the end of nightshade's reign

Chapters

Nightshade
shadowsphere
Everfree
Epilogue
The end of Nightshade

Nightshade

A tall, dark grey alicorn mare stood in the midst of her castle. Her wings were more like long, sharp metal blades with blood splatters on them. Her deep red eyes were narrowed, looking out her castle at the sunset. Her long black mane had blood red streaks in it. On her flank was a black tulip. The regal alicorn sighed. Her castle was well protected, but she still feared for the safety of not only herself, but her servants. The darkling queen had made numerous threats against her, as well as a now completely corrupt King Sombra.

A timid young pegasus tapped her shoulder, bringing her back to reality. "N-Nightshade? S-something's gone wrong. Very, v-very wrong. One of the prisoners escaped."

Nightshade's eyes flared. "Who is it? One of the darklings?"

The pegasus shook her head. "No, your Highness, the mysterious stranger from the Empire..."

The princess stomped her hoof. "If he's an ally of that wretched backstabber Sombra, we cannot let him escape." Suddenly a light brown earth pony stallion ran by. His darkish brown mane was messed up a little, and his blue eyes were wide in panic. The princess smirked. A blast of energy came from her horn towards the stallion, knocking him over immediately. Nightshade trotted over to him, calm. "So... looks like you decided to escape. Your loyalty to Sombra? Or do you dare not disobey?"

The stallion's look of fear was replaced by pure confusion. "Wha- what? Your Highness, I'm not from around... all I know is he stole my screwdriver and... perhaps I should introduce myself, I'm the Doctor, and I was merely traveling when I stopped by this corrupted place... black crystal everywhere... a very tall stallion came out and began talking to me... wanted to know what I was doing, and well, I was foolish enough to drop my sonic screwdriver, he took it and refused to return it unless I delivered that message to you... may I go free? I need that screwdriver..."

Nightshade looked at him strangely. "Doctor? What kind of a name is that? Are you a medical doctor? Herbs, perhaps? Or more of a researcher? And what's your true name?"

The Doctor merely looked at her, the confusion still in his eyes. "I'm the Doctor."

Nightshade rolled her eyes. "Doctor WHO?"

The Doctor coughed. "J-just the Doctor!"

Nightshade sighed. "Very well. You may go get your 'screwdriver' or whatever." Doctor Whooves got up and galloped away, this time the fear gone from is eyes. Nightshade watched him leave, then turned to the pegasus mare. "Any sightings of... them?"

The pegasus shook her head. "No, your Highness, everything seems to be in check."

Nightshade nodded. "Very well then. You may go, Rosalia." Rosalia nodded and flew away. Alone in the castle room, the princess dropped to the ground, exhausted by all the chaos. It was as if Discord had come to reign again. But that was ridiculous. Some other corruption was ahoof in Equestria, and that corruption was Shadowsphere.

Author's Note

this is my first story and it was really hard so please don't be harsh

shadowsphere

A hideous alicorn mare stood amidst a swarm of darklings. Darklings were disgusting creatures, like big blood red changelings, but with spikes instead of holes. Their queen, however, was the most corrupt and grotesque of them all. Her wings were long and blood red, with spikes instead of feathers. Her main color was navy blue, but she seemed to be covered in blood splatters. Her mane and tail, a sickening shade of dark red, was matted and seemed to stick out in spikes here and there. She had spikes on her legs and horn, her eyes were indigo and searching throughout the swarm for any weaklings.

A buff darkling flew by his queen. "Queen Shadowsphere, everything seems to be well. Soon, we can invade Everfree!"

Shadowsphere smiled evilly. "Perfect. Poor Nightshade. She had quite the potential..." She laughed gruesomely. "Too bad she had to swear her loyalty to those dimwits. Ah, soon, Equestria will be OURS!"

The darkling smirked and flew away.

Later, another darkling flew up to his queen, out of breath and clearly in a panic. "Your- your Highness! Nightshade- we weren't- she invaded our- she tricked us- Please, your Highness- It wasn't-"

Shadowsphere's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Well? Out with it! NOW!"

The darkling gulped. "Nightshade... created darkling clones... and managed to sneak them into our swarm... this particular one, actually... please, please don't-"

Shadowsphere swiped her wing at her subject, causing him to bleed immensely. A weird orange goop seeped from the holes Shadowsphere's wings had created. "Nightshade... you WILL pay!" The queen's horn began to glow a sickly purple. All the mimics, which meant half the entire swarm, disappeared and turned into shadows, scattering. Shadowsphere closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them to their full extent and screamed a hideous, gruesome scream that only a creature of pure corruption and hatred could create.

Once she stopped screaming, she began hyperventilating. "This means the swarm's size is significantly lower! We barely have enough darklings! Who allowed this to happen?! I will destroy anypony responsible! NIGHTSHADE! YOU WILL PAY!" Shadowsphere's rage was uncontainable.

