A crimson aura surrounds six golden tickets levitating in front of a pair of pale yellow eyes. With the Gala around the corner, Shade decides to give out the tickets to her four other friends after she gives two to her parents. With her horn alight, she sends one ticket to her mother via spell and opens the front door to deliver the other ticket.

Grey Smith stands behind the counter of his shop drumming a hoof idly on the wood. A white beacon of happiness leaves her house and strolls across the street to his door. Grey leaps over the counter and makes a mad dash for the door as his beacon of happiness strolls in.

"Greetings, my wonderful offspring!" he beams and hugs his daughter closely.

Shade returns his affections with a hug and content sigh. "Good morning, father."

"It always is with you here!" Grey chortles spinning in a circle.

"Okay! Please put me down. I'm not a foal anymore," she giggles and taps on his back.

Grey sets his daughter down with a disheartening sigh. He ruffles her mane and smiles, "You'll always be my foal."

Shade pouts. She brings out a ticket to slap on her father's face. "Here." She turns to leave out the door but stops with the door open, "Remember our deal."

"Love you, too!" Grey calls out to her as she leaves.

After delivering a ticket to Lyra, Bon Bon, and Cherilee, Shade makes her way over to Muffins' house. A crash nearby grabs her attention. Following the sound leads her to Rarity's shop. A hole in the roof is the first The she notices. She shakes her head as she heads inside.

Sure enough, much to Shade's expectations, Rainbow Dash lies jumbled up with mannequins with fabric draping over her and a metal bucket on her head. She aids Rarity in cleaning up and even repairs the broken roof.

Rainbow Dash dusts herself off. With as sincere a smile she can muster she explains herself to a cross Rarity. "Sorry. New trick. Didn't quite work."

"Did you need another wall to catch you?" Shade teases which earns her a deadpan glare from Rainbow Dash.

"Hmm," Rarity hums. She inhales sharply and chimes, "Idea! I'll make you both an outfit for the Gala, too!"

"Great!" Shade grins.

"Outfit for the what now?" Rainbow Dash questions.

Shade zips over to Rainbow Dash and holds her head pretending to examine the pegasus. "Maybe you hit your head too hard? You did just get out of the hospital."

"Fun-," Rainbow starts and pushes Shade away, "-ny!"

Shade topples to the ground snickering.

"I'll make one for all of you. Oh! And of course Pinkie and Fluttershy too. Oh, and when I'm done, we can hold our very own fashion show!" Rarity dances around the shop.

"What a great idea! If you're sure you can handle it," Twilight says.

"Oh, it'll be a little bit of work, but it will be a wonderful boost for my business. Plus, fun!" Rarity smiles. Already dozens of ideas run around in her head.

"Oh, I love fun things!" Rainbow Dash pipes.

"Then it's settled," Rarity nods firmly. "We'll have a fashion show starring us."

Everypony cheers.

Applejack walks over to Rarity who has begun to work on a dress. "So all you have to do is make a different, stunning, original, amazing outfit for all six of us, plus yourself? And lickety split?"

"Oh, Applejack. You make it sound as if it's going to be hard," Rarity dismisses Applejack's concerns.

The ponies show themselves out to allow their friend to work as music begins to play. Shade lowers the metal bucket over Rainbow's eyes as they walk to the exit.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash exclaims and lifts up the bucket in time for her face to hit the wall.

Shade giggles and dashes out the door. Rainbow Dash throws the bucket off her head and chases after the ivory tricorn. Apparently, the cyan pegasus did not learn her lesson as she soon finds herself face first in a crimson wall. She slides down the wall with a screech and plops on the ground.

"Ow…" Rainbow Dash croaks.

Shade takes a deep breath and exhales slowly from her nostrils. After waiting for ten minutes, she finally gains the courage to knock on the door. The door opens just as Shade knocks and she boops Muffins on the nose.

Muffins giggles, "Hiya, Shade. What's up?"

Shade removes her hoof from her friend's face. She clears her throat. "I, uh, have a ticket for the Gala," she summons said ticket before Muffins' eyes, "Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and even Spike are going."

