Shade cocks her head and an eyebrow at the mountain before her. That is certainly new. She shakes her head and continues forward. Five minutes later, a loud rumble stops her in her tracks. A symphony of cries reaches her ears. She runs back down the path to find out what had happened. Shade comes to a scene with Fluttershy holding Rarity by her tail on the side of the mountain and Rainbow Dash holding Pinkie Pie in the air. She sees Applejack holding Twilight on the edge of a cliff.

"Applejack, what do I do?" She hears Twilight ask.

Shade can tell that Applejack had injured herself somehow and that holding Twilight was a labor.

"Let go," Applejack states calmly.

"Woah, Applejack. I did not know you had it in you," Shade comments internally. Shade notices Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hovering under Twilight. Pinkie Pie and Rarity are looking up from the base of the mountain. "Ah," Shade registers what Applejack is getting at now. Shade uses umbrakinesis to teleport a short distance away from her friends on the ground, hiding behind bushes.

As Shade expects, Twilight falls, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy save her. Shade watches as Applejack hops down the mountain. She does not hear what Fluttershy says as a streak of midnight blue flashes past her.

"Bravo," Shade cheers as she steps out of the bushes.

The six ponies turn to the voice and gasp. Standing before them, with the blessings of the full moon shining upon her, they see Shade; she sparkles as if her coat reflects the light of the moon.

"Shade?!" Pinkie exclaims.

"Yes. I know," Shade flips her mane, "I cut my mane."

"Wow, Shade," Fluttershy awes, "You look beautiful."

"You mean I was not beautiful before? Oh, Fluttershy, you wound me!" Shade jokes.

"What? No! You have always been beautiful! I just mean, um, well. . ." Fluttershy hides her embarrassment behind her pink shield.

"I must say, darling, white suits you much better than green," Rarity inputs.

Twilight gapes at the tricorn before her. Her size, her horns everything about Shade exudes power. Twilight can see why Princess Celestia views Shade as dangerous.

"C'mon," Shade says as she turns away from them, "We still have quite the ways to go to reach the Castle of the Two Sisters."

Twilight trots to catch up to Shade. She cuts in front of the tricorn. "I don't think Princess Celestia would want you near the Elements of Harmony."

Shade giggles and sighs contently. "Somepony move her out of my way before I squash her," Shade warns.

Applejack, once again, comes to Twilight's rescue. She ushers Twilight to the side and says, "Twilight, Shade is our friend. With her help, we can definitely take down Nightmare Moon."

"What is to stop her from joining Nightmare Moon?" Twilight snarks.

"Nothing and nopony," Shade says without looking back.

"Right! Because we have our friendship!" Pinkie chimes and skips behind Shade.

The other four ponies follow after Shade while Twilight stays behind. How can they see her as a friend? Maybe Shade has them under a spell? Twilight begrudgingly follows after the ponies. Twilight accidentally bumps into Applejack. "What?" She looks around Applejack to see a manticore in their way. It growls and holds a defensive stance.

Shade lights up her horns and remarks, "It has been a while since I last had steak."

"Wait!" Fluttershy interjects.

Shade dispells her horns and casts Fluttershy a curious glance. Fluttershy trots up to the manticore and smiles up at him. The manticore roars and pulls back a claw to swipe at the buttery pegasus. Shade prepares to strike but stops when Fluttershy nuzzles the manticore's other paw.

"Shh. It's okay," Fluttershy soothes the manticore. The manticore relaxes and turns over the nuzzled paw to reveal a big thorn is sticking out the middle of his paw. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby."

"'Little?'" Rainbow Dash remarks.

"Now this might hurt for just a second," Fluttershy warns the manticore. She bites down on the thorn and pulls it out of the fleshy pad of the manticore's paw.

The manticore roars and picks up Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy!" the group exclaims.

The manticore begins to lick Fluttershy and purr gratefully.

Fluttershy giggles, "Aw you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you? Yes, you are, yes you are."

The girls all smile at the manticore and walk past him. Twilight waits a few feet away from the manticore.

Shade walks up to the manticore and taps his paw, "All right, Cassanova, let her go."

The manticore whimpers and places Fluttershy on the ground.

"Good boy," Fluttershy coos at the manticore and trots to regroup with the others with Shade following close behind.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight inquires.

"I didn't. Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness," Fluttershy states matter-of-factly.

Twilight smiles at Fluttershy and watches her walk away. She notices Shade smiling.

Shade catches Twilight staring at her and comments, "Fluttershy is an angel. If she can help me, she can help anyone."

