Rise of Shadows

by Weeping Angel

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance
Length: 4118

Nightingale is done. For years the Shadowbolts have been ignored, but no more. Nightingale will lead the Shadowbolts to victory. For this is the Rise of the Shadows.

Nightingale will do anything to get the Shadowbolts into Equestria, even if it means defying her leader, Princess Luna. Too long they have been ignored, but no more. No, Nightingale will lead the Shadowbolts to victory, no matter which ponies she has to betray to get there.

Night Shade must help her mistress. It is her duty to protect their leader and the mysterious City of Shadows all her immortal life. It was all she ever knew, and ever known. But when she is captured by peculiar ponies from the land of Equestria, she notices how…great the Equestrians really are. Even the Shadowbolts' enemies, the Wonderbolts, appeal to Night Shade, and she finds herself falling in love with a pony named Soarin. But there is something peculiar about this country of Equestria. Something…familiar. Was Nightingale hiding something?
For this is it. This is the retribution they have been waiting for.
This is the Rise of Shadows.

This story is told by two perspectives, the perspective of Night Shade and the perspective of Nightingale.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-23 14:43:58 UTC

Chapter One: An Enemy Awakens

Nightingale paced around the Everfree Forest unhappily. Night Shade sighed.

"Mistress, you really must stop fretting," she told Nightingale.

"Fretting? This. Is. War. We have no time for fretting."

Night Shade sighed, done with her mistress's antics. She had been like this for three weeks already, planning her attack. But for some reason she never got farther then getting out of the Everfree.

"I... I just don't know what to do!" Nightingale sighed, exasperated.

Suddenly a crashing noise sounded through the Everfree. Night Shade and Nightingale tensed, searching for the source of the sound.

"Whee!"

Night Shade stepped in front of Nightingale. "Stand back, my lady," she told her.

With a crash of leaves, a pink pony with a pink mane fell in front of the ponies.

"Hehehehe!" she said. "That was fun!"

Night Shade gasped, intrigued, as the pink pony stood up.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" said the pink pony.

"Pinkie, where are you?" a different voice sounded from the trees.

No. There mustn't be anypony coming here. One outsider was enough, and Night Shade knew it. "My lady," she warned Nightingale, "we must disappear."

Nightingale nodded, not taking her eyes of the pony. "You're right, Night Shade. You distract the ponies while I sound the warning bell. We must be out in seconds. I'll wait for you in the trees, and then we can go back to Shadow City. Got that?"

Night Shade nodded, waving her mistress off. "Go, I'll take care of them."

Nightingale saluted her and flew off, just as five more ponies came crashing through the trees and shrubs.

"Oh, hello there," said a purple pony. This pony was...peculiar, in sorts. She had wings and a horn, just like the Queen. Night Shade must have looked either disgusted or awed because the pony just said: "it's fine, miss. We aren't going to hurt you."

Right. As if that simple pony could hurt a Shadowbolt. The Shadowbolts could literally disappear in shadows, allowing them to "shadow travel" to a different location. Plus, the Shadowbolts could fly at the speed of light, without creating a sonic rainboom alerting the enemy. It was a real advantage.

An orange one stepped next to the purple one.

"You don't say much, do ya?"  she said.

Night Shade stared.

"Oh! We forgot to introduce ourselves!" The purple one said, clapping her hooves together. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Applejack," she pointed to the orange one, "this is Pinkie Pie," she pointed to the pink one, "Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash."

The next three stepped next to the others. Night Shade gasped. Rainbow Dash...where had she heard the name?

Oh. That's right. Rainbow Dash had ignored Nightingale's offer to be a Shadowbolt. She was a major enemy in Shadowbolt kind. They didn't need a goody-goody.

Lightning flashed. That was the warning sign for Shadowbolts to return to Shadow City. In the distance, using her amazingly sharp vision, Night Shade could see the Shadowbolts ascending into the air, disguised as storm clouds.

