Later, at the castle in the Outlands, King Sombra appeared in front of Queen Chrysalis and the hooded pony.
“Well...” the hooded pony asked.
“I'm afraid they got away,” King Sombra explained in shame.
“WHAT,” the hooded pony shouted. He blasted King Sombra to the wall and stood over him. “I give you one simple thing.”
“Yes, it was simple,” King Sombra said, “But it would never have been easy.”
“Do not talk back at me,” the hooded pony growled. “I made you whole again and gave Chrysalis a home for her hive! I gave you both a second chance and I can take it away just as easy.”
The hooded pony walked away from King Sombra.
“What now,” Queen Chrysalis asked. “If Discord comes here, it's all over.”
“And that's not all,” King Sombra said. “He's being accompanied by Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Twilight,” Queen Chrysalis growled. “That's the Equestrian brat who exposed my plan!”
“Well, our enemies are growing in numbers,” the hooded pony said. “How's Princess Luna?”
“She's still not changing,” Queen Chrysalis said.
“Then we must move this to the gate,” the hooded pony. “Tell your Changelings to move the prisoner to the carts. Gather as many supplies as we need. When we go toward the gate, we'll come back with the darkest powers Equestria has ever known.”
None of them knew that below the room, Princess Luna was silent enough to hear the whole conversation.
“Gate,” Princess Luna asked herself. “What gate? Nevertheless, Twilight and Discord will never find me if I'm not in this castle.” She looked and saw her shadow. She sighed and bent herself down. Her horn glowed as soon as it touched her shadow. She drew her horn across a portion of her shadow. Soon, the cut part of the shadow was removed and floating from the ground. It grew eyes that glowed.
“Go and find Princess Twilight Sparkle and Discord,” Princess Luna said. “Find them and when they come to the Outlands, lead them to me.”
The shadow flew out of the window and into the border of the Everfree Forest. As soon as the shadow disappeared, a bunch of Changelings opened the door.
“Come on, 'your highness',” one Changeling said. “We're moving.”
“That was the worst place to teleport ever,” Twilight shouted when she walked out of the river soaking wet.
“Well, when you're going somewhere that can't be seen while running from an evil unicorn, you never think it's necessary to aim,” Discord said wiping himself with a towel. “And who knew we were going to fall into a river?”
“Well, what do we do now,” Flash Sentry asked pouring water from his helmet. “We lost all of our supplies in that train.”
“Not all of them,” Discord said. He pulled the fruitbowl from behind his back. “Mary Poppins, eat your heart out.”
“Who are you talking to,” Flash Sentry asked.
“Never mind,” Discord said. “Look, all we have to do is continue on north and Princess Luna will be just around the corner.”
“I hope you're right, Discord,” Twilight said. “Otherwise, this whole thing is going to smack us in the face.”
Suddenly, a black thing flew itself into Twilight's face. Twilight shook it off, but it fell on Flash's face. Flash shook it off, but it fell on Discord's face. Discord grabbed the top of his face and peeled it off. Discord's face was revealed to be covered.
“I covered my face with a fake face,” Discord said. “By Discord—patent pending.”
Suddenly, the black thing fell to the ground and shook itself. It shaped itself into the form of a pony. It spoke in a girl's voice.
“Hello,” the black pony said.
“What are you,” Twilight asked.
“Who, me,” the black thing asked. “I'm part of Princess Luna's shadow. My name is...” She stopped. “Oh, Princess Luna never gave me a name. Could any of you give me a name?”
“Um, all right,” Twilight said with nervousness. “How about...”
“OOH,” Discord asked. “What about Blackie?”
“Blackie,” Twilight asked.
“It's either that or Facejumper,” Discord said.
“Shade,” Flash Sentry said.
“What,” Twilight and Discord asked.
“Shade,” Flash said. “I think we should call her Shade.”
“Well... I like it,” Twilight said.
“Oh... all right,” Discord said.
“MY NAME IS SHADE NOW,” Shade exclaimed.
“Wait,” Twilight said. “Shade, did you say you came from Princess Luna?”
