Celestia begins to panic. Shade is not in her cell. Shade is not in her cell! Why is she not in her cell?! Celestia casts a location spell and fails to locate the young mare. Great! Possibly the most dangerous pony in existence has now gone missing. She regrets not putting more wards around Shade's cell. How could she have been so foalish?

She removes her hoof from her face as realization strikes her. She had not sensed any magic at all. She quickly teleports to Tirek's cell.

"Mother!" Celestia gasps when she finds Tirek's dead, brainless body. "What? How?!" As she is stepping back, her hoof crunches on glass. Celestia levitates the broken glass and purple plastic up to her face. "A mirror?" Her eyes open wide. "Catoptric teleportation!" What. . . monster did she release upon her ponies?

Shade finds herself in an unfamiliar room. A quick locating spell informs her she is in a familiar location: the Castle of the Two Sisters, the ruins in the Everfree Forest. She brings up her left hoof to check the time. Twelve o'clock. She will need to teleport to Ponyville if she is to keep her lunch date with Pinkie. Exhaustion overwhelms Shade, and she collapses to the floor. Her joints ache, her muscles are sore, she feels her mana gone, and her gut wrenches with hunger.

"What the fuck?" she croaks on the floor.

A bright pink light blinds her. "Shade!" Death calls out with worry.

"What is wrong with me?" Shade asks as the pink mare rushes to her side.

Death illuminates the tip of her horn to see Shade better. Instead of the young mare who left the house three years ago, she sees a full grown mare, the same size as her, on the ground. "Your body is trying to catch up on the three years you were missing."

Shade stares up at Death in disbelief.

Death casts a healing and rejuvenation spell over Shade. She helps Shade to stand up. With another bright flash, she teleports them back home.

She guides Shade to the table. She summons a bowl of fruit and vegetables in front of Shade. Shade ignores manners and stuffs her face in the bowl and begins wolfing down all the food that can fill her mouth. A thud raises Shade's face out of the bowl, and she drinks the glass of milk.

"Where were you?" inquires Death.

Shade swallows a mouth full of lettuce before answering, "Tartarus."

"That explains why Celestia was angry. That bitch destroyed our house!"

"What?"

"She busts down the door like a wrecking ball. Confronts me, demanding I tell her where you are. She doesn't believe me when I tell her I didn't know where you were. Then she has the audacity to attack me and call me a liar!" Death throws her forehooves to the air. "So I had to teach that bitch some manners. Needless to say, we are on the top of her shit list and wanted criminals."

Shade chews her food before asking, "What did you do to her?"

Death grins, "I publicly spanked her in every city and kingdom. From Trottingham to Whinnyapolis, to Saddle Arabia to Griffonstone, and every place in between!"

"Nice!" Shade chuckles.

"Oh yeah! Kicking her ass would be satisfying, but having everyone witness her and embarrassing her? Priceless." Death sighs contently and sips water from a glass.

"Where are we now?"

"On the border of a new village called 'Our Town.' I buy food and supplies from them every week."

Shade rolls her eyes, "Why do you bother? You can just summon whatever you want."

"Excuse me for being social!" Death harrumphs.

Shade faintly smiles which turns down to a frown. "Three years. . ." she mutters.

"Yup. June 20th of a thousand years of Celestia's Reign," Death informs.

"Are my friends okay?"

Death frowns when Shade does not realize the importance of today. "All your friends are worried about you," Death comforts Shade.

"Is Vinyl still alive?"

Death cocks her head, "Why wouldn't she be?"

"I need to go to Ponyville."

"That is a big negative, Shade. Celestia will be there tomorrow, and guards are patrolling the fuck out of Ponyville," warns Death.

Shade touches her jeweled bracelet to bring up the menu. "I'm using a token. Give me full mana."

Death sighs. She holds up her head with her hoof. Her horn flashes pink, and a box appears on the table. It opens automatically and reveals six golden cuffs. "Put those on. They will hide your power. I can't say the same about your horns," Death says.

Shade reluctantly puts the cuffs on her limbs, two per each bare leg.

"Just don't stay for celebrations," Death remarks cryptically as she teleports Shade away.

Darkness falls on Shade as she stands on a hill overlooking Ponyville. She decides to don a disguise as a light green earth pony, with a long, curly dark green mane and tail. She also changes her irises to teal and even gives herself a cutie mark of a pirate hat. She adopts the alias: Verdant Viridian. Hopefully, she will not have to keep the disguise and name for too long. Five minutes of walking and Shade finds herself inside the still bustling town.

With the celebration beginning in two hours, ponies are gathering up at town hall while others have fun in the streets. Decorations fill the streets along with guards. Shade does not bother to hide in the shadows or tiptoe around the guards. She keeps an eye out for her friends.

She spots Vinyl in the town square on a wooden stage with her DJ equipment. A small smile splits her muzzle as she watches the DJ bob her head to the beat and works her deck. She decides to talk to Vinyl to make sure it is safe for her to be out. Shade had noticed the traps and barrier gone perhaps Vinyl is safe now.

Shade sneaks up behind Vinyl and speaks in falsetto, "Can you play 'Die Walküre?'"

Vinyl stops. She slowly turns around. She sees an unfamiliar pony wielding a familiar smirk. Shade?

"The one and only," Shade replies in her normal voice.

Vinyl jumps off the stage and lands on Shade in a hug. Shade! She suddenly releases Shade's neck and glares at her missing friend. No! You can't just disappear without a trace with a vampire hunter on the loose! I thought you were dead! Even your mother didn't know where you were!"