Night Shade smirked at the six ponies and ascended as well, accelerating her speed.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" yelled out Rainbow Dash, flying up too.

Night Shade didn't answer. Rainbow Dash could never get to her speed. She was the fastest Shadowbolt of them all.

She was bent on getting to Shadow City, where she would hopefully meet up with her brother, Nightlock. Then they'd eat at the cafe and meet up with Nightingale to help her with whatever she needed.

But Rainbow Dash was at her tail. This was shocking, until Night Shade realized that this was the pony who had made a sonic rainboom only years before.

Night Shade's hopes dropped farther then the ground. She could not lead Rainbow Dash to Shadow City. That would mean revealing the location of her home, which she had sworn to protect for her entire life.

Night Shade gulped back a silent apology to Nightingale and swerved downwards, feigning blacking out. As her eyes shut, she could feel Rainbow Dash's hooves wrap around her to keep her from falling.

"Whoa, there, partner!" said what sounded like Applejack.

Night Shade felt rays of sunshine beam down on her. It was dawn already, which explained why she felt so tired. Soon, the tiredness washed over her, and she fell asleep.

~~~~~~

Night Shade jolted awake, her head banging against the headboards of the bed she was in.

"Hey, you're awake!" said Pinkie Pie, her big pink head looming over Night Shade.

Night Shade grunted.

"HEY GUYS, SHE'S AWAAAAKE!" Pinkie Pie yelled, alerting the other five ponies.

"Oh, darling, are you alright?" said the white one that was supposed to be Rarity.

Night Shade grunted again. Her throat was on fire, and her reptile-like eyes were sensitive to all the light.

"Oh, dear," said Rarity. Her mouth dropped. "Darling, what happened to your eyes?"

At first, Night Shade didn't know what she meant. Her eyes were always like this. Then she realized that the other ponies had different eyes then herself. It seemed weird.

Night Shade shook her head at Rarity. She refused to speak to these disgusting ponies.

''Well, she's not very talkative today," Rainbow Dash said.

Night Shade gave her a look of pure hatred. It was all her fault this was happening!

Oh, stars. Nightlock. Oh, poor Nightlock. He must think she's dead. Oh no...oh no...

But how could she get back to Shadow City? She had no possible idea where it was now. The only option was...

"Take me to the Queen," Night Shade ordered the ponies.

They looked at her with concern.

"My dear," Rarity told her, "there hasn't been a queen in thousands and thousands of years."

"No, there is. The Queen, she lights the way for us. She lives, she reigns, she protects, she creates. She is the reason we live, and she is the reason we die. Our Queen means everything to us. I must find her."

Applejack shook her head. "Sorry, sugar cube, but there is no queen. We have princesses though. If yer lookin' for one of those, you've come to the right place." She pointed to Twilight. "Here's our very own Princess Twilight!"

Twilight blushed. "Yes, I am a princess. Whatever I can do for you, I will-"

"No, you are not the Queen," Night Shade interrupted.

Twilight looked perturbed. Obviously she was too full of herself to admit that she was not the Queen.

"What does she look like?" asked Fluttershy. It was the first time she actually spoke to Night Shade, and she liked it better when she was silent. Her voice had so much sweetness to it, which made it hard to listen to her.

