Everypony was invited, and while not everypony showed up one might have guessed that at least half of Ponyville had arrived.

Big Macintosh was usually part of the other half. He almost never went to Pinkie's parties unless his sister forced him to, and even then she had to practically beg or blackmail him into doing so. Why he had to come to this particular party was beyond him, but alas, there he was. The guests weren't friends of the Apple family, at least as far as he knew, and this time she hadn't tried to set him up with any of her friends, so his presence here was an absolute mystery for him.

Mac eyed the snack table. There stood many of Pinkie’s formidable sweets and many other tasty little snacks. His stomach instantly growled. 'Might as well enjoy it while Ah’m here.' With an inner grin, Big Mac eyed the party-goers wall that stood between him and the food table.

Macintosh made his way through the crowd of guests in his path with relative ease. They either made room or were pushed aside. He smiled kindly at all of them, but couldn't shake a certain feeling that somepony was watching him. He was almost to the table when he suddenly tripped forward, slamming into it, which promptly launched its contents at the rest of the party.

The majority of the guests all closed their eyes and collectively yelped in anticipation of the impact with the various foods and beverages.

When the impact never came, they opened their eyes and gasped.

All of the silverware and food were shrouded in a black aura, and looked as if frozen in time. An orange earth mare was staring into a wayward bottle of cider that was dangerously close to her face. A bowl of punch was suspended mid air, with its contents still inside despite being overturned.

A unicorn stepped out from the crowd, horn still alight as he focused his magic, struggling to keep a small pair of glasses on his face.

Nightshadow sighed. "Nightshade!" He called out.

A similar black coated unicorn, who up until now had contained herself, burst out laughing.

"I'msorryShadowIjustcouldn'thelpit!" She managed to say in between laughs. Her brother sighed as he arranged everything back to the way it was on the table, filling a glass of what was probably apple juice for himself. Ponies watched for a moment before turning back to the party, as if nothing ever happened.

Macintosh tried to stand up, to discover that his front legs were wrapped in iron chain. He fell again, sending Shade into another fit of laughter. Shadow turned to where the crowd made way for a laughing Shade, straining to remain calm. "Fix it. Now."

She sighed and trotted up to Big Mac, casting the counter-spell and removing the chains on Big Mac's legs. "Sorry about that! I just wanted to... liven things up a bit!" She said, a wide smile on her face.

The earth pony grunted before getting to his hooves. He looked at the mare standing in front of him. "It's... fine... Was gittin’ a mite dull ‘round here. Any-how, Nopony was hurt so ‘Ah guess we don’ got nuthin’ to worry about."

She giggled. "You talk weird!" And just like that, she walked back into the crowd, being met with a scowling Applejack and a laughing Pinkie. Big Mac thought about what just happened, but more importantly he thought about why he wasn't mad. He just let that crazy unicorn walk off smiling. She barely even apologized, and somepony could have gotten hurt!

So why wasn't he angry?

He thought about the mare; her voice, her smile.

'She... has a really nice laugh...'

Nightshadow hadn't attended a party before, but he had a feeling that it wasn't something he would enjoy... which, of course, he was right about. Too many ponies being too closely packed together being too loud trying to talk over the already too loud music. He found an empty corner of the room near one of the refreshment tables and happily drank what he poured himself earlier.

He gagged a bit. He wasn’t expecting Cider. Shadow heard a soft giggle. He looked up to meet the owner of the voice and froze. "Hi." Shadow felt himself at a sudden loss for words. His mind raced about anything he could say before automatically discarding it without a second thought. "I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. A pleasure to meet you." She said, a big dumb smile plastered on her face.

Nightshadow forced his stubborn muscles to smile. "Nightshadow. A pleasure to meet you ma'am." He said, trying to retain his composure and regain his thoughts.

"So... What brings you two to Ponyville?" She said, tilting the head towards a still-laughing Shade.

Thinking on his hooves, Shadow quickly fabricated a story. "My sister and I are traveling through Equestria. We thought we'd stop here for a while and get our bearings." Nightshadow thought of something else to say, hoping to change the subject; diverting it from himself and his sister. "Twilight Sparkle? You wouldn't happen to be the Princess' personal protégé, would you?"

Twilight blushed heavily. Nightshadow noticed her rubbing one of her forehooves on the other. "Yeah, he he he. That's me... so...." Twilight stared off into space, deep in thought. 'Why does he seem so... familiar?' "When did you guys get into town?"

