Nearly weeks have passed since Midnight's arrival. Midnight spent most of his days simply heading into town and chatting. Other days he would visit Oracle near Everfree and walk along the forest paths with her. It seemed like Oracle was noticing something about Midnight, but he thought it was nothing. Oracle knew that Midnight had a crush on her; she just stayed quiet about it.

One day, Midnight and Oracle were heading towards Ponyville. They were heading to Sugarcube Corner to have something sweet. According to Midnight, it was for a special occasion. However on the way there they saw a group of several ponies, unicorns, and several Pegasus. Oracle and Midnight managed to get through, only to be blown by a cold blast of air. Oracle shivered, but Midnight covered her with his wing. Rainbow Dash landed in front of them.

"Hey Rainbow…what's going on?" asked Midnight.

Rainbow Dash turned quickly, "You won't believe this guy! There's this new Pegasus pony that has an amazing gift!"

Another cold blast of air rushed by them, slightly messing up some pony's manes. It was a black blur rushing towards the clouds. It shot straight through the cloud, but circled around and flew straight down. The blur then spun around quickly, creating a small tornado of snow. The white drift disappeared, causing everyone to gasp. A large sculpture made of ice was in place of the tornado. The sculpture was shaped like Princess Celestia. Everypony stomped their hooves in applause. The black figure landed on the ground and bowed. It was a male Pegasus, with a red mane that grew out a little. He had a snow crystal cutie mark on his side. One thing about this one was he seemed very buff in muscle build. He was also very tall; taller than Big Macintosh. His wings were much larger than that of Rainbow's, or his for that matter. All of the female ponies started to drool over him. The image of this pony hit Midnight's memory hard.

No…no…it can't be him…he's…he's…he's the one that tried to kill me!

Midnight slowly back away, trying to be unnoticed. Oracle saw his nervousness, and tried to see what was wrong. The black Pegasus noticed as well. He only had a glance, but he was the tips of bat wings and a few spikes before it ran out of view.

That wasn't…no…there's no way…is it really him…?

The Pegasus tried to get through, but the crowd was preventing him. Oracle managed to catch up to Midnight just before he bolted from town. Midnight was quivering with his wings blocking him and tears beginning to form. The very memory of that night now haunted his mind. Oracle was now worried about him. He seemed to be scared to death from something.

"Midnight…what's troubling you…?" she asked. "I've never seen you like this…"

Midnight continued to shiver in fear, never even answering his crush. Rainbow Dash landed beside them and looked just as concerned as Oracle. Midnight seemed to calm down, but he tensed up once again as he saw the black Pegasus approach. Without warning, Midnight bolted from his two friends, leaving them stunned.

"Excuse me…" said the pony. Both Oracle and Rainbow turned to greet him. "That strange looking pony wouldn't happen to be named Midnight…?" They nodded but still seemed confused. "My name is Shard. I'm like…an old friend of his. Do you know where I could meet him?"

As they discussed, Midnight finally arrived at his home. He slammed the door shut and quickly went onto his bed. Tears began to form in his eyes. "No…he couldn't have found me" he said. "I…I ran away…he ran away from me. Does he…does he really want to kill me? Is his desire for my death that great?"

A knock on the door silenced Midnight's thoughts. Midnight calmed himself down before heading to the door. Using his magic, he opened the door but regretted it completely. Standing there was the pony from before. Midnight forced the door closed, but one of Shard's legs blocked it from closing. Midnight stopped his magic and backed away fast. Shard was a lot different last time than what Midnight remembered. He was a lot bigger, taller, and mean looking. Midnight was backed into a wall. His wings were spread to protect himself if needed. Shard continued to approach him, but stopped after a few feet.

"It has been a long time Midnight…" he said. Midnight simply nodded at his remark. He was too scared of his death happening so soon that he didn't want to provoke him. "I have something for you…" he continued, "I've been trying to find you ever since that incident you had." Midnight's heart was in his throat.

W-W-What is it…was does he want? Revenge…anger…my death…? No…please tell me it's not that…

Another knock on the door caused Shard to turn around, "Oh…it must be that unique pony Oracle…" Midnight's heart beat faster, faster than ever before. His concern for her suddenly raised, his cutie mark strangely beginning to flash black. "I guess I will have to deal with her before I deal with you."