The group leaves the gorge and manticore behind as they travel through the forest. As they continue, the more moonlight the treetops block out.

Rarity groans and complains, "My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Not a second later and the treetops seem to knit together to block all light. "Well, I didn't mean that literally," Rarity comments.

Shade stops in her tracks and surveys the surrounding with a scowl.

"What is it?" Twilight questions.

"Do you not feel it? Nightmare Moon's magic is at work here," Shade states.

"How can you be certain?"

Shade sucks her teeth at Twilight, "I guess you would not be able to feel the subtleties of magic with such a thick skull."

Twilight scowls at Shade.

"Shade, can you at least try to be a little nicer to Twilight?" Fluttershy requests.

Shade releases a sigh. "You are right. You all are trying to give Twilight a chance; I should as well." Shade takes a breath in and turns to Twilight, "I should not project my feelings of Celestia onto you. I apologize."

"Why do you dislike Princess Celestia?" Twilight dares to ask.

Shade snorts and canters forward, "'Dislike' is putting it mildly."

Fluttershy screams. Shade rushes to her side with her horns ablaze. She frowns at the dead tree that scares Fluttershy. Shade rolls her eyes and turns back to say something but stops when the others begin to freak out. The trees seem to close in around them and glow a sinister orange, revealing hideous faces and gnashing teeth. They begin to scream, and Shade flattens her ears to her head. Laughing makes them stop screaming. Shade turns to her right and sees Pinkie Pie laughing at a tree. Pinkie Pie makes funny faces and sounds at the tree.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!" Twilight cries.

Mysterious upbeat music begins to play. (Shade still has no answers for that strange phenomenon.)

"Oh girls, don't you see?" Pinkie starts move up in down and sing, "When I was a little filly, and the sun was going do~own. . ."

"Tell me she is not," Twilight deadpans.

Shade is leaning against a tree with a smirk, "She is."

"The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me fro~own!" Pinkie continues singing. She starts to bounce around her friends singing, "I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw. But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all!"

"Then what is?" Rainbow Dash asks.

Pinkie Pie gets in Rainbow Dash's face, "She said, 'Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall. Learn to face your fears. You'll see that they can't hurt you.'" Pinkie Pie hops away to sing at a tree, "'Just laugh to make them disappear.' Ha! Ha! Ha!" The scary tree emits pink smoke and turns back to a regular dead tree. She beams back at her friends who gasp in awe.

Pinkie Pie hops over to Shade and wraps an arm around the tricorn's neck. She smiles up at Shade sweetly.

Shade sighs and rolls her eyes humoredly. She joins in Pinkie's song.

So, giggle at the ghostly!

Guffaw at the grossly!

Crack up at the creepy!

Whoop it up with the weepy!

Chortle at the kooky!

Snortle at the spooky!

Pinkie Pie dances around a tree and sings quickly, "And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna," Pinkie Pie breaks out in a fit of giggles. She takes a deep breath, "Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauugh!"

The girls erupt into laughter and fall on their backs on the grass, still giggling.

"Okay," Shade chuckles, "Okay. Laughing time is over. We have to save the world, remember?"

"Oh! Right!" Rainbow Dash snickers.

"We still have half an hour until we reach the Castle of the Two Sisters," Shade informs the group as she starts to walk off.

"Why is it called the 'Castle of the Two Sisters?'" Fluttershy questions.

"Care to answer that, Twilight?" Shade turns to Twilight.

"I don't know. . ." Twilight mutters.

"Figures. It is not your fault. Celestia probably does not want to talk about how she betrayed her sister," Shade says.

"What?!" Twilight rushes to Shade's side. "What do you mean?" she demands.

"I mean: Nightmare Moon is Celestia's younger sister, Princess Luna," Shade says.

Silence.

Crickets.

"Seriously? You can not be serious," Shade deadpans. "It says so in the stories!" Shade sighs, "Whatever. We need to move."

The group walks for a couple of minutes when the roar of water reaches their ears. Pushing forward, they break through bushes and come to a rushing river.

"How are we going to cross this?" Pinkie voices out loud.

"Ahem," Shade clears her throat. The girls turn to Shade, and she points to her horn.

"Ooohhh!" they realize in unison.

A cry of despair grabs their attention. Twilight follows the voice upstream. Shade and the others follow suit. A short while later, the group finds the source of the wailing and reason the river is raging: a sea serpent.

"Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?" Twilight asks the sobbing purple serpent with orange hair.

"Well, I don't know! I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid!" the serpent laments and slumps into the river which nearly splashes the group. Shade quickly raises a barrier to shield them from the wave of water. He emerges from the water and rests his head on the river bank.

