Sally rubbed her arm nervously as all eyes lay on her. While some were extremely glad to see her they were more confused over her sudden appearance. Shadow just held a neutral expression, trying to figure out why Sally would even be near Station Square in the first place, last he checked the Freedom Fighters had disbanded as Dr Robotnik was destroyed(1). Not allowing his mind to wander he was the one to ask the question that needed to be answered. "Why appear now? Why here?" He was concerned that something had happened with her kingdom due to the Black Arms but was more concerned with the risk of her arrival ruining Pinkies party.

Sally sighed and placed her back against the wall. "I denounced my right to the throne." She answered quietly, but loud enough for the others to hear. Omega, Shadow, Vector and Knuckles just stared at her in shock.

"Why would you do that Sally, has something happened? Do you need our help again?" Knuckles asked as he set his gift down on a table and began moving closer to Sally.

"I just...felt like I didn't want my life to be filled with all of those Royal duties, all of that responsibility, all of the expectations. It may be a cliché thing for me to think about but I just felt like my life could be so much better than that. I miss the days that I had the freedom to do as I wanted without an entire nation judging me for it, I miss the days of the Freedom Fighters and I miss the days I could just be me." Sally explained sadly. "So...I left my brother in charge, he's been dreaning of the position of King since he was young and he has shown great leadership skills. I saw an opportunity and I took it." She sighed and looked to the ground.

Knuckles looked to Vector who shrugged. Shadow set the box with the cake on a table nearby and walked over to Sally. "So you came here hoping to start your life over with your old friends?" He asked with understanding, resulting in a nod from the former queen. "Well, you probably made the right choice coming here, everything is for the most part the same so that should bring some comfort of you're missing the old days."

Sally just looked up at Shadow and gave a sad smile. "You've changed though." She said with a raised brow. "What happened that made you so much more open and understanding?"

Shadow just smiled and looked away. "It's not something you'd expect of me. Being a parent can change someone, in this case it changed more for the better."

Sally perked up at the topic being changed. "I remember with those missions you did for me nine years ago you had mentioned something about having a new reason to keep fighting after you lost your memories, I assume you were talking about a child?" Sally then looked around the room and smirked. "You're right though, I would never have expected someone like you to do this for someone else, that kid must really be special to have changed you."

Vector laughed as he recalled some memories of Pinkie and Shadow. "You've got that right Sally, Pinkie Pie is a really special kid, brings smiles to everyone she meets, there is not one person or mobian that dislikes her! She even got Eggman to stop being evil for a few years!" He exclaimed with happiness.

Sally just looked at Shafow with a raised brow. "You named your daughter Pinkie Pie?"

Shadow just frowned, finding her question slightly insulting, not to him but to Pinkie. "She's adopted, that was her name before she was left at the doorstep one night ten years ago, right before Sonic's disappearance."

Sally flinched at his glare. "I'm sorry...I wasn't trying to-"

"It's fine, just forget it." He stopped her mid sentence before the tension could grow. "Now, if you want to talk about your problems or catch up it will have to wait until later, after Pinkies party, I don't want her birthday to be ruined because of some inevitable drama other than the Black Arms suddenly attacking again."

Sally just smiled and nodded. Shadow, Knuckles, Sally and Vector began setting up the rest of the party while Omega worked his mechanical magic in the kitchen, making sure to have a selection of Pinkies favourite foods as well as other things for the rest of those attending.

Meanwhile

Rouge walked with Pinkie bouncing along beside her. While the others were preparing the surprise party Rouge had been keeping Pinkie busy by going around and visiting their friends who were all informed of the plan and were instructed to head straight to the party after they had been visited.

The two were approaching the house that belonged to Tails who was busy working on his biplane out in his front yard. "Hello Tails." Rouge said earning the two tailed foxes attention.

Tails looked over and smiled at the two before getting up and walking over to them. Over the past ten years he had grown noticeably taller, now being in his early twenties, and his voice was still high but deep enough that you would know he has aged. "Pinkie, Rouge, how are you two doing?" He asked as he knelt down to scratch Pinkies ear, resulting in her melting in his hands with a goofy smile that war,ed his heart. "I'd say pretty good."

Rouge smiled at her daughter. "You're right, Pinkie has just loved going around to see everyone today, right Pinkie?"

Pinkie smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah! Going around to see everyone means I get to make more of my friends smile!" She announced happily.

"Well no matter where you go you'll always make people happy, there isn't one person other than those aliens that can look at you without smiling." Tails told the tiny pink pony while ruffling her mane.

This just made Pinkies smile widen, knowing that just her presence made people happy. "Well making others smile is what I do best afterall, that and throwing parties, smashing bots, hunting aliens-" Pinkie just continued to list off other things that she excelled at doing while Rouge guided her away from Tails and down the sidewalk to their next destination. Tails quickly put his plane in his garage, put his tools away, grabbed his gift and spun his tails, flying off towards the house of Team Dark.

Author's Notes:

(1) In the comics, it is shown that Dr Robotnik is actually a robot and has multiple backup bodies, one of which ended up as the Eggman we know today, this story is a mix of game canon and comic canon, so in this Dr Robotnik and Eggman are separate versions of the moustached doctor.