Shade nods to Cherry Pie and they walk inside the station. Hardly anypony is in the station and the mare behind the ticket counter waves courteously at the duo as they head for the double red doors. Once out the door, Shade bumps into a brick wall—a white wall… with legs and golden boots.

"Princess Celestia!" Cherry Pie gasps and steps back.

Shade looks up to see a tall mare with an immaculate white coat, flowing multicolored mane, crown, and poudrette eyes. The mares expression of shock flares to anger than quickly twists into confusion.

"Ah. Um. Guess I should have looked first," Shade speaks. She does a quick bow. "Will you give me your pardon, your majesty? Not only for our collision but also for my lack of proper etiquette? I am a foreigner and quite ignorant of such things."

The princess studies her for a moment longer. Her conflicting expression changes to a warm smile. "Yes," she nods, "you have my pardon. Has anypony told you that you look familiar?"

"That is why I am here: to find my doppelgänger."

"Would you allow me to accompany you with your search? I am also searching for my beloved pet phoenix, Philomena," the princess states.

"It's a free country, right?" Shade smirks. Her face grows serious as she reiterates, "Right?"

Princess Celestia chuckles behind a gilded hoof, "Yes. Yes, it is."

Twilight glares at the ivory tricorn rolling on the floor laughing.

"This is not the time to be laughing!" Twilight restates to the ivory mare on the floor. "Fluttershy just stole the princess' pet!"

Shade cranes her neck to see the angry lavender unicorn between her white limbs. She throws her head back to laugh more. Twilight facehoofs and prepares a basket for Philomena which she attaches to Fluttershy simultaneously with her magenta magic. She then loads the regal pet in said basket.

She rushes to the cottage door while saying, "If we hurry, we can put her back before anypony even realizes she's missing." Twilight flings the door open and gasps at the two white stallions in gold armor in front of her.

"Busted!" Shade jeers and cackles into her hoof.

The guards enter the cottage and the one on the left speaks up first. "We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here."

"We regret to inform you, miss, that the royal pet has gone missing," the second guard adds.

"Really? You don't say!" Twilight titters nervously.

Shade zooms up to the unicorns side and pushes her up to the guards. "She did it! She's the one you want!"

"Shade!" Twilight exclaims and flails her limbs wildly.

Shade laughs and picks up the lavender mare to place behind herself. "We'll keep our eyes for her, boys," Shade gives a mock salute.

The guards just nod and leave.

Shade closes the door and grins at Twilight. Twilight gives Shade a flat look. Shade walks over to the window and watches the guards disappear behind the hill.

"Alright. Let's go," she states as she steps up to the door.

Twilight leans against the door. "What are you doing?"

"I thought you wanted to return the damn thing?" Shade says.

"We can't now!" Twilight exclaims.

Shade places a hoof on Twilight's withers. "Twilight. Remain calm."

"I am calm!"

Shade looks at the hyperventilating, wild eyed mare dubiously.

"All that really matters to me is that poor little Philomena here gets well," Fluttershy inputs.

A cough escapes from the basket on Fluttershy's back.

"That's very noble of you. I'll write to you when you're banished. Unless I'm banished too somewhere there's no post office. Then you'll have to write to me. Deal?" Twilight speaks and walks up to Fluttershy with a twitch in her eye.

"Please, Twilight. You just have to help me get Philomena healthy and then we can return her to the princess. And everything will be fine," Fluttershy tries to assuage the lavender unicorn on the brink of a mental breakdown.

Twilight takes in deep breaths to calm herself. Once she collects herself she asks Fluttershy, "Did you give her any kind of medicine?"

"I tried to, but she wouldn't take it," Fluttershy answers.

Twilight groans. "Then you have to make her take it," her emphasis knocks Philomena out of the basket where Shade catches the bird."You can't be such a pushover, Fluttershy! You need to show this patient who's the boss. Make her straighten up and fly right!"

"She can't fly," Fluttershy replies knowingly.

Twilight finds the pill Fluttershy had tried to give the bird earlier, picks it up I her hoof, and turns to look at the bird with a smirk. "No excuses!"

"Quite the evil face you're making there, Sparkler," Shade grins.

