to dab the wounds, gently collecting any stray blood and pus from the scabbing wounds. "OW!" Tails shouted, making Twilight pull the now red cloth away in shock. "Sorry." She apologized, however she had to clean the scabs, or the infection could spread faster. Eventually she finished as Shadow had given up on the bush, for no matter how hard he cut or slashed, the branches would not break. "There's something wrong here, these bushes aren't natural…" Shadow muttered as the flowers on them began to hiss and shriek at him.
"SSSSSSSSSTOP! You cannot passssssssss! We have taken root here and will not move for you or anyone elsssssssssssssssse!" One of the flowers shouted. However something came to Shadow's mind that made him chuckle. Snake root. He wasn't sure why but he found that funny. "Leave! We will not move!" It shouted again. Shadow however noticed something, although the bush was flowering the leaves were brown and crumbled in his hands when he grabbed one, the vines and branches were a sickly brown, meaning either this was some form of parasitic plant, or it hadn't found water for weeks, maybe even months. He pulled a match out of his bag and struck it. The plants began to hiss and shriek again, this time in fear. One looked like it was going to speak, but he didn't listen and threw the match onto the bush, it was soon engulfed in flame and reduced to ashes, allowing them to move on.
Shadow was almost positive that they would be there soon, after all he had taken this path many times, and no matter how long it has been he will always remember. However his mind was also plagued with other thoughts, such as what the skeletal Zebra had said. "I am one of you… One of the Black Arms… We need only wait for Father to come…" Did this mean that Black Doom was somehow alive? Or was he recovered by the Black Arms and brought back through their horrible science or magic or whatever it was they used. He couldn't let this distract him from his current goal however. He had to fight his way to survive and to help his friends through the end. He heard a thud as Tails collapsed onto the ground, he had gone unconscious. Shadow hefted the fox over his shoulders and continued moving forward in silence. The large city of Canterlot came into view and he knew that this is where the real trouble began. He walked into the area, and several ponies began to run and scream at the sight of him. "What's HE doing here?" "He'll destroy us all!" "Why is he showing his mug around here?" The words bounced off Shadow as he moved towards the castle with a blank expression. "Knuckles, take Tails. These guards won't be happy to see me." Shadow ordered, as he handed Tails to Knuckles.
"Halt! You are not welcome here Shadow! Leave or be taken to the dungeon!" The guard shouted pointing his spear at Shadow. Shadow grabbed onto the blade and yanked the spear away. "I have rescued these poor souls, if I had not been there they most likely would have either been Infected or killed. I also have an injured fox in my party, and we need medical assistance." Shadow announced, which made the guard stop and whisper with the other. They nodded and allowed them to pass, but Shadow kept the spear, in case he needed to defend himself. They moved down the long corridors and eventually found themselves at a medical ward where they left Tails, and moved onwards towards the throne room. When the door was opened, the two Princesses were both relieved and worried by what they saw. Shadow had been leading the group inside. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I have helped these innocent souls escape Ponyville as it was overrun by the Infected. I hope you'll take mercy in your hearts, for I am truly sorry for what I had done in the past. However if no mercy is to be found then by all means…" Shadow had begun but dropped his spear, fell onto his knees and reached out wrists. "Lock me away. The crimes that I have committed deserve swift and brutal justice. So go on. Decide my fate." He finished and closed his eyes letting his head drop.
"Rise Shadow, we have seen your works to redeem yourself and we are glad that you have taken such measures, however I cannot speak for the rest of Equestria, just know that for helping those in need you have our thanks." Celestia said with a smile. Shadow rose onto his feet and nodded before speaking again. "We had several encounters with the Infected and the robotic version of Fluttershy that the Doctor had created. However Sonic had helped us in realizing that Chrysalis had been trying to make us slaughter each other, which makes me wonder if they really want to do this or if the Infection has trapped their minds if so had Sonic managed to break free for a moment or two? These are all things that we need to find out." Celestia listened intently for Shadow may have some form of information that would help them against the Infected but nothing that would had been said. "You are all free to roam around the castle, just for your safety Shadow do no leave the castle, for I am not sure how the rest of the ponies would react to having you around." Celestia said before allowing them to leave and move as they pleased.