“Yes, I did,” Shade answered. “And she sent me to help you reach her.”
“I appreciate your determination, little one, but I doubt we need any help,” Discord said. “I know the Outlands like the back of my paw. We'll just find wherever they're holding the princess and get out without any problem.”
“Except that the bad guys are already moving the princess somewhere else in the Outlands,” Shade said. “They're taking her to some kind of gate.”
“What gate,” Discord asked. “I don't remember any kind of gate.”
“I've never heard of it,” Twilight said.
“Me neither,” Flash Sentry said.
“If this gate isn't documented,” Discord said, “Then what can you do to help us find the princess?”
“Being Princess Luna's shadow, I can be drawn to her like a magnet,” Shade said. “What do you say?”
“Well...” Discord said. “Oh, all right, kid. You can come.”
“If it will lead us to Princess Luna, we'll let you come along,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“I'm all right with it,” Flash Sentry said.
“HALLELUJAH,” Shade shouted. Suddenly, she broke out into a song.
“Follow me to adventure
Follow me to the edge of life
Follow me, and you'll know for sure
If we'll get through this alive
The trail continues across the bend
The trail goes further than the eye can see
Come and keep an eye out, my friends
All you have to do is follow me
Follow me to the end of the road
Follow me to see the future
Follow me so you can rest your load
So we can know you for sure
The trail continues across the bend
The trail goes further than the eye can see
Come and keep an eye out, my friends
All you have to do is follow me
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FOLLOW ME
ALL YOU HAVE TO DOOOOOO...
IS FOOOOOLLOOOOOOW... MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
Later that night, Flash Sentry yawned. No pony noticed it except for Twilight.
“I think we should rest for the night,” Twilight said.
“What,” Discord said. “Oh, Twilight, the Outlands are only 10 miles away from here. We can't stop when we're so close.”
“Discord, we have to sleep,” Twilight said. “We need allthe energy we can get if we're going to find Princess Luna tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Discord groaned. “I'll start the fire.” He snapped his claw and a campfire materialized in front of them all. “Let's just get comfortable and get to sleep. We'll save Princess Luna in the morning.”
Everyone shuffled themselves in the grass.
“Sorry you have to sleep like this, princess,” Flash Sentry said.
“Oh, it's all right,” Twilight replied nervously. “I used to sleep like worse. Huh.” She felt soemthing in her left wing. She extended it and a locket fell out from between her feathers. She opened it and saw a grown, female pegasus standing with a little, baby draconequus. “Uh, Discord, is this yours?”
Discord looked at the locket and panicked instantly. He swiped it from her and breathed heavily.
“Where did you get it,” he asked.
“From my wing,” Twilight said. “I guess it fell there when we fell in the river. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was Feather Gale in that locket.”
“Feather Gale,” Flash Sentry asked. “You mean THE Feather Gale? She was the greatest pegasus who did air tricks back in the day. I didn't know you knew about her.”
“Well, half of it is because of Rainbow Dash,” Twilight Sparkle. “The other half was that back then, she married the peace philosopher, Society Peace. I did a thesis on him back in magic school. Discord, did you know Feather Gale?”
“It was a long time ago,” Discord said nervously. “You see... Never mind. Forget it.”
“I GOTS TO KNOW,” Shade shouted.
“You're a loud, little sunspot, aren't you,” Discord said. “Fine. I know Feather Gale because...” Twilight, Flash, and Shade leaned in their heads to listen. “SHE'S MY MOM!”
Everyone paused and widened their eyes in surprise.
“Did she... adopt you,” Twilight asked.
“No,” Discord answered.
“Did she find you in the creek,” Flash asked.
“No,” Discord answered.
“Did she...” Shade asked.
“No, no, no,” Discord interrupted. “Feather Gale and Society Peace are my biological parents. I'm their blood son.”
“I don't understand,” Twilight exclaimed. “You're a draconequus and Feather Gale and Society Peace are pure ponies.”
“I know,” Discord said. “They could never figure it out. All right, if you keep quiet, I'll tell you my entire story beginning to end. It all started with my birth, which happened the day after the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies created Equestria.”