"Like the Night, and the Moon, and everything precious to us," Night Shade told them.

"Us? Who's us?" Rainbow Dash interjected.

"That is classified information," Night Shade replied.

"Hey! That sounds like Princess Luna!" said Pinkie Pie, who was eating cupcakes in a corner of a room.

"Princess?!" Night Shade yelled out. This was unacceptable. "She is a Queen! One of a kind! The ruler of the WORLD!!"

"Whoa, there, partner. You don't have to yell!" Applejack interrupted.

"But this is my LIFE!!! She is a QUEEN!!! She must be ACCEPTED!"

"Okay, okay, Queen Luna!"

Night Shade tensed. "I just want to find her. Please. Let me find my Queen."

Rarity gasped. "Who says we weren't going to help you find her? Right, everypony?"

A chorus of pony voices echoed through the room, agreeing with the unicorn.

"I...um," Night Shade started to say. Instead of finishing, Rarity levitated the pegasus and started to trot outside. Oh, stars.

Chapter Two: Flight of the Shadows

Where the hay was Night Shade? Nightingale paced the council room, where Nightlock was huddled in a corner, shaking.

Wow. A fake brother crying for his fake sister. It sickened Nightingale to think such miniscule ponies could love each other in the way they did. Love was weird. And stupid.

Five thousand years ago, Nightingale fell in love. But what did he do to her? Threw her out the door and fell in "love" with the next prettiest unicorn.

Nightingale liked to think she was doing Night Shade a favor, stealing her away from her "boyfriend" four years ago. Oh stars, what the hay would she do if Night Shade found out about her life?

No, she mustn't think about it. Soon, Night Shade will return, laughing at the fun she had scaring the hay out of some Equestrians.

This will all be over soon.

But will it? Those six ponies that met her and Night Shade seemed stupid enough, but will they figure it out? That they were the Shadowbolts? And would they figure out their planned attack on the Wonderbolts?

Ugh. Those puny flyers disgusted Nightingale.

'Oh, look at me, I'm a pretty red flyer who farts smoke while we fly in a goose formation!'

"Oh, Nightingale, what are we going to do?" Nightlock wailed from the corner.

"Nothing, you ninny," she told him, "and stop crying, you little bitch. You're bringing shame to the Shadowbolts."

Nightlock sniffled, perturbed by the insults. But this was how Nightingale was, mean, crude, and well, a bitch.

This was the way the Queen paved her. This was the way she would mold all Shadowbolts. Nothing would stop them.

"Gather the Shadowbolts," Nightlock told her.

Nightingale chuckled. "You, my stupid minion, have no right to tell me what to do. You are nothing compared to me, so don't waste my time with your silly antics."

"I came here because I needed your help to find her, my sister!"

"Well too bad!" Nightingale told him, making him cower.

"I'll go now," said Nightlock, starting to inch his way out.

"You may not leave my presence."

Nightlock scoffed. "You are a dictator, nothing else. You do not deserve to lead us, the Shadowbolts. You should be overthrown."

As fast as lightning, Nightingale slammed against Nightlock, causing him to crash into the wall. Nightingale put her elbow to Nightlock's throat, choking him.

"Talk like that, and I'll cut out your tongue," she warned him.

Nightingale let go of Nightlock, and he gagged as he sagged to the ground.

"You're...the devil," Nightlock gasped out, and Nightingale smiled at him.

"Yes, yes I am," Nightingale replied, slapping him with her tail.