"Oh, give me a break," Rainbow Dash grumbles.

"That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack questions rhetorically.

"Why of course it is!" is Rarity's vehement reply. "How can you be so insensitive?" Rarity walks over to the sea serpent, sets herself down, and pets the sea serpent's chin, "Oh, just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales."

The sea serpent sniffles, "I know. . ."

"And your expertly coiffed mane." Rarity continues to list.

The sea serpent rises out of the water and slicks back his hair, "Oh, I know, I know!"

"Your fabulous manicure," Rarity continues to list.

"It's true!" the sea serpent admits.

"All ruined without your beautiful mustache," Rarity concludes.

"It's true, I'm hideous!" the sea serpent wails and covers his face.

"I will be more than happy to put you out of your misery," Shade offers with a grin.

The sea serpent shrinks away from Shade.

"That will not be necessary, this time, darling," Rarity inputs. Rarity bites one of the serpent's scales and pulls it off.

"Ow!" the sea serpent interjects. "What did you do that for?!"

Rarity raises up the scale in the air which reflects the moonlight.

"Rarity, what are you "

Twilight's question is cut short when Rarity cuts through the air with the scale. The sea serpent moans in dismay and collapses to the ground. Rarity then discards the scale and uses her magic to pick up her tail off the ground. She then levitates her tail to the sea serpent's nose and binds her tail with the orange bristles of his mustache.

The sea serpent chortles with glee and rises to the air. "My mustache! How wonderful!"

"You look smashing!" Rarity compliments the sea serpent.

Twilight walks up to Rarity, "Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail."

"Oh. It's fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season." She hoof bumps with Shade. "Besides, it'll grow back."

"So would the mustache," Rainbow Dash points out in Twilight's ear.

"Were you all planning to cross the river?" the sea serpent asks.

"Yes," Twilight answers.

"Climb on!" the sea serpent offers his body as a bridge across the water.

The ponies happily take the sea serpent on his offer and use him to cross the river.

"Thanks," Shade says as she hops off the serpent. "What is your name?"

"Steven Magnet," the sea serpent replies.

Shade shakes the purple hand he offers, "Shade."

"Don't be a stranger, Shade~!" Steven Magnet sing songs before sinking into the river and swimming away.

The ponies walk up from the river bank and enter forests again. Shade passes by a pile of rocks that look like a rabbit. As they progress further, a second pile of rocks that resemble a duck hides under overgrowth. Shade can not rid the feeling of seeing those inuksuit before. Rustling from nearby raises her guard.

A timber wolf lunges at Shade from the bushes. Shade feeds it her left hoof and crushes its head in the dirt. Two more timber wolves jump out of the bushes behind Shade, and they splinter from a buck of her hind legs. Now she remembers why those rocks look familiar: this is exactly where she had been attacked the first time by timber wolves the first time she walked through the Everfree Forest. If memory serves her right, there should be

A blaring howl makes her cover her ears. The trees in front of her disappear. Instead, a giant wooden paw takes their place. Shade follows the limb up and sees a giant timber wolf with half its face missing.

Shade smirks, "So, round two, eh, you son of a bitch?"

The giant timber wolf roars at Shade and swipes at her. She easily dodges the attack by jumping up. She shoots a bolt of magic at the wolf's face. The blast does not even faze the wolf. Shade dodges the second swipe and shoots a bolt of magic at the opposite leg. Screams remind her that she is not alone this time. She turns to her friends and sees six timber wolves closing in on them. Shade casts a barrier spell around them. The giant alpha wolf uses her distraction to gulp her up.

"Shade!" the girls shout when they see the wolf swallow Shade.

The crimson barrier around them crumbles. Twilight shoots her magic at the closest wolf. Applejack bucks the next wolf that gets too close. The wolves retreat and the alpha wolf steps in front of them. His glowing green eyes burn with hunger.

Before Twilight can tell the others to run, the alpha wolf retracts his head. He looks around in confusion, and his belly begins to glow orange. An explosion of fire rips the giant timber wolf asunder, and its head crashes twenty feet to the ground. The other wolves retreat into the thick brush.

A wave of relief and excitement floods over the girls as they rush to Shade.

Shade picks up the still glowing alpha wolf head and snarls, "I went easy on you last time." She crushes the skull into dust with her magic and throws the dust into the wind.

"Wow, Shade!" Twilight awes, "That was incredible!"

Shade runs her hoof through her mane to dislodge some twigs and replies with a shrug, "That was nothing." She takes a couple of steps before saying, "A bridge should be ahead that will take us to the Tower of Elements. C'mon."

