With a lengthy yawn Shade makes her way down the wooden stairs. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she turns her head to the left and spots Death behind the counter with a wide grin; looking to the right Shade could see the front door less than ten feet away.

"Can I get out the door before she gets me?" Shade plots.

Death's eyes flash and Shade knew she made a mistake by hesitating. With a mad dash, Shade feels the door knob and freedom. Then the next second, she begins to float in the air and knows she lost. A sigh leaves her and she gives Applejack a flat look. The next thing she knows, she is press up against Death as Death hugs her tightly.

"I made pancakes!"

"You want a medal?" Shade's sardonic reply.

"Just your love and affection!" Death smiles.

Shade squirms and pushes herself free from the loving embrace. "Le gag," Shade wretches and points at her stuck out tongue. "I'm going with Applejack. Don't wait up. Let's go, Applejack."

Applejack follows her friend leave out the front door with her eyes. She turns back to Death who smiles and beckons her over. Applejack trots over to Deathly Belladonna. The cerise mare whispers into the orange filly's ear. Applejack turns to Death who is beaming from ear to ear.

"Think you can do it?" Death questions.

"Absolutely!" Applejack chuckles, "I think she'll like it."

"Probably not so I'll just like it for her!" Death chimes.

"I know it ain't none of my business but, why are ya so. . . harsh towards Deathly Belladonna?" Applejack dares to ask Shade. Shade's abrupt stop makes Applejack immediately regret her question.

Turning around and snapping at Applejack first crosses Shade's mind. A deep breath through her nostrils left her more calm. Being mean will not grant her powers back faster. After a tense minute of silence, Shade turns around to face Applejack to give the filly an answer. "Because I hate," her dream pops into her head and she shakes her head to restart, "Because she annoys me."

Applejack decides to change the subject, quickly learning to avoid any further personal questions, "Those are some spiffy new glasses."

That comment makes Shade remember last night. "Do you know the name of a filly with a barred eighth note cutie mark?"

Applejack's face scrunches in thought, "Nope. Can't say I've seen her. Why?"

"We bumped into each other last night and picked up the wrong glasses."

"Ah. And with you bein' color blind you didn't realize it right away," Applejack deduces.

"There is something different about her." Shade looks up at the sky remembering the event. "She felt cold, her eyes reflected the moonlight, and her coat seemed to sparkle. I was mesmerized by her."

"Sounds like you fell in love at first sight," Applejack says with slightly rosy cheeks.

Shade snaps her attention to Applejack. "Ludicrous. She has a power within her that I have not felt in," she has to be careful to not reveal her true age, "a couple years."

"Uh-huh."

The two fillies continue to walk down the dusty street. A couple feet later and Shade sees the ponies setting up their stalls in the market square. She sees strawberries, carrots, celery, cabbages, flowers, apples, and. . . bananas.

"Whoa," Shade stops in her tracks, "there's a banana plantation in Ponyville?"

Applejack stops and follows Shade's muzzle. "Eeyup. They are fairly new 'round here. Why?"

"I. . . I really like bananas," Shade emphasized by licking her lips.

"More than you like apples?!"

Shade raises a brow at Applejack's stunned expression, "Yeees."

"How can you like bananas more than apples?" Applejack confronts Shade face to face.

Shade pushes her head up against Applejack's; her horns pressing into the Stetson. "Because I can," she growls.

Seeing Shade's eyes flash hotly above her glasses and the area grow cold, Applejack backs away from the ivory filly. Wanting to avoid a fight Applejack clears her throat to clarify, "Wh-what I meant was, why do you like bananas more than apples?"

Shade looks at Applejack quizzically. Why is Applejack scared? I'm just doing what she did. With a shrug Shade says, "Apples are hard, too sweet, and too juicy. Bananas are the complete opposite. I don't like sweets."

"Alright. To each their own, right?" Applejack smiles apprehensively.

The next ten minutes pass in silence as they make their way to Sweet Apple Acres. Shade keeps pace with Applejack passing the time deep in her own thoughts. Her dream left her with plenty of questions she needs Death to address.

Applejack sighs inwardly. She sure knows how to pick friends. She glances at Shade and notices how Shade exudes power, every step she takes with confidence, she holds her head high, her mane hugs her face and flows with the wind; Applejack shook her head to keep from staring at Shade. Sure Shade was harsh but Death receives most of her ire. So far, Shade has been courteous to Applejack and Applejack has only felt threatened twice.

The orange filly turns her attention to the alabaster filly again. Shade holds a certain edge; an edge that cuts deep if anyone intrudes, an edge that pulls one in, an edge that has sharpened with pain. Through her stoic demeanor and expression, Applejack senses and hears her pain through Shade's words. Applejack did not know, however, if the death of Shade's parents was the only source of pain.

After staring at sunglasses for a long second did Applejack realize Shade facing her.

"Is there something on my face?" Shade questions.

"What?" Applejack cocks her head to a side.

"You have been staring at me for the past five minutes."

Applejack flushes pink. Shade's tone was not harsh or bitter, to Applejack's surprise. "I, uh, was just thinkin' 'bout. . . stuff?"

Shade stares at Applejack for a few seconds, during which Applejack shifted nervously on her hooves. "Go on," Shade elaborates by rolling her left hoof.

"Oh! Well, mainly I was thinking 'bout teaching you how to buck properly."

Shade blinks at Applejack. "I'm going to assume that is not a euphemism." Shade says as she starts to walk again,"I learn best by observation."