~~~~~~

Nightingale didn't care about anypony. What they said, what they did. But when the Shadowbolts talked about rebelling against her? Well, drastic measures were taken.

Nightlock was a ticking time bomb. And when he blew up, Nightingale would do what she needed to do to protect her rule.

Even if it means lying to her star Shadowbolt.

Even if it means...death.

She never liked Nightlock. Only kept him around because she wanted Night Shade to stay faithful.

Night Shade was never supposed to leave Nightingale's watch. Her past was too important. Too vital to Nightingale's war.

And now she was gone. Gone into Equestria, the very place Nightingale has sworn to protect her from. That place was evil. Equestria revolted against the Queen. Turned her into the thing known to Shadowbolts as Her Imperial Majesty.

Nightingale walked around Shadow City, oblivious to the ponies cringing around her.

Suddenly a pony tapped on Nightingale's shoulder. Turning around, she saw it was Cinder, a pegasus who had a crush on Night Shade since she came here four years ago.

"Is it true?" he asked her. "Is Night Shade really gone?"

"Yes, Cinder. It is," replied Nightingale in a monotone.

He scoffed. "Then we have to find her! Send out three pegasi and bring her home!''

"No, Cinder. It isn't safe. Besides, Nightlock has already asked me that question."

"Then let me and Nightlock go. It'll be two ponies. Just two to find her."

The love in his eyes disgusted Nightingale. She would have to whoop it out of him during training.

"No, Cinder. She is the best flyer in the Shadowbolts. She will be fine on her own, and if she has any sense, she will find the Queen. But for now, we must plan the attack on the Wonderbolts."

Cinder's eyes looked like they were about to shoot lasers. "If four thousand Shadowbolts can go at once, why can't one or two to look for a pony?"

Nightingale's anger grew. What was the real reason? So they wouldn't find out about their past as well? So they'd be faithful to Nightingale?

"Because I said so," Nightingale ordered, her voice like lava. "Now, if you have any sense at all, you will leave now."

Cinder shook his head at her. "You will never change, will you?'' he said, flying off.

No, stupid colt. If she did change, her power over them would falter. She would become a mindless zombie Shadowbolt, under the rule of another.

For she was evil. She embraced the evil inside.

She was the one who advised the Queen a thousand years ago.

She was the cause of the menace called Night Mare Moon.

And Nightingale loved it.

~~~~~~

Zelda nodded to Nightingale as she entered the apartment complex. Instead of houses, each Shadowbolt, unless you wanted to live with another, would get an apartment. Zelda was the "real estate agent" of Shadow City, and she lived in the same complex as Nightingale.

"So, Miss Scowls-A-Lot," Zelda greeted Nightingale, "did you have a nice day?"

Nightingale returned the greeting by saying, "well, Mother, I didn't have a 'nice day'. Thank you for asking."

Zelda was the only pony who ever talked back to Nightingale. She was the first Shadowbolt chosen by Nightingale, thousands and thousands of years ago.

Nightingale ignored Zelda a lot. It was the only way to actually be able to live with her.

"Nightingale, I heard Night Shade was taken today. I'm sorry to hear that."

She grunted in response. Zelda wasn't a particularly bad pony. She was spirited and had a lot of spunk. And, she wasn't afraid to talk back, despite the consequences.

But she always knew her place.

Never questioned authority. Sort of like a filly.

"If you want, a few of us can go searching for her," Zelda inquired.

"You have no idea how many bucking ponies have asked me that today."

"Then you should allow it.''

"No, Zelda! It's too dangerous!"

"Oh, come on. She's your star. Your assistant. Your lackey, whatever. You should let Nightlock go, or Cinder or Stratus or somepony."

Nightingale sighed. Did Night Shade mean something to her? Or was she just a prized trophy?

"Fine," she finally told her. "You go, Cinder, and Stratus. Don't let Nightlock go. I have something special planned for him."

Chapter Three: The Real Enemy

Night Shade sighed as Rarity fussed over her, pulling on dresses and trinkets and bows. Totally not her style.

"Remind me why we're doing this again, Frilly," she asked her.

"Rarity, sweetie."

"Oh. Yeah, sorry."

"It's fine, sweetie. The answer to your question is you can't go meet the Princess-"

"Queen."

"-looking like this!"

"What's wrong with the way I look?" asked Night Shade, not angry but intrigued.

"Oh, well...it's just bland," replied Rarity, a look of pity on her face.

Rarity fumbled over her dress. Finally, she pulled off the dress, sighing exasperatingly.

The dress tugged over her head, and Night Shade felt something snag.

"Oh! You didn't tell me you had a necklace!" Rarity said in awe.

Necklace? Night Shade didn't remember any necklace.

Looking down, she realized it was one Nightingale had given her years ago. It was a pair of wings connecting to a lightning bolt, a symbol of flight for pegasi everywhere.

"Oh, well, it was from a friend," Night Shade told her, careful to hide Nightingale's identity.

"Oh!" Rarity said. "I must incorporate this beautiful necklace into the design! Oh, the ideas I have now!"

Rarity began to fuss with some fabric, murmuring to herself about fashion trends and such.

"You can go, dear," she told Night Shade, who stepped off the chair and started to walk outside.

Outside, the sun burned Night Shade's skin. She flew upwards, and sat on a cloud. She sat there for a few minutes, laying on the softness of it.

"Look out below!" A voice sounded from the sky, and it was none other then Rainbow Dash, crashing from the heights.

She slammed into the cloud, causing Night Shade to stagger back a bit.

"Hey, Night Shade!" said Rainbow. "I have the most amazing awesome-est amazingly amazing news!" She stopped for a bit to catch her breath. "Princess Celestia has given us seven tickets to see the Wonderbolts in Canterlot!"

"Wha...What?"

"I know right! So while we're there, we can see the Wonderbolts perform live, and the best part is..." she stopped again to emphasize the "awesome-ness", "that we have a BACKSTAGE PROMOTION TO SEE THE WONDERBOLTS!"

"Wh...when?"

"TOMORROW!"

All of Night Shade's conscience told her not to go. To fly away real far away from this place, and never speak of this again.

But if she saw the Wonderbolts, she could tell Nightingale all about it when she returned.

So, against her better judgment, she agreed to the hopelessly ridiculous notion.