"Wow! The Grand Galloping Gala!" Muffins hugs Shade and nuzzles her neck. "Of course I'll go! Thanks!"

"Swell!" Shade blubbers with a pink face. "I gotta go!" Shade then teleports herself to her home.

She sits on her flank and exhales. A pop picks up her head. A letter floats to the ground. Shade grabs it with her magic and reads it with a smile. She releases the parchment to let it continue its journey to the floor. She climbs the stairs solemnly. A golden ticket slides off of the letter and falls along side the letter from her mother.

Dearest Shade,

I write to inform you, with a heavy heart, that I will not be able to attend the Grand Galloping Gala. I have uncovered a large, undiscovered ruin and will be overseeing its excavation as well as cataloguing all artifacts. Wish the girls well for me and do have fun, daughter.

Love,

Mother

Knock knock knock.

"I'm not crying," Shade croaks with her face in a pillow.

The familiar scent of sugar, flour, and baking powder eminates from the pony that lays beside her.

"So DB can't come, huh?" Pinkie nudges Shade with her muzzle.

"Yes."

"If it's any consolation, your friends will be there." Pinkie lifts Shade's head gently, "I'll be there. And I will be here for you."

Shade smiles weakly, "Yeah." She sniffles and rubs her eyes with a fetlock. "Why are you here?"

"Rarity had all our dresses ready, so I came to tell you," Pinkie grins. She tugs on Shade's legs, "C'mon, lets go!"

"What time is it?" Shade asks while Pinkie drags her off the bed.

"Time to get going!" Pinkie chimes.

Shade smiles and ignites her horn. In an instant, the duo are in front of Carousel Boutique, where their friends are waiting. Shade lowers her goggles over her puffy eyes and picks up the corners of her mouth for a smile.

"I can't wait to see the dresses, Rarity," Shade greets with sincerity.

"All in good time, darling," Rarity sing songs. She levitates blindfolds from behind her and wraps them around her friends heads. "Just follow the sound of my voice, darlings."

Bonk.

"Ow," Applejack grimaces.

"Oh, do be careful, there is a table there," Rarity warns

"Gee. Thanks," Applejack deadpan.

"That's it. Keep them closed. Don't look." Rarity instructs. When everypony is in the show room she tells them, "Okay, you can look now!"

Everypony in the room gasps—minus a beaming Rarity—when she removes the blindfolds.

"These are your new outfits. What do you think of your old duds now, Applejack? Pretty swanky, are they not? And Twilight! I made this dress for you and I designed each outfit theme to perfectly reflect each pony's unique personality. Oh, it took me forever to get the colors right on this one, Rainbow Dash, but I did it. Oh, and it turned out beautiful, don't you think? And I know you are going to love yours, Fluttershy. It just sings spring! And Pinkie Pie, look! Pink! Your favorite! And Shade, something elegant and bold to accentuate your ferocity! Aren't they all amazing?"

Shade stares at her dress and lifts up her goggles to get a better view of the light reflecting off the shimmering dress.

"Shade, yours is a black sequin dress with ruby glovelettes all with golden trim. With a matching fascinator," Rarity describes the dress for her colorblind friend.

Shade is just going to assume that "fascinator" is the head piece that had a nightshade flower and short veil. Everypony gawks at their dresses. A silence thick enough to cut with a butter knife hangs in the air.

"Wow. They're…" Twilight begins.

"Yeah. They're…" Rainbow Dash reiterates.

"They sure are…" Applejack inputs.

A smile begins to form on Shade's muzzle. "Spectacular!" Shade exclaims. She trots up to her dress and circles around it. "Wow! It is even better than what I could imagine, Rarity!"

"Aww thank you, Shade," Rarity beams. "What do you girls think of your dresses?"

Applejack sighs in defeat. She smiles up at Rarity and says, "They sure are something. I can see you put your best into each and every one of them. I'd be proud to wear anything my friend made for me."

"Rarity, it totally wasn't anything I had imagined but now that I look closer at it," Rainbow Dash says as she hovers around her dress, "it kind of reminds me of what the ancient pegasi used to wear. And it looks awesome!"

