Nightshade

Nightshade awoke from a restless sleep; her mind had kept her busy with suspicions and conspiracies through the night. None of Lucky’s stories seemed to add up to her anymore; they all appeared to her to be lies and excuses.

She couldn’t help but be angry, but she knew that it wouldn’t do her any good to take it out on anypony besides Lucky. She decided that her daily walk through town with Misty would help to clear her mind for the time being, at least until she ran into him again.

She packed up her saddlebags with a few staple herbs and potions that she always liked to keep on hoof, along with a few other items. As she went to levitate the last of her things into the bags she brought one of the items, a slender object wrapped in a cloth, a bit closer to her face and pondered over it for a moment.

Probably shouldn’t... I don’t want to risk creating anymore controversy around myself.

Letting the item fall back down to her table, she loaded the rest of the items into her bag and headed for the door. She unlatched it and went to swing it open, only to have it bounce back shut abruptly. She heard something tumbling over, and the voice of a mare grunting. She opened the door again, this time a bit more cautiously, to see who it was.

A pegasus mailmare was clumsily lifting herself off the ground and brushing the dirt off her coat. Her muzzle was beginning to turn a reddish hue and starting to swell, and her eyes seemed to be a bit off-center from the impact. Despite her best efforts to clean herself off, when she stood back up she still had clods of dirt in her blonde mane. She looked up at Nightshade, blood starting to drip from her nostril, and produced a huge grin before speaking.

“Sorry! I guess I wasn’t paying attention; my bad!” she said almost gleefully.

Nightshade was somewhat shocked by the mailmare’s bubbly demeanor despite having just taken such a hit to the nose.

“B-but I was the one who-” Nightshade began in a whisper before being cut off.

“Anyway, here’s your mail! Bye-bye!” The mailmare produced a small package and laid it on the ground, then turned to fly off, whistling a happy tune.

Well that was... something.

Nightshade managed to regain her focus and looked at the package, seeing it was from the castle. She lifted it with her magic and shook it slightly, the jingling noise confirming its contents.

I guess it’s nice that the castle sends me both my supplies and my payments now but, I really do miss my evening excursions.

She recalled travelling back and to between Ponyville and Canterlot, the peaceful train rides, the castle. It was such a distant memory to her now, even though it had only been a few months ago. Despite not realizing it at the time, she enjoyed the sights and sounds of Canterlot, and seeing the posh ponies and royal guard at the castle.

It might be that she would never get to visit it again if the packages kept being delivered to her. There was no other reason for her to go besides for her deliveries, and she didn’t know anypony in Canterlot anyways.

She then recalled what she missed most of all. The serene beauty of the Everfree Forest, the sunset through the ruined archway, and the beams of moonlight shining through the treetops at dusk. Most ponies didn’t recognize the allure of the Everfree as she did; most avoided it out of fear.

The ruined castle in the heart of the forest had always been the most beautiful part, with its array of plant life and its echoes of times long forgotten. If she could just go back there, she thought, she might be happy, or at least content, once more.

It’s too dangerous to go without a cause though, and now I have no cause to go out there anymore. They think they’re “protecting” me, when really they’re just holding me back. All thanks to one little night; no... all thanks to Lucky. He’s the one behind all of this.

When Nightshade arrived to Misty and her’s usual meeting point, she found Misty already there waiting for her.

“Sorry, I got held up a bit. I didn’t leave you waiting too long did I?” Nightshade asked apologetically.

“Not at all,” Misty responded with a smirk as the two began walking. “I just got here myself actually.”

They walked and talked for a while, Misty talking about her job mostly while Nightshade mainly listened.

“Hey you wanna go grab a bite? I’m famished,” Misty asked after they had been walking a while. She motioned Nightshade toward a nearby bistro, and Nightshade followed.

Misty ordered a large meal while Nightshade opted for a light brunch. As they sat eating their meals a familiar, but unwelcome, voice assaulted Nightshade’s ears, which folded back in reflex.

“Hey there guys, how’s it goin’?” Lucky questioned in a joyful tone as he approached their table.

“Hi, Lucky,” Misty managed to mumble through a mouth full of hay-fries.

Lucky looked at Nightshade expectantly, but she chose to avert her eyes to the ground beneath her rather than respond. Lucky just shook his head and continued small talk with Misty.

“So, I heard you started a new position on the weather control team, how’s that going for ya?”

Misty took a gulp of her drink before replying. “Well, I’m still on my probationary period, so I have to be sure I don’t disappoint my manager if I want to keep it.”

“Well, I hope you don’t disappoint them then,” Lucky said, chuckling a bit.

“I know she won’t,” Nightshade insisted harshly, still not looking up from the ground. Both Misty and Lucky looked at her with confusion in their eyes.

Lucky spoke first.

“Is there, uh, something wrong Nightshade?”

Nightshade finally looked back up and glared at Lucky, trying not to betray any emotion.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she deadpanned.

Lucky and Misty shot each other a quick glance before looking back to her.

“You can tell us if there’s something you want to talk about.”

“I told you I’m fine,” Nightshade reiterated, now starting to betray a bit of agitation in her voice.

“Are you sure? You’re acting a bit strange,” Lucky asked again. “If there’s anything we can do-”

At this point, Nightshade snapped.

“You’ve already done enough Lucky! You’ve already ruined my life and taken everything good I had left away from me! If you hadn’t come along and shoved yourself into my life I’d be a whole lot better off for myself!” Nightshade had begun crying, not tears of sadness, but of anger, and passion.

She suddenly remembered where she was and looked around to see half of Ponyville staring at her with either shocked or disgusted expressions. Immediately, she shot up and started galloping towards her home as fast as her legs could carry her. She heard Misty calling for her to stop, but she dare not risk the citizens of Ponyville having any more reason to shun her. She needed to be alone, so she kept going.

Nightshade barred her doors and windows and shut all the curtains before collapsing onto her bed. She was sobbing uncontrollably at this point from a combination of anger, embarrassment, and confusion.

Her pillow was thoroughly soaked through with a combination of her tears and mucus by the time she managed to sob herself to sleep, but at last she finally lay silent, oblivious to the world, and unaware of anything that might have been awaiting her when she awoke.