"Not too long ago. Why do you ask?" He said, hoping that she would actually buy it.

"No reason... Just curious."

Nightshadow's smile grew wider. 'Liar.' She was good at it too. But that raised the question ‘What is she trying to hide?’

She gave him a warm smile. "Well, if you ever need anything, my friends and I will be glad to help!" Twilight was going to say something else, but she saw Rarity, frantically waving at her, signaling to come over. "I have to go. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Yeah... sure." With a light nod she trotted off.

'Well that was an... awkward first meeting. Still, she has a really nice smile...' Twilight’s stupid grin was now plastered onto his face. Shadow noticed another pony coming his way, a red earth stallion. His eyes lingered towards the crowd as he approached Nightshadow. Big Mac came up close and sat next to Nightshadow.

Both were silent for a few moments.

"Uh... Hi?" Shadow said tentatively, already tired of all the awkward moments the party brought and was still sure to bring.

"Howdy." Silence, again. Nightshadow shifted uneasily.

"Uh... do you need something?" He said in his most polite ‘go away’ tone.

"Eeenope. Just figure' Ah'd meet tha’ guests o’ honor." He stuck out his hoof. "Macintosh is mah name. But everpony aroun’ here calls me Big Mac."

Nightshadow shook his hoof. "Nightshadow. You can call me Shadow if you want." He grimaced from the realization of whom he was talking to. "Oh, you’re that stallion my sister tripped..."

"It's alright. Like Ah’ said, was gittin’ dull around here." He said, shrugging.

Nightshadow was confused to say the least, but decided it would be best not to say anything. He didn't want to provoke anypony. More moments of awkward silence passed, each pony just eyeing the dancing ponies.

"So, what are you an...” Big Mac said, poking his head with his forehoof. “What's ‘er name again?" He pointed towards a wildly-dancing Nightshade.

"Nightshade." He said between gritted teeth. Macintosh smiled, if only for a fraction of a second, but Nightshadow saw it perfectly.

"Right. So what are y’all doin’ here in Ponyville?"

"At the moment just passing through." He paused before adding. "But this is a really nice town you have here. We might stay for a while..." Nightshadow watched the stallion, trying to gauge his reaction. He was doing a good job of maintaining a neutral expression, but his eyes betrayed something for a moment. He couldn't tell for sure, but it almost seemed as though he was relieved.

"Y'all just get inta’ town?" Shadow nodded. "An’ y'all got a place ta’ stay for the night?" Shadow considered the question and the stallion’s intentions for a moment. 'How odd...'

"Thanks for the offer, but we're fine." Macintosh nodded. Shadow detected a slight hesitation, but resigned in just watching his reactions without prying into his mind.

"If y’all need anythin’, just head over to our farm out by Sweet Apple Acres." Nightshadow winced. Of course, he was an Apple. Nightshadow silently berated himself for not noticing the thick accent and the apple related cutie mark.

"I'll be sure to remember that." They both shook hooves again and Macintosh headed off into the crowd again.

Nightshade sighed. Shadow had made her promise not to do anything too ‘funny’ while they were here. She hadn't done anything fun since Rainbow's prank, which she later decided wasn't really fun and that it was something she was never going to do ever again.

At least, not to Rainbow.

'Why don't you turn the punch bowl into acid? That's sure to liven the place!' Nightshade giggled, “Now that is a sugg-“

'No! You promised your brother not to hurt anypony while we're here! You almost hurt them with that last one, and drinking acid can't be safe! '

Shade frowned and looked towards the floor, ashamed for even thinking about something like that.

'Oh don't be like that! I say, nuts to Shadow! Let's set the decor on fire! Let's turn that alligator into a hydra! Make somepony scream! Afraid! Terrified! Do something that's not so... dull... '

'And then Shadow will hate you and leave you alone again. You don't wanna be alone, do you Shade?'

'What good is a brother if he won’t let you have any fun?'

'What good is having fun if your brother isn't here to have fun with you?'

"Just shut up!" She screamed aloud. A few ponies that stood within hearing range gave her some odd looks, silently questioning her sanity. The voices were rather loud tonight. And talkative.

'They always will Shade. None of them know what you are... show them!'

"No! I can't, Shadow will get mad!"

'What exactly are you to h-'

'Why don't you go outside and look at the stars? That always calms you down. ' A new voice interjected. It was different than the usual voices she heard, new actually. It sounded calm. Collected. It seemed to echo too, as if it was speaking from a long distance.

For some reason, it sounded reasonable.

"I think... that sounds like a good idea." She made her way past the guests and out the door, completely forgetting the mental dilemma she had with ‘herself’ earlier.

Shade felt tired. Really tired. She ceased putting energy into the illusion spell, growing taller as her wings burst forth from her sides in a flurry of feathers. She felt the glasses hiding her eyes slip off her face, but didn't bother to put keep them on or pick them up. She stood basked in the bright moonlight, wings outstretched, looking towards the sky with a genuine smile on her face.

Big Mac was getting tired of this. Tired of all the noise and fuss that came with a large party.

"Ey sis?" He began. Applejack turned from her friends to address him. "Ah’m goin’ out for a bit."

She smiled at her brother. "Jus don’ go anywhere! Pinkie'll have your hide if y'all try ta’ skip out on ‘er party." Mac nodded and trotted out the door.

As he was leaving he saw the unicorn mare with her back turned, head tilted towards the sky. She seemed to be deep in thought. Macintosh carefully closed the door behind him and began to move towards the unicorn when her horn began to glow in a black aura that seemed to drain what little light there was from her surroundings.

'Magic... right, stand back Mac. Don’ wanna get caught up in whateve-' His thoughts came to a screeching halt as wings seemingly came into existence and exploded from the mare's back. This caused his brain to send the signal to the rest of his body to jump. Macintosh just barely managed to suppress a yelp. The wings seemed to stiffen for a bit before straightening out. They flapped a few times, then stood motionless at her sides, still unfurled. Her mane grew out, although not by much. Mac could have sworn that it moved by itself. It was also sparkling, as though there were little stars trapped in her mane.

He looked upon the unicorn now turned Alicorn. The glasses she was wearing at the party had slipped off, revealing Shade's true eyes to him. The slits were still deeply focused up at the sky. His heart pounded inside his chest. His brain told him to run and to stay put at the same time. The sight of the mare looking at the night, smiling, was one of the most beautiful and terrifying things Macintosh had ever seen.

'That... that don’ make a lick a sense...' Mac thought, his brain desperately trying to process something that up until now he thought wasn't possible. He tried to form a sentence within the confines of his shock ridden mind.

"H- how... w- wha’..." Nightshade jolted up and turned to face the source of the voice. It was the stallion from earlier.

"Can't a mare have some privacy!? Sheesh..." She said, frowning. Then, in a rare moment of clarity, Shade realized the situation she was in. Nightshadow told her what would happen if anypony saw what they really looked like. They would have to leave Ponyville. She was having so much fun here. She had made friends here. And now they were going to have to leave.

All because of him.

"M- Miss Shade?" Macintosh said, stuttering from a mixture of awe and fright. Nightshade began to slowly step backwards. A part of her wanted to run as far away as she could. Another part wanted her to get Shadow and ask him if maybe he could fix this.

'I know how you could fix this... ' One of the voices said. Shade sighed, they wouldn't be leaving her alone tonight. They never did. 'Just kill him.' Nightshade froze. She began to shake her head rapidly. "No! No no no, I told you a long time ago I wasn't going to do that ever again!"

"Miss Shade? Ya’lright?" Macintosh asked, his fear being replaced with concern. Shade didn't seem to hear him.

'You don't have a choice now. If you don't, he'll tell everypony. And then you'll have to go forever.'

"I don't wanna leave..." Big Mac stood quiet, not knowing if he should say something.

'Then do it!'

"No!" Her voice rose, startling Macintosh. Nevertheless, the large red stallion remained silent, unsure what to do.

'Why Not?'

"Because I don't want to, okay?" Big Mac thought that enough was enough. He mustered all in himself to ask her the following question:

"Miss Shade? Who are y'all talkin’ to?"

'You mean Shadow doesn't want-'

"NO! I don't want to! You! You want to! You're the one who thinks killing is funny! Well I've got news for you! I don't wanna hear from you anymore! Get.Out.Of.My.Head." Nightshade emphasized each word.

She could feel the voice was still there, but it was silenced, for now.

Shade knew it would be back. She heard its feint sounds, scratching the back of her mind.

She had to go.

Macintosh stood still, unsure of whether he should move or what he should do with his movement. Something was seriously wrong with this mare, aside from the fact that she had wings and those eyes.

Then she did something Mac didn't expect. She began to cry. Macintosh didn't know what to do. He was utterly horrified that the creature would lash out at him at any moment, but at the same time, deeply concerned.