Those words instantly triggered something in Midnight's mind. All of the fear and sadness vanished from his mind. Instead, it was all replaced with anger. Complete raw anger. His wings moved from in front of his face to the sides of his body. His eyes went from a clear blue pupil to a blood red shade. No pupils were shown, only red anger. The spikes on his snout seemed to grow slightly and glow with a similar black energy. The black energy began to flow around Midnight's body and dissipate as it traveled up. His claws dug into the wood of his house by just standing there. Shard noticed the complete silence and turned. Now that memory haunted him, the death of his friends Boxer and Edge. But now, Midnight was angry at Shard.

"Whatever you did to Oracle…you will DIE for it!" yelled Midnight in a deeper voice. Midnight blasted a black concentrated beam of energy towards Shard. At the last second, Shard jumped out of the way. The blast hit the door and shattered it to pieces. Shard took the advantage and ran out of the house. Midnight had other plans for him. He followed suit, chasing him with greater speed than what he had. Once Midnight went outside, he immediately focused his magic around Shard. Shard was lifted into the air unable to move a single muscle. He was brought closer to Midnight, very close. Midnight raised his claws and grinned evilly.

Unknown to Midnight, Oracle was closer to being hurt by him instead of Shard. Oracle was concerned by what Shard did to Midnight in the past, so she followed him. He may not have seemed like it, but he was definitely sorry. Oracle sensed something evil in the area, so she hid behind the rock arch that Midnight's house had. She was surprised that the evil presence was actually Midnight. But this didn't seem like Midnight, it was something more evil.

"P-Please…! I didn't do anything to her!" pleaded Shard. Midnight simply chuckled, "You really expect me to believe that. After everything you and your friends treated me…you expect me to give you mercy…?" His claws extended as he raised them for a strike. "…I did…" replied Shard.

Midnight stopped his claw and stared at him in confusion. "I was the only one that stopped fighting you" Shard continued. "I wanted them to stop, you were cut and bleeding. I never expected them to go that far. Now that I look back at it, I am so ashamed of myself that I treated you like that. I…"

Midnight's magic slammed him against the ground, stopping him from talking. "Stop saying such lies!" shouted Midnight. "I would never believe you!"

"Would you believe me…?" asked a voice.

Midnight turned around in anger, but his anger drained from him. Standing behind him was Oracle. Her eyes were filled with sadness and concern, but there was one emotion that Midnight hated to see, fear. The evil transformation Midnight went through reversed, revealing regular old Midnight. Midnight looked at Oracle, seeing relief in her eyes. Midnight sighed as well, but didn't notice Shard rising behind him. Not only that, Oracle also talked to Twilight since she seemed to be the most reasonable pony to have around. Spike sat on her back with as much concern as everyone else.

"Please Shard…I don't want to get hurt…" said Midnight. "I'm sorry for…"

Shard stuck out his hoof gently towards Midnight. This was a sign of saying "no hard feelings." Midnight was hesitant, but he placed his claw beside his hoof and grasped it. They shook and Shard sighed.

"I'm glad you forgive me" he said. "I should have apologized to you years ago. Do you really forgive me?"

Midnight looked at the bigger and buffer Pegasus pony actually asking him for forgiveness. It would have been strange either way they tried to do it. But, Midnight nodded, receiving a big relief from everypony. Midnight turned to Spike, who was now off of Twilight's back. "Spike…do you mind if I write another letter to the Princess…?" he asked.

"That's what I'm here for…" said Spike as he pulled out a quill and paper.

"Dear Princess Celestia" began Midnight. "Today, something unexpected showed up. I met a pony from my past that wasn't exactly the greatest memory. He wasn't the nicest pony to me as a colt, but he wasn't the meanest either. When I saw him today, I thought he was here just to bully me like when I was colt. But, he instead asked for my forgiveness from his harsh actions. When it comes to friendship, you may not know what to do. But just because somepony acts one way in the past, does not mean they will act the same in the future. From your loyal subject, Midnight."

Spike finished the letter, rolled it up, and breathed green fire onto it. The letter burned into smoke and flew into the air. "I still cannot say how sorry I am" Shard continued. As they walked towards Ponyville, Shard glimpsed at Midnight's bat-like wings. "You know…as long as I have known you…you have never used those wings…" Midnight looked back at them. It's true; he hasn't used them much, only to simply give him a boost when jumping. "You know what, I know a way to make it up to you" Shard continued. "I'm going to help you learn how to fly."