"So. Cool." Rainbow Dash fan girls.

Ten minutes of trailblazing and the girls emerge from a break in the trees. Twilight spots the ruins of the castle about half a mile away.

"There it is," Twilight points out, "the tower that houses the Elements of Harmony. We made it!" She gallops towards the structure.

Shade shakes her head as the others follow Twilight's mad dash.

Twilight can see the bridge that leads to the tower, "We're almost there. Whoa!" It seems that Twilight did not notice the bridge's unbridgeable shape and nearly falls off the cliff. Crimson magic envelops her and lifts her into the air.

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Rainbow Dash remarks.

"It seems to me like she has a death wish," Shade speaks to Rainbow Dash. She levitates the helpless unicorn in her crimson grasp over the middle of the gorge. "I could, maybe, just "

"Stop it, Shade," Fluttershy chides Shade.

Shade plops Twilight in front of them and bows her head at Fluttershy, "Yes'm."

"Now what?" Pinkie exasperates.

"Now, Rainbow Dash saves the day!" Shade announces and points her hoof forward.

Rainbow Dash snickers and flies across the gorge to fix the bridge. She swoops down the gorge to retrieve the bridge.

As Rainbow Dash ties off the first end of the bridge, Shade and the others notice Rainbow Dash acting strangely. She rears back on her hind legs and punches the thin air. Thick fog starts to roll in. Shade switches to her infrared vision and can see three, cold bodied ponies in front of Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow, what's taking so long?" Twilight asks. She sees three dark clad pegasi talking to Rainbow Dash. "Oh no. Rainbow! Don't listen to them," she tries to warn her friend, but the fog covers the bridge and blocks their sight of Rainbow Dash.

Shade watches Rainbow Dash and the mysterious ponies' exchange. Soon the ponies disappear, and Rainbow Dash ties off the other end of the bridge. A second later, Rainbow Dash emerges from the fog and everypony cheers for her.

"See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'," Rainbow Dash comments.

"I never doubted you," Shade replies.

"What was that about anyways?" Applejack asks as they cross the bridge.

"Some pegasi from the Shadowbolts wanted me to become their Captain," Rainbow Dash explains.

"Who would not want the spectacular Rainbow Dash as their Captain?" Shade remarks.

Rainbow Dash slumps, "The Wonderbolts, apparently."

Pinkie Pie hugs Rainbow Dash, "Aw cheer up, Dashie! You just gotta be a little bit older is all!"

Shade places a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder and smiles down at her, "You will be the greatest Wonderbolt of all, Rainbow Dash. You just need to be patient and wait a little longer."

Rainbow Dash hugs Pinkie Pie and says, "Thanks. The whole 'waiting' and being 'patient' thing is tough."

Once they reach the giant wooden doors of the tower, Shade pushes them open. Dust clouds the area. Rainbow Dash uses her wings to flush clear the dust. A tall statue stands in the middle of the room with six orbs radiating from a giant central sphere.

"Whoa. . ." Applejack awes.

"The Elements of Harmony we've found them!" Twilight exclaims.

"Was there any doubt?" Shade says aside to the others.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash fly up to the orbs to remove them and set them on the ground.

"One, two, three," Pinkie Pie begins to count aloud, "There's only six."

"Where's the seventh one?" Rainbow asks rhetorically.

Twilight lays down in front of the orbs, and the others look at Shade.

Shade rolls her eyes, "It is not in my pocket. Besides, 'a spark will cause the seventh Element to be revealed.'"

Applejack huffs, "What in the hay is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Twilight replies and looks to Shade, "What do you think?"

"Well," Shade walks over to the orbs, "usually the most obvious choice is the answer." She picks up an orb in a hoof and shocks it with electricity. Nothing. "Hmm. . ." She ignites her horn and shocks the orb with her crimson magic. Nothing. Her brows furrow. She tosses the orb to the side and shrugs, "Well, I am out of ideas."

Twilight frantically catches the orb with her magic. She huffs at Shade and carefully sets it back with the other orbs. Suddenly, the orbs begin to spin in a dark blue aura. Shade pulls Twilight away from the growing blue vortex.

Nightmare Moon rises out of the vortex and holds the orbs in her blue magic. She chuckles sinisterly. The group glowers at the abyssal alicorn and prepare for a charge. An ivory hoof stops them. They look up at Shade as she steps forward to Nightmare Moon.

"Oh?" Nightmare Moon cocks her head curiously.

"Greetings, your highness," Shade greets the alicorn with a deep bow.

Her friends look on with shock.