Shade splays back her ears and hangs her head. "I got teleported to the future. For me, it has only been three hours."

How did you time travel? I thought it was impossible!

"It is a long story. The gist of it is: I got sent to Tartarus, and now I am back," Shade explains.

Tartarus! Vinyl's eyebrows shoot above her glasses. Is that why you and your mother are wanted by Princess Celestia?

"It is why I am wanted. My mother did something different."

Vinyl hugs Shade again. It is hard to believe time travel, but I believe you.

"I am glad you "

"Ahem!" a voice clears their throat behind Shade which interrupts her.

Vinyl breaks their embrace and smile at the pony behind Shade. Vinyl turns Shade around to introduce Shade to the light gray mare.Octavia! This is my friend

"Verdant Viridian," Shade introduces herself as she outstretches her hoof.

"Yes, you are quite green," the mare replies haughtily. She shakes the green hoof and introduces herself, "I am Octavia Melody; Vinyl's marefriend."

Shade smiles slyly at Vinyl and nudges her ribs, "Well, you have certainly been busy."

Vinyl blushes and rubs the back of her head.

"Do you know where Pinkie Pie and Applejack are?" Shade asks.

Library. Pinkie's throwing a party for the new pony.

"A party? In the library? Is Matilda dead?" Shade jokes.

No. Matilda isn't the librarian anymore. We haven't had one for three years.

"I will check it out for myself, then," Shade says. She excuses herself and trots to the library.

"Your friend seems. . . interesting," Octavia comments beside Vinyl as she watches the green pony leave.

You don't know the half of it, Tavi, Vinyl says before hopping back on stage.

Outside the library, Shade can see flashing lights and feel the bass of the loud music. She rolls her eyes in good humor and opens the library door. To say that the library is full is like saying there are not enough sardines in a can. This many ponies in such a small space makes Shade's skin crawl.

"It's time for pin the tail on the pony!" Pinkie Pie shrills over the music.

Many ponies whoop in excitement. Shade pushes through the crowd of ponies to reach Pinkie Pie's voice. She shoves the last pony out of her way and sees Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy talking to each other with Rainbow Dash and Rarity in their group. Shade walks over to her friends, but something coming down the stairs catches her eyes. A small, purple baby dragon with light green spines and a green belly is clambering down the steps wearing a lampshade.

"Is Twilight coming down?" Applejack asks the dragon.

"No, she just wants to sleep," the dragon informs the group before heading off to the wall to pin the tail on the pony.

"You can't sleep at a party!" Pinkie Pie exclaims.

"Blasphemy," Shade cracks.

"Right?" Pinkie turns to the voice. She gasps, "Are you new, too?"

"Pinkie, do not break my heart and tell me you can not recognize me," Shade pouts. She blinks and opens her eyes to reveal her natural yellow, viper eyes.

The five of them gasp. "Sha !" they exclaim, but crimson magic clamps their mouths close.

"Shh!" Shade hushes them.

"Oh, right," Applejack chuckles.

"What?" Pinkie asks, having no clue why to be quite. "I was just going to say Sha "

Fluttershy covers Pinkie's muzzle with a wing. "You can't say her name. She is wanted by Princess Celestia," she reminds the pink pony in a soft tone.

"Yeah. The poster says that you murdered a lot of ponies," Rainbow Dash informs quietly.

"Tch," Shade sucks her teeth, "I only killed a centaur, and he deserved to die. He killed thousands of ponies, and I did not want to take the chance of him escaping. The world is a better place with his death."

"I believe you, Shade," Fluttershy is the first to say.

"Me too!" Pinkie exclaims, "I trust your judgment!"

"A criminal must pay for their crimes," Applejack says, "But what you did is not excusable. If Princess Celestia did not execute him, then it must have been for a good reason."

"I, for one, am thankful for you getting rid of that monster, darling," Rarity inputs.

"You actually killed him?" Rainbow Dash asks with wide eyes.

"He was not the first and he better not be the last," Shade says with a smirk.

"Wicked. . ." Rainbow Dash awes.

An alarm rings. Pinkie Pie pulls the alarm clock out of her mane. "It is time!" she announces.

Everypony rushes out of the library to go to Town Hall. Shade watches the dragon go upstairs.

"Who is he?" Shade asks out loud.

"He is Spike, Twilight Sparkle's baby dragon assistant," Fluttershy says.

"'Baby?' I guess child labor laws do not extend to dragons," Shade comments.

"Fluttershy, darling," Rarity calls to Fluttershy from the library door, "we should leave now to finish preparations."

"Oh! Right! You are coming to Town Hall, right, Shade?" Fluttershy asks behind her mane.

"Yes," Shade answers with a nod.

"Bye then!" Fluttershy waves to her friends and leaves with Rarity.

"I'm going to go 'round up the rest of the Apples," Applejack says as she leaves.

"Ooo!" Pinkie interjects, "I'm going to go check on the punch and food!" She hops after Applejack.

Shade turns to Rainbow Dash.

"Want to come with me to save us a good spot?" Rainbow Dash offers.

"Sure. Why not?" Shade shrugs. When Shade opens the door, Rainbow Dash zooms away. Hoofsteps from the stairs catch Shade's attention. She recognizes the lavender mare descending the stairs as Celestia's protege, Twilight Sparkle. "Hi," Shade greets Twilight.

"Oh, hello," Twilight greets back. "Are you here to be my friend, too?"

Shade snorts at Twilight's attitude and walks out the door, "Over Celestia's dead body."

Twilight and Spike share expressions of shock.