Shade goes to her usual spot to think. Stars shimmer above and nebulae color the night sky. A hunger pulls at the back of her stomach and eats away at the darkest parts of her psyche. She staves off the hunger but a scent in the wind squeezes her trigger.

"Looking a little scary there, Shade," Vinyl purrs.

Shade cranes her neck to see the pale pony leaning against the tree with her fangs glinting in the moonlight.

"I take it Octavia has no qualms feeding you?"

"It was a big risk but I'm glad I took it and rightfully placed my trust in her," Vinyl sighs conently, she gazes at Shade over her purple tinted glasses.

Shade smiles, "I'm happy for you, Vinyl."

"You should probably hunt before you get hangry," Vinyl suggests half jokingly.

"All the deer have fled the woods," Shade laments.

"Pinkie?"

Shade narrows her eyes at Vinyl, "I'm not a vampony. I need meat; not just blood."

"Lily?" Vinyl smirks.

A grin splits Shade's muzzle. "No. I would be the prime suspect in a heart beat." Shade releases a frustrated sigh.

"Slate yourself with blood, for now," Vinyl suggests after a long moment of silence.

"Yours?" Shade winks.

"Tempting," Vinyl grins, "but no."

Thermal vision comes in hoofy when traveling in complete darkness; it also helps highlight any potential meals. Unfortunately, Shade had found nothing to slate her hunger in the past two hours of hunting in the Everfree—not even a mouse.

Rustling nearby alerts Shade and she freezes in her tracks. The rustling continues and she follows the noise. She sees a bunny shape hopping along the ground. No hesitation, no pause to think. Shade plucks the creature with her magic and reels it into her open maw. She stops before clamping her canines into the creature. The antlers atop its head catches her attention.

"Aren't you a curious little beastie," Shade muses aloud.

"Same could be said about you," a male voice comments behind Shade.

Facing the voice, Shade saw a buck about fifteen feet away. Her vision fails to reveal anything specific about the deer, except his stature being taller than her.

"I've waited years to finally meet you again," the buck says with a hint of anger in his tone.

"And who might you be?" Shade questions the buck, turning her body to face him and tossing the jackalope over her withers.

A noise like ropes tightening grabs her attention to the ground. Fractions of a second later, she finds herself caught in a web of vines that hoist her up in the air five feet off the ground. Vines wrap around her legs and horns. Shade blinks curiously.

"You killed my mother," the buck spoke as he steps closer to his captured prey.

"Survival of the fittest," Shade retorts.

"Indeed," the buck sneers. He picks up a spear from the ground and aims it at the ivory pony.

Shade smiles wickedly at the buck, her canines glinting in the moonlight, "I am ever so lucky to have met you, my midnight snack!"

Shade breaks her rear legs free of the vines as she spins in a kick that also breaks the head of the spear. Her momentum breaks the vines holding her horns and she pulls her forelegs free. She lands on her hooves and catches the spear head in her teeth.

The buck shakes the stupor from his face and he touches a small barrel around his neck which releases a liquid to the ground. Shade spits the spear head at the buck but it is intercepted by a wall of vines that shoot from the ground. A vine grabs both of Shade's rearhooves and heave her up into the air.

An irate growl escapes Shade. Her horns ignite and incinerate the vines. She twists herself in the air to position herself to land on her hooves but is tackled by the buck in mid air. A gasp leaves her as she feels a pang flare from her belly. When she falls to the ground, she sees one of the buck's antler wet with her blood.

The buck grins at the satisfying expression of shock the pony wore.

"Ow…" Shade gasps and spits up her orange blood.

The buck stands triumphantly over the expiring pony. "Now, the time has come for me to have my revenge!" the buck cackles.

Shade smirks and lurches up at the buck, clamping her teeth on his neck like a vise. She rips a chunk of his flesh from his neck and the buck falls to the ground. The buck stares up at the pony with wild eyes as he flails on the ground. Shade uses the chunk of flesh in her mouth as an ingredient to a spell to heal herself completely.

"At least you'll be able to see your mother again," Shade mocks the buck. She proceeds to devour the deer while holding him down with her magic.

Little Leaf feels every bite and his life slipping slowly from his grasp. His eyesight turns dark. A dot of light appears before him. He reaches out for the light which expands and turns into tunnel of darkness.

He looks behind him and sees the demon devouring his body. Oddly, he feels at peace. He turns back to the light where a figure in black robes waits. It lowers a scythe that points to the white light at the end of the tunnel. Little Leaf casts a sad smile. With a nod, he heads toward the light at the end of the tunnel with hopes of seeing his mother.

The figure watches the white, blood soaked pony dine on the carcass of the deer. It hangs its head and shakes its head slowly. The figure follows after the buck leisurely.

Shade licks her lips clean and smacks her lips in satisfaction. A content sigh escapes her grinning muzzle.

"Now, where did you come from?" Shade ponders as she begins retracing the buck's tracks.

Two hours later, Shade finds herself at a wall of towering vines. She presses a bloody hoof against the wall. The wall gradually opens enough for her to pass through. She makes her way past the two-foot thick wall to see another wall rise before her.
She also spots more deer on pratroling the wall and guarding a gate that resembles antlers.

She pulls herself out back the way she enters. She will leave invading a kingdom for a later day.