A darkling cowered in fear near her, with news. Finally, it dared to speak. "Your Highness, we have report that Sombra has been completely corrupted, and Luna's corruption has already started. For Luna, there may be some complications, but Sombra is completely under our control."

Shadowsphere relaxed just a little. "Well... that's good. Perhaps Sombra could take care of Nightshade... bah!" She shook her head and stomped her hoof. "That nitwit would be killed in five seconds. I suppose..." An evil smile creeped onto the queen's face. "I'll have to dispose of the princess myself."

Everfree

The town of Everfree was quite stunning. The castle was large, with many steeples and turrets, it was a melancholy dark grey, and matched the princess perfectly. The town consisted of many buildings, some small and humble, others large, but all were the same in this sense: It could blend into the shadows if an invasion was about to happen.

Nightshade trotted around the castle, seeming calm and merely going about her duties, but on the inside, she was a wreck. Shadowsphere was amazingly powerful, and Nightshade's little trick wouldn't be appreciated. If the darkling queen got too angry, who knew what could happen. Nightshade could be in huge danger. Even worse, her subjects could be endangered. Nightshade decided now was the time to blend the town into shadows. She walked onto the dark grey marble balcony and cleared her throat. Using the Canterlot Royal Voice, she announced, "CITIZENS OF EVERFREE, A THREAT HAS BEEN MADE AGAINST OUR TOWN! THE BUILDINGS WILL BE BLENDED INTO THE SHADOWS AT SUNSET! PLEASE EVACUATE TO CANTERLOT OR CLOUDSDALE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! IN A FORTNIGHT, THOU MAY ALL RETURN!" Some ponies stormed out of their homes immediately, the pegasi flying up to Cloudsdale. Some stayed to pack their things, knowing they didn't have too much time.

One pony, however, didn't heed the princess' warning. That pony was none other than Doctor Whooves. He was inside the TARDIS, working on the main core. It seemed it had malfunctioned somehow, and he didn't pay much attention to the princess' message, even though he left the door of the TARDIS open in case something like that happened.

As Nightshade surveyed her town being slowly deserted by its inhabitants, she heard a small buzzing in the distance. She gagged. The darklings were going to come soon, and the ponies needed to leave now. She cleared her throat once again. "CITIZENS OF EVERFREE, PLEASE HURRY! THE THREAT MAY BE APPROACHING SOON!" Now almost all the ponies rushed out of their homes, galloping towards Canterlot, which was a while away. Some of the pegasi flew by the castle on their way to Cloudsdale. Nightshade became nervous and shot a huge blast of magic at all the ponies headed towards Canterlot. They teleported much closer to Canterlot.

Soon, the entire town was deserted. Nightshade turned the buildings into shadows and headed back inside her castle, pacing about nervously. That's when she realized somepony still remained. Somehow, that strange stallion who identified himself only as 'the Doctor' had failed to heed her warning. But Nightshade was too concerned about her own safety then that of a foolish stranger's. If he was stupid enough to not listen, it was a surprise he wasn't already dead. The buzzing of darkling wings became much louder. Soon, a loud THUMP was heard behind Nightshade. The grotesque darkling queen stood behind Nightshade, grinning evilly.

"Well, well, look who it is!"

Epilogue

Canterlot, 977 years later...

A brown stallion hastily put a basket down on the steps of a Canterlot home, then galloped away to a blue police box. The police box soon dematerialized and vanished. The door of the home opened. A yellow mare with a shiny green mane stepped out, only to find the basket on her steps. Her purple eyes shined with curiosity. She opened the lid of the basket. A light blue unicorn filly was inside, sleeping soundly and covered by a cream-colored blanket. The filly's neon green mane was a bit messy. The mare gasped. "Wheatgrass! You have to come here right now! And I MEAN IT!"

A dark green-yellow stallion appeared behind her. "Topaz Tulip, what's all the fuss abo- oh, oh my."

Topaz Tulip beamed. "This... this is our new child! We'll finally be parents!"

Wheatgrass picked up the basket and carried it inside. "She sorta looks like us, plus she's a unicorn just like both of us. Maybe she won't think she's adopted."

Topaz nodded. "What should we name her? Oh, I can't believe I'm finally a mother..."

Wheatgrass studied the sleeping filly carefully. "Well... flower names are popular in my family... how about Bluebell?"

Topaz smiled beautifully. "Perfect! Oh, Wheatgrass, I can't believe it, I just can't believe it! I wonder how my brother and sister will react!"

He sighed. "Right... can we trust them to keep their mouths shut?"

"What do you mean? The only other child is Scarlet Quartz, and she's much too young..."

Wheatgrass shook his head. "But your brother... he's such a bigmouth about... well, about everything."