~~~~~~

Night Shade had never been on a train before.

She had also never been on a train with Equestrians.

But yet, there was so much nostalgia coming here, in the train, feeling the wind beneath your mane, listening to ponies chatting.

Rarity tapped Night Shade's shoulder.

"Darling, I have a surprise for you," she said, pulling out a suitcase (one of four, and Rarity claimed she "packed light"). "I was up all night trying to make a fashion that suited you, you know, for the show. I made a different one for all of us, but yours was the most creative, and it made me think for a while." She levitated a gown out of her bag.

Night Shade gasped. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It sparkled like the night, had hints of moons on there to match her colors, but the design was the prettiest. It was an elegant fit, and it had a few patterns of the necklace she had.

"I...It's beautiful, Rarity," Night Shade told her, her eyes tearing up.

"I'm so glad you like it, darling. We will all look amazing for the show."

Suddenly the train came to a halt, beckoning everypony to get off. The seven ponies got off the train, chatting in excitement with each other.

"How long until the show?" Twilight asked Rainbow.

"Three hours," she replied.

"Great! Just enough time for makeup and hair and everything!" Rarity sighed, clapping her hooves together.

The ponies started to murmur excitedly again, while Rarity led them to a friend's salon, where they would pamper the seven.

"Ah, Rarity, my dear!" cried out Hoity Toity when he saw them. He walked up to Rarity and kissed her cheeks in a way that would only really happen in Manehattan.

"Oh, darling, you look splendid! Is that a new shampoo I smell?"

"Why it is! I'm so glad you noticed!"

Applejack looked nervous. "Great. Now there are two of 'em?"