Twilight looked around the large hallways of the castle, but one door was slightly open, she peeked inside to see Knuckles hunched over a table with what appeared to be Nightmare Night props sitting at the table with him. "Knuckles? Are you alright?" Twilight asked, but Knuckles did not respond. She moved closer and noticed that he was holding a bottle of liquor which shocked Twilight. "Where did you get that!?" She asked, but then saw the bag of bits sitting on the table with him. "So you bought it?" She asked, but he didn't reply. "Knuckles, we need to get you…" Twilight had begun but Knuckles cut her off by shouting "Don't mess with me lady, I've been drinking with skeletons!" Twilight knew that it was probably best to leave him alone for the moment so she exited to room and shut the door behind her. Knuckles laughed and threw the fake bottle away before placing his feet on the table. "Time to relax alone." He said with a smile, but he noticed one of the props had its head turned towards him. He frowned before speaking. "Don't look at me like that… Why am I talking to a piece of plastic?"
Tails stirred he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't place what it was, until he opened his eyes. He was in a bed, in a place he didn't recognize. However this was strange, because he saw only a large white expanse around him, only one other figure stood out it was human, female, she wore a tight blue outfit, and had her blonde hair in a ponytail. However that wasn't what made him worried, the fact that he was soon surrounded by Infected made him worried. He let out a loud cry of shock as they pounced, and he found himself in a different location. "Where am I?" Tails asked, his voice echoed. A spider dropped down by him and he watched as it whispered "A dream." So he was asleep? That was not something that he wanted to be. He had to wake up and help his friends. "Why do you want to wake?" The spider asked, it was very small and climbed onto his hand. Tails moved his arm so that he could look at the spider and replied with "My friends need me." The Spider cocked its head and asked "Are you sure that's why?" Tails began to think and soon realized the reason. "Because Sonic needs me… I have to find a cure for the Infection." The spider nodded and said "Good. Now then wake up Tails…" Wake up Tails… You need to wake up… Tails… Tails…
"Tails… Are you awake?" Twilight asked as Tails opened his eyes. "I… I think so… Unless this is another dream…" Tails replied, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Glad to see you're alright. We made it to Canterlot. You passed out so Shadow and Knuckles carried you here." Twilight explained to the young fox. Tails stepped out of bed and felt the back of his leg, however the scabbed wound was missing, or to be more accurate it had been healed. "Was this magic?" Tails asked pointing at the place where the wound once was. Twilight nodded before they moved on. "In our rush we lost the Cloudanium Armor. So we're defenseless against the Infected." Twilight muttered, which made Tails feel sad. "All that work for nothing… At least we made it out alive…" Tails said with a smile. Twilight also smiled and said "Let's get some lunch, you must be starving."
Shadow punched at the training dummy, he couldn't afford to let himself get soft, he had to keep training and fighting no matter what happened. He had to be strong, not just for himself but for his friends and anyone else that depended on him. He punched at the dummy and it fell over, forcing him to stop and pick it up. After he did he continued to punch, and he would do so until he found himself strong enough, or he was needed elsewhere.
Sorry about the long gap between this and the last chapter I just haven't had much free time to write lately, because of the ACT and we had to put our cat down. However I do have some updates that may interest you. I am finding it increasingly difficult to write around five thousand words because I generally lack inspiration, I would find it very helpful if you guys and gals and would throw me some ideas for later chapters! SO this chapter will not be as long as others but I will try to keep with the five thousand word chapters, remember that includes authors notes like this one, and any other announcements I may have to make, and I'll try to keep the story going! So thank you for all your support, and I hope you guys have a great day/evening/life!