Night Shade looked around, finding himself near Sugarcube Corner.

“Fantastic… Now I’m lost. I’ll just have to fly into the air and get back to that place.” Night Shade mumbled, seeing the door of Sugarcube Corner open and looking at Pinkie Pie, standing there with a face of surprise.

Quickly, Night Shade cleared his throat and said “Greetings. I am Night Shade. I believe you’ve already heard of me from others, correct?”

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie hopped in front of him and circled around him, looking him over.

“You must be new here! Like Gadget Rust!” Pinkie Pie said in her usual voice, making Night Shade cringe from it.

“Ugh… Her voice bothers me! I should get out of here.” He thought.

“You should come inside! I’ll make you a batch of cupcakes since you’re a new pony!” Pinkie Pie offered, interrupting Night Shade’s escape and pulling him into Sugarcube Corner.

----

Gadget felt a poke on his face, making him move slightly until being fully woken up from the barrel falling over onto the ground. He looked at who was poking him, seeing Rainbow Dash.

“O-Oh! Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here?” Gadget asked, wiggling out of the barrel and watching her wake up Spike the same way.

“Well, I was flying over Ponyville and I noticed you two were in here. What happened?” she asked, helping Spike out.

Spike looked around, and then asked Rainbow Dash “Did you see a dark blue pony with a black mane around here?”

She thought for a moment, but shook her head.

“No. Why?” she asked, causing Gadget and Spike to look at each other with shock and worry.

“L-Listen, it’s a long story and maybe we’ll explain. For now, we have to find him or Rarity might be in trouble!” Gadget said, jumping over the barrels and going back into the street, with Spike following along.

“Wait! Let me come with!” she yelled, catching up to the two.

----

“Really, I don’t think it’s necessary to make me sweets. I’m not really hungry.” Night Shade tried to reason, but Pinkie Pie didn’t listen.

“Don’t be such a silly filly! You just wait right here and I’ll be right back with a fresh batch for you!” she insisted, hopping to the kitchen.

Night Shade sighed and wanted to change into his original form, but he didn’t want anypony to see it happen. Plus, his form would be too big.

“I have to get out of here! Forget the cupcakes! I’m leaving!” he thought, opening the door and trotting out, but seeing Spike, Gadget, and Rainbow Dash across from the store, making him shut the door.

“I can’t let them catch sight of me. They know about my disguise now and I can’t let them expose me in front of everyone. I’ll need to find a way out of here…” he muttered to himself, quickly looking for a way out. He spotted a window and tried to see if he could open it, but there was no way to open it.

“Who designed this structure?!” He accidentally yelled, causing Pinkie Pie to hear him. She peeked out from the kitchen.

“What was that?” she asked, Night Shade quickly regaining his composure.

“Nothing, I was just impressed by the building.” He said, faking a smile.

Pinkie Pie went back into the kitchen, continuing to bake the cupcakes.

----

Twilight caught sight of Rainbow Dash, Gadget, and Spike, making her gallop to the three.

“Hey! Where’s Night Shade?” Twilight asked.

“We don’t know. That’s why we’re looking for him.” Gadget responded.

----

Pinkie Pie came out of the kitchen with the new batch of cupcakes for Night Shade to eat.

“Eat up! You’ll like them, I promise!” Pinkie Pie said happily, which Night Shade looked at them with uncertainty.

“Fine… I’ll just have one.” He decided, picking one up with his hooves and putting the whole cupcake in his mouth. The first two chews were fine, but suddenly, the sweetness of the cupcake came to him in an odd reaction, making him spit it out onto the floor in disgust and bolt out of Sugarcube Corner, looking for something to wash his mouth out. It must have been the love and care she put into making the cupcakes that had a negative reaction from his dark and evil emotions.

----

Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Gadget looked at where the commotion was coming from to see Night Shade galloping around Sugarcube Corner in a panic.

“There he is!” Spike yelled, running towards him to make sure he didn’t get away this time.

Night Shade saw them coming, making him growl and bolt up into the sky.

“Catch me now, fools.” Night Shade said to himself, looking back to see Rainbow Dash following.

“Get back here!” Rainbow Dash yelled, catching up to him slowly.

Night Shade attempted to out maneuver her, but it was no use. She was much quicker than him and eventually, she got a hold of his tail with her teeth and pulled him down to the ground with her near the Schoolhouse.

Gadget, Spike, and Twilight caught up with the two.

“You’re not going anywhere Tartarus!” Twilight said; her horn ready to use magic on him. Night Shade looked visibly angry and disheveled from the scuffle to the ground.

“You… You haven’t heard the last of me! I will rule Equestria and you all will be the first to be punished by my power! ” Night Shade yelled, his body morphing slowly back into Tartarus. He then quickly spun in a circle, disappearing into a puff of black smoke.

They all sighed, thankful that he left, but also disappointed that they didn’t stop him when they had the chance.

“He won’t be coming back for a while.” Twilight said, looking back at them.

“How can you be so sure? What if he comes back?” Gadget questioned, making Spike nod in agreement.

Twilight smiled and said “I just have a feeling. The way he just left without putting up a fight. He probably isn’t strong enough to fight us yet.”

Gadget thought for a moment before agreeing with her.

“I-I guess so. Plus, since Eternal Rain is okay, he has to deal with him too.” Gadget said.

“We should really tell the mayor about this. Just to make sure that everpony will be aware of him.” Twilight suggested, heading to the Town Hall.

----

Apple Bloom was trotting around Sweet Apple Acres, looking at all the apple trees around her.

Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her, making her turn around to see Shadow Rain in the shadow of an apple tree.

“W-What do you want?” Apple Bloom asked, getting ready to protect herself from possible danger.

“Do you… Want to play?” Shadow Rain asked, turning into his Spook Tree form and stepping out of the shadows.

Shadow Rain gathered that as long as he wasn’t in his true form, Tartarus wouldn’t be able to sense his presence. At least, he hoped.

“Please… I just want a friend.” He begged, showing sadness in his eyes. Apple Bloom thought whether or not she should accept.

“Alright, but if you do anything sneaky, The Cutie Mark Crusaders will teach you a lesson!” Apple Bloom said, squinting at him. Spook Tree smiled a little.

“Thank you.” He said.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12: Friends With The Enemy Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes