Pinkie Pie licks her lips clean of chocolate and notices Shade smiling at her. "What?"

"Nothing," Shade replies and looks down at the playground where the foals play.

Pinkie Pie leans closer to Shade to ask, "What's next?"

Shade's face grows serious, "I have to go to my laboratory to tweak a spell that can cure Muffin's eye situation."

"Oh. Well, that would be perfect for her."

Shade looks over and can see through Pinkie's joyful façade. "I… know how you feel about me, Pinkie. I need time to understand my feelings for you and Muffins. I care for both of you equally…"

"I kinda figured," Pinkie sighs.

"Love is new for me, and it hurts. I did not see any good examples of love when I was growing up. And then I was—" Shade stops herself.

Pinkie moves beside Shade and places a comforting pink hoof on her ivory back.

"You are both fantastic and amazing in your ways. It is hard for me to decide," Shade admits.

"I'll just… go… so you can think and work on Ditzy's spell," Pinkie hugs Shade bye.

Shade watches as Pinkie Pie walks slower than usual away. With the glow of her horns, she teleports to her laboratory.

Death did not lie, the whole front of the house had been destroyed. Shade steps over debris as she enters the house. Numerous critters had made the dilapidated house their residence. She walks to the kitchen and out the back door to reach the cellar doors. Shade opens the heavy metal doors with her magic and descends into the darkness.

Shade turns on the lights by powering a generator with her magic. She heads straight for the spider web covered desk with a single dusty tome resting atop the dirty desk. With the spell book in her magical grasp, Shade turns the book to the bookmarked place and studies the page intently. She just needs the scale of a dragon. Now, where can she find one?

"Twilight, do we have to restock all the books in the library every week?" Spike complains.

"Yes, yes we do, Spike," is Twilight's vehement response.

Spike groans and picks up another stack of books.

Poof!

"Ah!" Spike interjects and throws the books into the air and falls on his tail.

"Twilight," Shade says to the lavender mare.

"'The sign says closed for a reason,'" Twilight deadpan.

"Consider us even," Shade replies. She looks around the room and locates the purple and green dragon. "Spike, I require one of your scales."

"Uhm? Why?" Spike asks.

"It is a catalyst for one of my spells. I will compensate you, of course."

"Wait, wait, wait. What kind of spell is this?" Twilight asks.

"The none-of-your-business kind," Shade snarks. Shade conjures a large ruby and presents it to Spike, "Well?"

"Deal!" Spike agrees and swipes at the ruby which gets snatched away by pink magic.

Twilight earns a glare from both Spike and Shade.

"Why do you need his scales?" Twilight demands.

"Any dragon's will suffice. Spike is the closest and easiest to convince," Shade answers.

"You did not answer my question."

Shade rolls her eyes. "Whatever," she huffs and teleports away.

Twilight frowns.

Spike sneaks closer to his prize when it suddenly disappears. Spike releases a disappointing moan.

Shade finds herself in the middle of a desolate wasteland. Her brows knit together as she surveys the area. There is a surprising lack of Dragons in the "Dragon Lands." She does not remember killing all of them, the last time she visit. She begins her search. Two hours later, when she is about to give up the search, she spots a light blue dragon poking their head in a cave. Shade trots up the Dragon.

"You there," Shade calls out.

The dragon turns around and scowls at Shade. "Another one?" the she-dragon groans.

"'Another—'" Shade's thoughts disappear when the she-dragon pulls a pony out of the small crevice by their tail.

"PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" Roseluck screams.

"Oh, please eat her," Shade speaks.

Roseluck's eyes shrink to the size of pins. She wraps her hooves around the dragoness' legs and pleads, "Eat me! Don't leave me with her!"

The dragoness exams the white pony closer and suddenly, realization hits her. She balls up her fists and growls, "You! You are the "Three Horned Demon' that killed dozens of my people!"

"All I needed was a scale. I was willing to compensate then, and I'm ready to compensate now," Shade replies.

"Don't trust her! She's a monster! A mon--!" Roseluck's wild and crazy antics is cut short by Shade teleporting her to the Griffin Kingdom.

Shade clears her throat and lowers her hoof, "Just give me one scale and I will give you gold and precious gems."

The turquoise dragoness sighs. "Fighting you would be suicide," she says after a moment of silence. Her apricot eyes narrow at the pony, she pulls two scales out of her arm, and throws them at the ground in front of the pony, "Just take them and never return."

Shade picks up the beautiful turquoise scales with her crimson magic. She curtsies and smiles at the dragoness, "I will keep that in mind."

Ember watches the pony envelop herself in a red magic bubble and teleports away. She huffs.

Shade opens her eyes to see the old door of Ditzy's eyesore of a house. Shade shakes her head at the sad decline of the house. Ditzy needs a better place to live and Shade has offered her home to them and even to repair the house. Ditzy takes pride in "her house," though, she did buy it with her money and did fix it with her hooves. Did Shade just pity Muffins? Her mind drifts off to the times when being a cold, heartless, emotionless--

"Shade?"

A waving gray hoof in her face derails her train of thought. She follows the hoof to see a concerned gray pegasus. "Qà'dìlà?"

"Uhm. . . ?" Ditzy Doo raises an uncertain brow.

"What's up?"

"Oh. Nothing. Just getting off work and wondering why you are staring at my door. . ."

"It is a nice door. Teak?"

"No. It's not an antique. I found it at the junkyard," Ditzy replies nonchalantly and walks up the steps to her house. "Wanna come in?"

Has Shade always been a closet pervert? She shakes her dirty thoughts away and takes her eyes off of Ditzy's plot. She adds a mental note to punch Grey for passing that gene along. "Thank you, Ditzy," she smiles and follows her friend inside.

Shade follows Ditz to the living room and stops the pegasus. Ditzy turns around at the touch of her tail. A turquoise scale levitates in front of her and sparkles in the light spilling through the curtains.

Her eyes light up. "Ooo!" she awes. "What is it?"

"Your cure," Shade grins.

Ditzy stares at the shimmering scale in silence. Finally, she asks, "Do I eat it?

Shade chuckles. "No. Close your eyes. I will place it over your eye and cast the spell. Are you ready?"

Ditzy takes a deep breath and releases her breath slowly. She closes her eyes, "Do it."

Shade places the scale over Ditzy's right eye. She begins to channel her crimson magic into her friend and the scale. The gray pegasus begins to levitate and glow white. In a spectacular display of sparkles, the spell ends and Ditzy collapses to the ground.

"Muffins?" Shade cautiously opens her right eye and smiles.