Nightshade looked up at him and grimaced, as though she had just noticed he was there. Then her face seemed to droop. She gave him a serious look and winced each time she spoke."I'm sorry... please... I don't wanna...my brother... don't tell anypony else... please." She seemed to struggle with each word. Before he could reply, Nightshade asserted her 'take off' stance and flew off into the sky, hoping to get as far away from the object of her hatred before the voice came back.

Macintosh stood there, looking in the direction she flew off in. 'Tha’ look 'n her eyes...' He could place where he had seen it, but the thought made him sick to his stomach.

Shadow was beginning to worry. He had looked for Shade in the crowd of ponies, but the only pony that he found that could remember her said that she looked like she was talking to herself before she left out the front door. 'The last time she did that...’ Nightshadow cringed. ‘I need to find her.'

He spotted Twilight talking to a rather tall pony wrapped in a thick black cloak. 'Maybe... oh no.' Was this Shade trying to scare Twilight? He calmly trotted towards the pair. He couldn't tell what they were talking about, but Twilight wasn't screaming and didn't look distressed. In fact she seemed... happy to see the pony.

"Hey Twilight, I was wondering if-" His words cut off as the cloaked pony turned to face him. Both of their eyes narrowed on eachother, pupils shrinking in surprise and fear. Shadow felt an instinctual clench on his entire body.

"Oh! Hey Shadow! I was hoping to run into you again. I'd like you to meet my teacher; Princess Celestia!"

The princess' eyes narrowed onto him, and he did the same for her. A long, awkward silence hung in the air. Twilight gave the pair a very confused look. "Uh..." She tried to think of something to break the silence, ending the uncomfortable non-vocalized tension.

"Hello, Nightshadow." Celestia said, keeping her tone as neutral as possible.

"Tia. Wonderful to see you again." Nightshadow said, doing the same, although with a hint of aggression in his voice.

Twilight was confused even more. "Uh... have you two met before?"

"Yes." They both answered in unison and kept staring deeply at each other. Silence again flooded through the trio. It wasn't an angry glare though. No, instead it was more akin to the frightened glare that the prey gives the predator before the predator pounces. Both watched each other, trying to figure out who would make the first move. Who would lash out first.

Nightshadow broke the silence. "Twilight, you haven't seen Shade around, have you?" He asked, eyes never leaving the princess’. He saw that her left eye twitched a bit at the mention of his sister’s name.

Twilight was still confused, but decided maybe it would be best if she didn't press the subject now. She made a mental note to ask both Shadow and Celestia about it later. "I think I saw her leaving a while ago. I'll tell Pinkie that something came up, though I should warn you that she probably won't forget about this. She'll probably throw another party, and this time it really will be a surprise one."

He broke the piercing gaze and turned to face Twilight. He gave her a warm smile. "I can't wait. I'll see you all later, say goodbye to everypony else for me, will you?"

"No problem, Shadow. See you around!" Twilight was a bit saddened at his leave, but glad that the awkwardness between him and Celestia would cease. Nightshadow began to move away from the two. 'I do hope I see her again.' He felt Celestia's eyes linger on him as he trotted out the door.

Celestia had arrived full of hope. There were things she never got to say to the two, things that she needed to say. She was surprised how well her sister's cloak managed to hide her identity, and even more surprised to see one of the twins. He even seemed to know Twilight.

After Nightshadow left, the two remaining ponies talked for a while. Celestia shifted the conversation’s topic swiftly whenever Twilight asked her about Shadow. Twilight resented this, acknowledging that she wouldn’t be able to outsmart the princess. She began to talk about some of the recent events in Ponyville. When Celestia heard about the creature Twilight saw, the black Alicorn in the woods, she had to suppress a smile.

But in the back of her mind, she knew something was wrong.

She could feel it in the air. As though a great pressure or weight was pushing on her mind and body. Figuring it had something to do with her recently reappearing nephew; she turned to her student to wish her goodbye. "I'm afraid some urgent business just came up, and I will have to leave you for the night. I'll write to you on the subject of the creature you saw later. Take care, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight was saddened for a moment, but that quickly wore away into a trusting smile. Much to Twilight's confusion, Celestia did not just teleport back to the castle, but instead began to walk out the door.

Nightshadow left the party, fully expecting Celestia to follow him out. What he did not expect was Big Mac, who was staring off in a seemingly random direction in the night sky.

"Yer kin needs ya’." He said, without looking at Shadow.

"Shade?"