"I think it's nice Rarity has a friend like her," Fluttershy cut in, her voice barely a whisper.

~~~~~~

The two friends talked the entire time the salon ponies fussed about their hair and such.

Rainbow Dash looked bored, checking the clock every two minutes. Suddenly she leaned closer to Night Shade. "Are you excited?"

Night Shade nodded. "Yeah, I can't wait! I've never seen the Wonderbolts perform before!" But something seemed so...normal about going to see them perform, almost as if she had seen it before.

No, it was impossible. It might have just been remembering the Shadowbolts perform their daily flight patterns.

But was it?

After two hours, which zipped by very quick for Night Shade, the ponies were ready to head out, dressed in the beautiful gowns made for them by Rarity.

The Canterlot streets were bustling with ponies. It was populated by fancy mares trotting around shopping for the Summer Sun Celebration after party which would come in about a month, colts running around trying to keep up with the mares, and so on.

It was a wonderful sight. Shadow City was normally so depressed and run-down. This was the complete opposite. Happy, bustling, and modern!

The Wonderbolt stadium was bustling, too. Ponies were talking, laughing, and having fun with each other in the stadium.

Night Shade thought it was beautiful.

Suddenly a deep, sickening feeling destroyed her happiness.

She would have to go soon.

The Queen would most certainly send her back home as soon as she tells her the problem. Night Shade would never see these ponies, Canterlot, or the Wonderbolt stadium again (for surely Nightingale would never let her be in the rebellion after this). This will all be a dream, memories long gone.

Twilight Sparkle sat next to her, trying hard not to accidentally open her big wings. Rainbow Dash sat on the other side, trying hard not to scream from happiness.

Nightingale has it all wrong, Night Shade realized. These ponies, even Rainbow Dash, are amazing.

Rainbow Dash tapped Night Shade's shoulder. "They're starting!"

Sure enough, they were. The first three Wonderbolts stepped onto the stage. A bright orange one was holding a mike, and her voice boomed across the stadium.

"Welcome, welcome, everypony! As you know, I'm Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts. This is my co-captain, Soarin," she pointed to a colt standing next to her.

Night Shade squinted her eyes. She knew these ponies...all of them!

"Spitfire, Soarin, Blaze, Fire Streak, High Winds, Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, Rapidfire, Surprise, Silver Lining, Wave Chill, Fleetfoot..." Night Shade said unconsciously.

"Hey, how do you know all of their names?"

Night Shade snapped out of it. "I...I don't."

"Yes you do, you've just told me all of their names!"

"Um... I don't...Hey, look, they're starting!"

The Wonderbolts stood in a V-formation, ready to start flying. The whistle blew, and they took off, flying into the air. Night Shade couldn't believe her eyes. They were amazing! They flew into the air, turning at the same time, flying into oblivion.

The first ten minutes zipped by for Night Shade. Her wings unconsciously did little motions that she remembered from Shadow City, when Nightingale would teach her.

Night Shade was always the best at flying. Nightingale said it was "in her blood". Everything about flying made sense to Night Shade. It was led by pure instinct.

Then the mood changed as the first Wonderbolt went down. A flash of lightning zapped another, and she fell down too. Rainbow Dash screamed, lurching forward.

"No, Rainbow!" Night Shade told her, pulling her back. "Don't go, you'll just get hurt!"

"No! I have to help them!"

"YOU CAN'T, RAINBOW! AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO DOWN TOO!" Night Shade yelled to her. The emotions flooded her body, and she was filled with adrenaline. Rainbow would not go down the way that they did.

For Night Shade knew what made the lightning. What shot down Wonderbolts.

They had found her.

Introduction

We all know the story of the Shadowbolts. The equine heroine Rainbow Dash proved her loyalty when she rejected an offer from them. Everypony assumes they are evil, and in some ways, they are. But does everypony really know enough about these pegasi to assume anything?

The first of the Shadowbolts, Nightingale, was hoof-chosen by Princess Luna, or the Queen, five thousand years ago. Throughout the years, Nightingale has chosen pegasi to join her, taking up immortality and joining the ever-growing City of Shadows, or Shadow City, as natives call it.

These Shadowbolts would not only have the burden of immortality, but also have powers such as summoning the forces of nature, disguising themselves in storm clouds, amazing eyesight, and shadow travel.

But what Nightingale did to the poor pegasi was worst. She plucked them from their homes, wiped their memories, and ordered them to pledge allegiance to the New Lunar Republic. Nightingale herself was not all-powerful, though. Her biggest enemies, the Wonderbolts, have all the glory, not her wonderful flyers of the night.

Night Shade was one of the unlucky ponies to have their lives destroyed by Nightingale. Thinking she has been part of the Shadowbolts for thousands of years, Nightingale keeps her as her pet. She is her personal assistant, and the second most important Shadowbolt there is.

Night Shade has no idea who she is, besides that she has been working for Nightingale all of her life. She has looked up to Nightingale forever, but is she really a good role model?