Shade observes Applejack closely. A little too close for comfort for Applejack at first. Shade homes in onto Applejack's haunches, noting the angle of her legs, how high her rear hooves are off the ground, and where she strikes the trunk.

Unconsciously, Shade reaches out her hoof and touches Applejack's flank. Applejack tenses under the sudden cold feeling. Shade runs her hoof up and down the muscular orange leg slowly. "Amazing," she muses internally.

"Sh-shade?" she hears Applejack stammer.

"Hm?" Shade breaks her gaze from the orange posterior. She notices Applejack's face a shade darker than the rest of her body.

"You're uh, kinda t-touchin' my flank. . ." Applejack's ears fold back.

Shade turns her head to her hoof. "Oh," she quickly removes her hoof, "My apologies." Shade looks at her hoof remembering the sensation. "Your coat hides your muscles. It surprised me," she talks to her hoof.

"Thanks," Applejack replies sheepishly.

"Can I give it a shot?" Shade asks already in position in front of a tree.

"Go ahead."

Shade aims at the tree, coils her legs, arches her back, and strikes the tree. A dozen apples fall. Shade frowns.

"Hey! That was a purty good shot!" Applejack smiles and praises Shade.

"I didn't knock down all the apples like you do."

"No, but you knocked down more than my lil sister," Applejack cracks.

Shade looks at Applejack which causes her to stop smiling. "Are we going to buck every tree?"

Exhaling her breath she was holding, Applejack smiles again, "Naw, that'll take ages. We'll just buck til lunch."

"Sounds like a plan."

The two of them continue to buck the apple trees and carry the buckets away. Shade decides to just pull the buckets since she could not control her magic and did not want apples to keep hitting her face. An hour later, Applebloom joins the two older fillies and volunteers to carry Shade's buckets. As the morning progresses Shade starts to knock more apples down eventually knocking all the apples off the trees.

Granny Smith sounds the lunch bell eliciting Applebloom to drop the bucket she was carrying on her back as she gallops to the house. When the other two fillies reach the house, Shade stops at the door and watches it close behind Applejack's tail. Applejack looks behind her when the lack of another set of hoof steps reaches her. She cocks her head at the ivory filly then remembers what Shade had told her yesterday about tricorn social etiquette.

Applejack smiles and opens the screen door for Shade, "Come on in."

"Thank you." Shade enters after wiping her hooves on the welcome mat.

"You know that since we are friends, you don't need to wait for me to invite ya in, especially if you are following me,"

"It is a show of respect, Applejack."

"That's mighty kind of ya, Shade," Applejack tips her hat towards Shade before taking off and setting it on a hook.

A few seconds later, the two of them reach the dinning room where Granny Smith and Applebloom have already taken their seats around a large, rectangle dinning table. Shade takes a seat across from Applebloom and Applejack. Shade examines the contents of the two bowls before her: the one on the left smelling like nightshade tubers and the bowl on the right smelling of fruit.

"Oh!" Applejack interjects grabbing the attention of all at the table, "Granny Smith, Shade can't see colors. She's not sniffing it because she thinks the food is suspicious or anythin'." Turning to address Shade, Applejack says, "The bowl in your left is potato salad and the bowl on the right is fruit salad."

"Sounds delectable," Shade smiles faintly.

"Darn tootin'!" Granny Smith exclaims and plunges her face into the potato salad bowl.

Applebloom giggles and follows Granny Smith's example.

Applejack starts with the fruit salad.

Shade takes a few bites out of the fruit salad first, confirming her suspicions of it being too sweet for her. She cleanses her palate with the glass of water before fully enjoying the tamer potato salad.

Applejack cleans her muzzle with her napkin and says what has been on her mind since the morning, "Shade, is everything alright? You've been. . . quiet."

Shade finishes eating the salad in her mouth before answering Applejack. "No. I'll manage."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not particularly," Shade's stoic response. She goes back to eating the potato salad at a reserved pace.

Applejack was going to press Shade more but saw Granny Smith shaking her head. She returns to her meal.

"What's next on the agenda?" Shade inquires.

Applejack thinks for a moment. A smile starts to split her muzzle as she remembers what Deathly Belladonna told her earlier. "I was thinking I can help you catch up on school by giving you the notes from last year. How about it?"

Shade rubs her chin. "Since I recently moved to this land I guess I should learn more about your history."

"Great! I'll be right back!" Applejack excuses herself from the table and speeds out the room.

The three ponies sat at the table and could hear Applejack running up the stairs, stomping upstairs, throwing things around; hell, they even hear a cat screech before Applejack runs back downstairs. Their eyes watch the doorway and then they see Applejack appear out of breath and with a mess of a mane, she held a journal in her teeth.

Applejack trots over to Shade with a big grin.

Shade cocks an eyebrow at Applejack.

They stare at each other for a couple seconds longer than Applejack had anticipated. "Take it," Applejack urges.

"Oh." Shade accepts the yellow journal with her front hooves. "I guess I still have much to learn about your unspoken actions."

"It's alright. I should've said somethin'. Anyways, you should go to the library and study for a bit because I want to quiz ya." Applejack smiles.

Shade furrows her brows suspiciously. "Right." She turns to Granny Smith, "Thank you for lunch, ma'am, it was delicious."

"You're very welcome, Shade. You are always welcome here." Granny Smith says.

"Much appreciated. If you will excuse me," Shade puts the journal in between her teeth, gets out of the chair, and bows politely before leaving.

As soon as Applejack hears the front door close, she rushes to the table with a wide grin. "Alright, y'all, this is what's happenin'."