Pinkie bounces around her dress. "Wow, Rarity! How did you know my favorite color is pink?" She giggles. "I love it!"

"It looks absolutely marvelous," Fluttershy compliments the dress and her friend. "Your work always amazes me, Rarity. Thank you."

Twilight walks up to her dress and scrutinizes the stars. "Well, this constellation isn't exactly—yow!" A zap of crimson electricity makes her yelp in pain. Shade glares at Twilight. Twilight titters, "You made it. And it's perfect. That's all that matters," Twilight corrects herself and gives Rarity a hug.

Rarity exhales a breath of relief. "Darlings, you all have no idea how I was feeling. If you would not have liked them, I probably would have gone mad trying to make seven dresses in seven hours again."

"So when is this fashion show going to happen?" Shade inquires.

Rarity smiles and levitates building plans over to the middle of the group. "As you all know, dresses are my forte and I can design…"

"I got you covered, Rares," Shade smiles. "I can get that built in no time."

"You can count me in," Applejack states.

"Me too! Me too! Wait. Me three!" Pinkie chimes.

"We all will do this," Twilight says, "it is the least we can do."

"Oh thank you, darlings!"

"Wheew!" Applejack sighs and wipes the sweat from her brow. She holsters the hammer in her mouth. "All done."

"Yup! With a two hours to spare!" Shade shouts. "Go team!" she exclaims, leaping with glee, before falling flat on her face.

Twilight rushes over to Shade and presses the back of her hoof on Shade's head. She removes her hand away from the scorching heat of Shade's horns.

"Wow, she used way too much magic," Twilight reports. She helps Shade to her hooves, "You need rest, pronto. Drink plenty of water and take a cool shower, too. Fruits and vegetables are great for replenishing your mana."

"K," is all that Shade mutters.

"Don't worry. I'll take her home!" Pinkie ducks under Shade and carries the ivory pony on her back. "Hang in there, Shadey-wadey!"

When Pinkie reaches Shade's house door, she freezes when a gold aura envelopes her. Galloping hooves screech to a stop beside her.

"What happened to Shade? Is she hurt? Who did this to her?" a worrisome Grey Smith questions Pinkie.

Pinkie giggles. "She's fine, Mister Smith, sir. She just over did it with the magic is all."

"That is not fine!" Grey raises his voice. He goes over to grab Shade and sees her face turning red. "She's burning up! If we don't stabilize her, soon her body will start converting her blood into mana. Her body would practically implode in itself!"

"No!" Pinkie cries.

Grey holds his daughter close to his chest, ignoring the searing pain, and ignites his horns.

"What happened?" Deathly Belladonna speaks behind him.

"You got my message!" Grey smiles. "She over exerted herself."

Deathly Belladonna levitates Shade in a pink aura of magic. The magic turns gold and starts to absorb into Shade. In the next moments, the sphere glows white and flashes. When everypony can see again, Shade is laying on the floor asleep.

Grey hugs Deathly Belladonna. "Thank you."

Briefly enjoying the embrace, Death pushes the stallion away. "She is my daughter, too." Death pets Shade's short mane and smiles. "Pinkie, please take her upstairs."

Pinkie sniffles, "Thanks, DB." Pinkie gingerly picks up Shade and Death opens the door for the pink pony.

"Death—" Grey's smile is broken with a hoof pressing against his mouth.

"I came for her. Not for you," Death states stiffly.

Grey wriggles his brows suggestively.

"Ugh!" Death scoffs. "Grow up."

Grey smiles, "Thanks. I just felt so helpless not being able to help my little filly."

Death's heart twists in pang seeing Grey's heartbroken face. On one hoof, he is the father of her only child and on the other hoof, he is the tail chasing lover who broke her heart countless times. His golden eyes shift from the ground and pierce her heart when he gives her a sad smile.

"It is always good to see you, Belle," he says as he walks back to his shop.

Death groans inwardly. She lights up her horns and spirits herself away lest she make a decision she will regret later.