Twilight walks over to Shade and the bird and rolls her eyes, "Just keep the bird still." Twilight opens the bird beak and practically shoves her entire hoof down the birds throat so Philomena can not spit out the pill.

"Done!" Twilight chimes and turns to Fluttershy. "Okay, what else?"

"Uh... well," Fluttershy starts uncertainly, "she keeps pulling her feathers off. The ones that haven't fallen out yet from all her coughing, I mean."

Twilight scans the room and Shade levitates a white cone to her. Twilight promptly places the cone over the birds head. Philomena struggles with the cone and tries to remove the contraption.

"I don't think she likes it," Fluttershy observes.

"Tough love, baby. You want her to get well, don't you?" Twilight snaps.

"Of course, but..."

"Next!" Twilight exclaims cutting off Fluttershy.

"You know what? I think I'm starting to like this side of you, Sparkler," Shade comments.

"Gee, thanks," Twilight snarks. "I'm sure you find this situation quite humorous."

"Yes. Quite," Shade nods with a smug grin.

Twilight shakes her head and turns to Fluttershy.

"Well, she desperately needs some bed rest, but I can't get her to stay put," Fluttershy says.

"I got this," Shade states. She levitates Philomena with her crimson magic and the next sound that fills the room is the sickening snap of bones of Shade snapping the birds neck.

Fluttershy gasps and gapes in horror. "YOU MONSTER!" she exclaims which wipes the smile off Shade's muzzle. "I CAN UNDERSTAND THE PARASPRITES. I CAN LOOK OVER THE HYDRA. BUT THIS—!"

The bird on the ground combusts and turns into ash making Fluttershy and Twilight gasp again.

"Just tell me what you really think of me then," Shade speaks, her voice chills the room. She ignites her horn and teleports away in a crimson flash.

Twilight swears she had seen a tear roll down from Shade's goggles.

The ashes begin to swirl about and a magnificent red and orange bird rises from the ashes. The bird flies over to Fluttershy and Twilight and gives them a chirp of worry.

"A phoenix!" Twilight awes. "Of course! I remember Philomena now! She's a-a-," Twilight can see Fluttershy on the verge of tears, "phoenix…"

Shade grunts in pain and clutches her chest as she falls to a knee in the middle of the street.

"What's wrong?" Cherry Pie cries in alarm.

"Like someone is… twisting a blade in my chest…" Shade groans and collapses to the ground. Her breathing is short and shallow.

"Shade!"

Shade peeks through her blurry eyes and sees yellowish and purplish pony shapes in front of her.

"That can't be Shade," one speaks, "Shade has three horns and a cutie mark."

"Philomena!" Princess Celestia calls out and the phoenix flies over to her.

Shade labors to her hooves trying her best to ignore the pain. "I am Shade. Nìzī. Kūàmírà. Whulphe. Kyrie," she proclaims between her teeth. "First born of Grey Whulphe and Val Kyrie."

"See? She is not our Shade," the purple shape says.

"What's wrong?" a soft voice asks and yellow fills Shade's vision.

"No… idea…" Shade strains.

Princess Celestia scans the ivory pony. "I do not sense anything physically wrong with you," Celestia says.

Shade squeezes her eyes and blinks a few times. She stares into the comforting teal gems of the yellow mare. "I will live," Shade says after taking a deep breath.

"Where are you from?" the yellow mare asks.

"A far away land you have never heard of," Shade replies. "I do not know how I got here. The last thing I remember…" Shade scrunched up her face in deep thought, "All Hell had broken loose. Literally."

"What do you mean?" By this time Shade's vision had returned to her in full and sees the purple unicorn asking the question.

"The genesis of war. With everything at stake. I had succumbed to sleep on the eve of battle and I woke up in a cave over here in this land." Shade heaves a sigh when the pain in her chest subsides.
"Who are you two?" she addresses the two ponies.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," the purple unicorn says.

"I'm Fluttershy," the yellow pegasus introduces herself.

"And I am Princess Celestia!" the princess chimes in with a smile. "And this is Philomena," she extends a leg where the large orange and red bird squawks.

"I'm Cherry Pie," the cloak wearing pony mumbles.

"Now that introductions are out of the way," Shade looks at the lavender unicorn, "Take me to your Shade."