"Gone. Ah’ don't know what's happened, an’ frankly Ah'm not sure Ah’ want ta’... but she seem'd hurt. Like..." He hesitated. Big Mac shook his head slowly from side to side. "She got tha' look my ma gave me when she knew she was dyin'. Like she was holdin’ on as long as she could, but couldn' keep hangin' on fer much longer..." Nightshadow didn't respond, but he knew what Macintosh was talking about. He nodded to Shadow. "Ah’ think tha’ she needs her kin right now." Shadow nodded back.

Big Macintosh got up and slowly walked home, wondering what might happen to these two ponies he barely knew. Wondering if that mare would still be here tomorrow, laughing for one reason or another. He wasn’t that shocked when he finally accepted that she was an Alicorn. ‘It just add more to ‘er... beauty...’ Halfway to Sweet Apple acres, he sighed and turned around.

'Why's it always tha’ crazy ones with you?!'

Nightshadow stood outside the pastry shop alone, deep in thought. Had Shade really been that far gone? Shadow remembered times where he heard her... talking to herself. "Maybe... maybe this is my fault." He thought aloud. "I told her not to do anything rash at the party. She must have been going crazy! And then I let her come out here alone I... I should never have left her alone." He looked up to the night sky and sighed. “I failed you again, Shade...”

He didn't notice the cloaked pony trotting up beside him. "Hello little one." Celestia said.

Shadow felt the kindness in her voice. He sighed once more. "This is not what I expected to happen if we were to meet again." He said as he lifted his disguise. He grew slightly as his wings revealed themselves, much like his sister's had. He focused his magic on the glasses for a moment before spiriting them away. "Nice to see you again, 'aunt' Tia." He said, trying his hardest not to lash out.

"And Shade? Where is she?" Nightshadow looked up at her. Even though he had grown since they last met, she was still much taller than him. Celestia looked into his crimson eyes and understood immediately. "It finally happened, didn't it?"

"I'm... hopeful that's not the case." Shadow said, voice bordering doubt.

"We both knew that those memories could resurface in her at any time. Discord's meddling did not help her state of mind."

"I suppose we should gather the Elements..."

"We can't separate her from Shade like we could from Luna. When she was young, maybe, but now those memories are far too intertwined with her being. They are a part of who she is. I'm afraid the Elements would be useless to us..." Celestia stopped before she mentioned what Nightshadow dreaded.

Sensing her sudden shift, he raised an eye. "So what do you suggest we do?" Celestia did not reply. She simply looked solemnly up at the night sky her sister had decorated. Realization dawned on Shadow, and with it he shot a look of disgust at Celestia. "You can't seriously be suggesting..." Celestia's silence answered his question. "No."

"Shadow, we may not have a choice..." She started but Shadow would have none of it.

"Over. My. Dead. Body." He spat at her, tensing his muscles should Celestia try anything.

She simply sighed, recognizing that she was not going to get anywhere with him on that particular course of action."What do you suggest then?"

Nightshadow’s rage dissipated as looked up at the sky, trying to see the answer. He was now addressing the stars themselves. ‘What should I do? What can I do?’ Shadow thought about all the possibilities at hand. None seemed fruitful. "I... I don't know. Maybe get the Elements and try anyway, maybe I can talk her out of it. You almost did with Luna. Maybe... I don't know.” Silence returned between the two. "Perhaps..." His horn glowed and a saddlebag materialized out of thin air. He looked inside and checked; all four of them were still there. All four of them glowed with a dark power, an evil not from this world.

"Those... are not what I think they are, are they?" Shadow nodded. "That wouldn't help us here. You know that."

"They worked on you, didn't they?" Shadow said in a mocking tone.

"That was different! That was mind control!" Celestia scowled.

"I used it to separate the elements from you... maybe... maybe I could use it to separate her from Nightshade..."

Just then, Macintosh came into view, slowly trotting up to the other two. He noticed Celestia, and of course the fact that Nightshadow was an Alicorn now too, but didn't really care. At this point, nothing really surprised him anymore. "It wasn' right o’ me to jus’ walk off... Ah’m willin’ ta’ help anyway Ah’ can."

Nightshadow was surprised at the stallion's sudden offer, but that surprise quickly faded. The gears in his mind began to turn, working out possible solutions. He placed his hoof under his chin, deep in thought.

Celestia looked at him, at first with confusion, then smiled knowingly. Nightshadow looked at her with the same smile.

"I have a plan..."