Shade lets out an irate snort. She stomps down the street kicking up dust as she trots, ponies steer clear of the fuming filly. Trying to calm herself, she focuses on the bracelet and tries to touch the middle jewel but she stops herself before she topples forward. Next, she uses her horn to press the jewel. A holographic screen flashes before her and the sounds of ponies and birds dies. Looking around, ponies are frozen and a butterfly floats nearby unmoving.

"Trippy," Shade comments with stark enthusiasm. Shade swipes her hoof across the black screen with dots of light to no effect. Poking at the screen yields no result. Shade frowns. "Where's the damn user manual?"

She holds out her hoof which phases partly through the screen. She pictures opening her fingers and the screen zooms in on the area around her hoof. Words form under certain lights some words had numbers in parentheses after them.

Shade cocks her head at one light with the words and numbers "Magic ( 1/5 )" under it. She clicks on the light and it explodes into a tree of light with a grid atop the tree which splits the tree into five sections. The left side labels each section as "Tier 1" at the bottom and ascends. In the "Tier 1" section she see's light and dark orbs with labels: telekinesis, energy, manipulation, conjuration, restoration, and destruction. She frowns. The only one she knows is telekinesis. Guess she has to study and read to learn the other schools of magic.

Shade stares at the bracelet warily, sitting down, she presses the left jewel with her opposite hoof. A more complex screen pops up and she rolls her eyes behind her goggles. She scrolls down the long list absently until she finds one challenge that makes her narrow her eyes: "Have sex with your lover."

"Perv," Shade comments with the tiniest hint of a blush fading from her cheeks. She taps the left jewel again and the screen disappears, setting the world around her back in motion. She will have more time to play with the new trinket later after she is done helping Applejack.

Her trip to Sweet Apple Acres is uneventful although she still feels eyes as she crosses the square. A strong sense of forgetfulness gnaws at the back of her mind as she walks through the gate of Sweet Apple Acres. Shade steps up to the screen door and knocks on the doorframe with six rapid strikes. A curious sight greets her.

Applejack opens the door, wearing a green shirt with a red bandana tied around her neck and a green cap replacing her hallmark hat.

"Hiya, Shade!" Applejack greets her nervously as she opens the screen door.

"Applejack."

"So, um, with all that's happened I um, sorta forgot about Camp Friendship. Y'see I'm about to go and I "

Shade brings her hoof up to stop Applejack. "Can I still buck apples?"

Applejack brightens up a little, "I'm sure Granny Smith and Big Mac will appreciate the help."

They stand in awkward silence.

Shade speaks up first, "Is that all?"

Applejack cocks her head, "I think so. . ."

"Safe travels then."

Applejack watches as Shade walks away. She is still not use to Shade's odd behavior at times. What was she waiting for? A smile finds her muzzle as she realizes Shade wearing the goggles.

Shade opens the barn to get the baskets for the apples. She sees Big Mac hooking up to a wagon of apples and freezes.

"Mornin', Shade," he greets the ivory filly.

"Hello," Shade says stiffly.

"Are ya here to buck apples?"

"Yeah," she answers while still in the doorway.

Big Mac grins, "That's mighty kind of ya."

Shade opens the other barn door, continuing to avoid eye contact.

"Thank ya kindly," Big Mac says, oblivious to the filly's discomfort.

"Yeah," she replies. She watches the big, red colt pass by. She exhales slowly and resumes her search for baskets.

Shade spends the next two hours setting up baskets around the trees she will buck. Applebloom joins Shade to, once again, deliver the full baskets to the barn. The morning progresses nicely and without any incidents. Granny Smith rings the bell for lunch and Shade says her farewell to Applebloom. Shade politely declines to stay for lunch with them.

Shade meanders down to the square, her body protesting with every step. Strength is nice but she will also need endurance. She begins to plan out a regime to follow: strength training in the morning, magic training in the afternoon, studying in the evening, and endurance training at night. Speaking of night, she wonders who that filly is and exactly what she is.

She sits at the empty dining table in the solitude of the darkness, absently munching on oats. A book rests open to the left of the bowl of oats, A Foal's Guide to the Fundamentals of Magic the title reads. Ten seconds later, she finishes the one hundred page book with ease.

Shade pushes her bowl away and focuses on the spoon. 'Levitation, the simplest, most useful spell for any unicorn to learn.' She pictures picking up the spoon with an arm protruding from her head. The mana flows from deep within her to her horn where it fizzles. With a straining expression, fore hooves on the table, and standing on her rear legs, she hones her magic onto the spoon. Her horn sparks to life after the one minute of constant strain. The spoon begins to glow before her eyes and teeter of the edge of the bowl.

Shade smiles. Then her magic stops and the spoon sinks back into the oats. Shade frowns.

Sitting back down, she massages her skull with her left hoof. With a sigh and eyes close, she reaches for the spoon and eats. She ignores the front door opening and the happy humming.

She hears a gasp as Death enters the kitchen through the swinging doors. She cracks open an eye and stares at Death. A package behind her back piques her curiosity.

"What's that?" Shade questions.

Death's once stun face switches to a beaming smile. Her horn glows and a flash behind her back makes the package disappear. "Just a gift for me."

Shade shrugs and returns to eating. She rests her head on her left hoof and opens a second book to read as she levitates the spoon to her mouth. As she levitates the spoon to her mouth. She stops mid chew and gawks at the floating, glowing spoon in front of her. She smiles smugly and turns to Death triumphantly.

Death swoops down on Shade and picks her up. "You did it, Shade!" she elates.

"Yeah I did!" Shade smiles and hugs Death back. She quickly regains her senses and pushes the mare away, breaking their embrace. Shade flips her hair and scowls at Death, "Don't just hug me whenever you feel like it."

Death smiles, "I am proud of you, Shade."

"This is just the first step of my retribution," Shade glowers. She gathers up the three books on the table and sets them on her back. She leaves the kitchen to go to her room.

Shade sets the books down on her bed and crosses the room. She wants to see if she can redo her earlier feat. Remembering the sensation, she homes on the books, and with surprising ease, picks up a book. With increasing confidence she skips two and goes straight for levitating all the books in her room successfully.

She grins victoriously before darkness consumes her.