Topaz Tulip picked at the ground with her hoof. "True, Silk Hat doesn't exactly know how to keep secret, but-"

The door flung open. "Sister, did I hear my name?" A snotty looking light brown unicorn stallion trotted inside. His greyish mane was perfectly groomed, as was his equally uppity wife and daughter's. The stallion's wife was holding her infant daughter and had a snotty look on her deep red face.

If babies could be classified as uppity, then her daughter would fit it perfectly: a dark pink coat that complemented her mother's almost perfectly, an immaculate light red mane, and for some reason, the fanciest baby shoes in all of Canterlot. Or at least that's what it seemed. Topaz Tulip cringed. Wheatgrass cleared his throat. "Erm, this wasn't the best time for you to co-"

"Nonsense! What's in that basket?" The stallion looked over at the basket and saw the filly.

Topaz Tulip sighed. "In the name of Celestia, Silk Hat, I will personally murder you and mount your head on my wall if you dare even drop hints that our daughter was adopted!"

Silk Hat and his wife were clearly taken aback by Topaz's behavior. "Err... what's her name?..."

Wheatgrass smiled proudly. "Bluebell. Her name is Bluebell. And remember what my wife said..." Silk Hat nodded.

His wife spoke up. "So, let me get this straight. You'll be LYING to your daughter? Well, that's just-"

Topaz Tulip's eyes flared and she rushed over to Silk Hat's wife. "YOU LISTEN TO ME! MY DAUGHTER WILL NOT GROW UP AN OUTCAST! SO KEEP YOUR BIG, UGLY MOUTH SHUT, ROSE SHADOW!" Rose Shadow seemed appalled. Topaz Tulip stepped back and sighed.

"Well... I'm sorry. May I see the darling?"

Wheatgrass nodded and picked up Bluebell, then gave her to Rose Shadow. For the first time, Bluebell opened her neon green eyes and looked around. She looked at her aunt.

Bluebell blinked, then let out a piercing wail of disapproval.

******************************************************************************************** THE END (for now...)

The end of Nightshade

Nightshade's eyes narrowed at the darkling queen. "And just what do you think you'll be doing?"

Shadowsphere laughed gruesomely. "Well, my dear princess, I'm here to use your kingdom for my own needs. You can become my puppet peacefully..." Her eyes brightened a little. "Or you can become my puppet by force. You decide!" Shadowsphere cackled.

Nightshade bit her lip. If she became Shadowsphere's puppet, she'd be every bit as bad as Sombra in the end, whether she struggled against Shadowsphere or not. However, Nightshade thought of one last act of defiance before she became corrupt. "Very well then. I suppose I'll choose..." Nightshade trotted near a small table, seeming to be deep in thought. "Neither!" She kicked the table, sending it towards Shadowsphere.

As the darkling queen dodged the table, Nightshade turned into a darkling and hid amongst the swarm. Shadowsphere roared in anger, as she didn't wish to be duped by the dark princess a second time. Suddenly a darkling grabbed a slightly smaller one and threw it against the ground. It turned into Nightshade, who proceeded to kill the darkling quickly with her razor-sharp wings. Nightshade struck at Shadowsphere with her wings. Shadowsphere nimbly dodged, then began gathering magic on her horn. Nightshade struck again but missed. Suddenly, the bright purple orb on the end of Shadowsphere's orb had grown to its full extent. It flew at Nightshade. Once she was hit by the massive ball of energy, she screeched in pure agony. A brilliant white light flashed around the princess. She began to shrink. Soon, she was the size of a newborn filly. Her wings disappeared, her coat became light blue, her mane and tail shortened and became neon green, and though they were closed, her eyes became neon green as well. Nightshade was no longer a regal princess. Now, she was reduced to a mere unicorn filly, with no power, no home, and no memory.

Shadowsphere picked up the filly and looked at her with disgust. Just then, Doctor Whooves trotted by, clearly in a bit of a panic. "E-excuse me, where is Nightshade? I need to talk to her... where did everyone go, anyways? Who is tha-"

Shadowsphere thrust the filly at Doctor Whooves. "Dispose of this child. I do not care what you do with it. And leave my sight. Now."

The Doctor held the filly, clearly confused. Finally he gathered enough sense to trot away, back to the TARDIS. He looked at the filly, pondering what to do.

While the Doctor left, Shadowsphere looked around the now deserted area of shadows. A creepy smile crept across her face. Then her horn glowed purple, and dark, grotesque trees began growing. Shadowsphere was turning Everfree into a forest. Soon the transformation was over. A timber wolf howled.

The Doctor looked around and galloped into the TARDIS, slamming the door behind him. He put the filly in a basket, put a blanket on her, and tried to think of where to go. Finally he decided on a date and place. He set the controls and the TARDIS began to dematerialize.