Chapters Equestria's greatest fear
Nightshade's mother, Feather Hope, was talking with his father Red night.
"So, we name him Nightshade?"
"Yes, he will earn a second name later."
She trotted over to the crib and looked down at the little colt, his mane was red, with streaks of black.
"He is going to be a hit with the mares."
"Well he does have my looks." Feather Hope nudged him playfully and nuzzled him as they look down at the small pony, they both knew, one day, he would do great things.
Time went on and Nightshade started to develop, on his fifth birthday he could lift a small rock with his magic, and throw it to his father.
"That's my colt!"
Nightshade giggled and continued to practice, Celestia had offered to accept him as a student, but Nightshade's specialty was shadow magic.
This concerned Celestia and Luna, they both walked into a room in the castle and talked.
"There hasn't been a shadow pony since Sombra was defeated."
"Yes sister this certainly is........... concerning."
"We must keep a watchful eye on this one, we can't let another Sombra come out."
Luna nodded and flew off to her chambers, it was still during the day and was strange for Luna to be awake at this hour.
Sombra faded in the light as Nightshade played with his father, but as Nightshade went in, Sombra followed. Being only a ghost, Sombra couldn't force the colt to do anything, but he could bend his young mind to his will.
He appeared before Nightshade and looked down at him.
"W-who are you?!"
"My name is Sombra, you are like me young stallion, the shadows, they speak to you, don't they?" Nightshade nods.
"Yes, they tell me that i'm very powerful, they whisper things to me......."
Sombra smiles, but fades as Red Light walked in.
"who are you talking to son?"
"T-the big stallion, he said his name is Sombra."
Red Light's eyes widen as he pulled Nightshade and Feather away from the small hut and they traveled to Canterlot.
They stopped on the side of the road to rest, as Celestia lowered the sun and Luna raised the moon, Nightshade fell asleep.
Luna took this opportunity to enter the young colt's dreams and see what his future would be like. She saw Nightshade, as a fully grown stallion, cut down a pony with a axe, and to her great horror, he licked the blood from the axe and began to chop at the rest of the pony. First the neck, then the legs, with each sickening thud, the body became less recognizable. He then took a piece of wood that was on fire and threw it through a window, burning everypony inside. Luna left his dream and waited for Celestia to wake. As she began to wake, Luna walks in.
"Sister, i have some very disturbing news."
Celestia pulled the cup of tea from her mouth.
"Tell me sister!"
Luna told her of the dream and showed her, Celestia dropped the cup of tea and it shattered on the ground.
"Oh my god........ Bring him to me, we must make sure it never happens!"
Equestria's greatest fear
Nightshade was 14, and was ready to start to build his own house, as approved by celestia. Nightshade was friends with seven other ponies, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Derpy Hooves, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Nightshade was openly accepted by the ponies of Canterlot, being a shadow weaver he was a tad different than others. for instance, he was never alone. To stop Sombra from corrupting him, Celestia hired special ponies to always be near him without him noticing.
"Come on Nightshade, let's go have some fun!" Rainbow Dash shouted, hoping to sway the colt.
"Yeah! We could make our own party!"
Nightshade chuckled. "Everything's a party to you Pinkie........"
She laughed and poked him, Twilight Sparkle trotted over.
"Guys, leave him alone. Need any help Nightshade?"
He shook his head and the fillies trotted off to the side, thinking they were out of earshot.
"Awww, Twilight, you're no fun!" Rainbow dash said.
"Yeah, we could've made his day, like, 20% cooler!" Pinkie added.
"Guys, we all know you just want to be around him."
"Twilight, tell me you don't think he's cute!"
"Dash....... YOU'RE 14! too young to be thinking about that!" Twilight Sparkle started to trot away and Rainbow Dash sneered. "Teacher's pet........."
Fluttershy walked over to Nightshade and smiled.
"Oh hello Fluttershy."
"Hello Nightshade, would you like a muffin?"
He nodded and turned to take one, still holding the board he was using to build, Derpy was hopping around the construction site and the board hit her in the face.
"Ow! Nightshade!!!"
"Oh my god Derpy, are you ok?!!!!" Tears of pain sprang into her eyes, Nightshade hugged her.
I-i can't see straight!!!"
Derpy ran away from the sight and went to Celestia.
"My dear Derpy, what happened?!"
"N-nightshade hit me with a piece of wood!"
Celestia thought that Nightshade had started to turn, so she waited for Luna to wake.
"Sister, what is wrong?"
"Nightshade has struck Derpy and hurt her permanently. Show him his worst fears, we must scare him so that he will not get too bold."
Luna nodded and began to work.
Equestria's greatest fear
Luna entered Nightshade's dreams that night. She walked through his dreams and found him, she then turned into his worst fear..... seeing his friends get hurt.
"Nightshade, you have hurt a pony very badly, and must be punished."
"N-no please! I-it was an accident!"
She didn't listen and began with Pinkie Pie getting beaten down and when the assailant looked up, it was Nightshade.
"N-no, this isn't real!!!"
She then showed him Applejack being tortured, and the torturer, was Nightshade.
"N-no, this isn't real!!!!!!!!!"
He shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of the images, but the next one was too horrific to handle. It was him, killing his best friend, Fluttershy. At that moment, something broke in Nightshade's mind, Luna had noticed it and tried to stop, but couldn't. He began to laugh uncontrollably as he watched each grisly scene, he seemed to jot down ideas from them.
"Ohhh this is so fascinating, i'm going to have to try that, it seems so fun!"
Luna watched in horror as he took control of the dream, and with each passing second, it became more dark. It started with Rainbow Dash, she was flying happily through the air, then a hook was launched through her wing. It was forcefully pulled down, ripping a hole through her wing, as she fell to the earth, Nightshade walked up to her.
"Oh i do hope you live through how wonderful i'm going to make you."
She tried to get away, but Nightshade had done the damage, her wing was ruined. Nightshade picked up the old axe.
"pay attention Dashie, this is your new face."
He took the blade of the axe and cut off her right wing, she started to scream in pain, but Nightshade stuffed feathers into her mouth.
"Shut up Dash, or i will kill you."
She stopped talking and he worked on her, taking her blood and rubbing it to form a smile on her face, he then took the axe and chopped her head off with a sickening thunk.
Luna exited the dream and woke Celestia.
"Sister, we have done a terrible thing!"
She showed her the dream and they ran to Nightshade's room, what they saw was too horrible to fathom. A maid must've heard Nightshade scream in his sleep and she walked in, he awoke and saw her.......... his first victim. The maid was lying on the ground, wings ripped to shreds, blood everywhere, her organs were spilt on the floor and her head hung on the wall with a message in blood that read: "YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME SLEEP" Luna and celestia both threw up at the sight and looked at each other.
"Sister, what have we done?!"
"We have created a monster."
Equestria's greatest fear
Nopony could locate Nightshade after that. Four years passed, with killings in the city and on the outskirts of Equestria, nopony was safe from Nightshade. Everypony called it "The Spree" Celestia and Luna told them of how his mind broke and there was a national Stallion Hunt in progress, all festivities were stopped and everypony traveled in pairs.
"I sure do miss him........ why did he have to go psycho?" Rainbow Dash said, looking down.
"Like the princesses said, it was an accident." Twilight responded.
"Well that was one heck of an accident! Nopony ever comes down to get fresh apples anymore, we always gotta deliver em to the nearest store." Applejack said.
"I wish he was ok........." Fluttershy commented shyly.
"I hope he doesn't find us, you heard what he did to that poor maid." Pinkie said fearfully.
They talked as they walked down the street, guards were at every ten feet, all looking for Nightshade. They walked down a street that curiously had no guards. Then, the scraping of metal could be heard down the street.
"W-who's there?! I'll buck your lights out!!!" Rainbow dash threatened.
Nightshade appeared, a sick sadistic smile on his face, his axe had the blood of an unfortunate pony on it. He lifted the blade to his mouth and he licked the blood, they six looked on in horror.
"N-Nightshade, stay away!" Twilight told him, backing up.
He laughed and dragged the blade on the ground as he walked to them. They tried to run, but he blocked their path.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you shouldn't run from your fate."
A guard aimed a sword at him.
"Nightshade, by the order of the princesses Celestia and Luna, you are under arre-"
Nightshade swung the axe across the guards neck, blood spurted in the air and his head rolled to the side. They backed up against the wall when a pony walked in.
"Holy Buck, i-ill get the guards!!!"
Nightshade sighed and ran after the pony, he soon caught up and pulled the pony to the ground, he held her down with one hoof and he took the axe and slammed the blade into the pony several times over. Once he was done, he was covered in blood, he began to laugh at his good work. The Mane Six had bolted, now this ticked Nightshade off, he openly killed after that.
Equestria's greatest fear
Everypony thought the killings were over, three months had passed with no reported killings, ponies roamed the streets happily, feeling safe. Celestia and Luna both were dealing with a major amount of guilt, but it wasn't their fault. Two ponies were walking down a dark street alone, when they heard Nightshade singing in a dark and cruel voice:
You thought i was down,
you thought i was out,
but im gonna make your body hit the ground,
im gonna make you scream and shout,
and when im through,
nopony will be able to tell,
that the body they see is you,
so call for help and scream for mercy,
because i am without sympathy,
and when im through, when im done,
nopony will recognize you, not one.
They ran from the voice, but he caught up and he swung the axe under their feet, cutting off their back legs, they screamed in pain and after he was done, they were just a bunch of mangled flesh and blood.
Equestria's greatest fear
The Mane Six walked solemnly through the streets, mourning the death of their once, kind friend.
"I don't understand, they just killed him.........." Rainbow dash said, solemnly.
"They had too Dashie........ he was a threat to Equestria, it wasn't safe to let him live." Twilight told her.
"How could you say that?! His insanity wasn't his own!" Fluttershy shouted.
"That may be true Fluttershy, but his actions were his own, and i'd bet my bottom bit, he would've done the same thing to us as he did to all those other poor souls." Applejack said, joining in.
"Honestly, i thought he was a hooligan and a monster, i'm glad he's gone." Rarity said remorselessly.
Fluttershy was about to respond when they heard the familiar screeching of metal on the wall and they saw Nightshade.
"Yikes!" Pinkie pie yelped.
"T-this isn't possible! You were beheaded, we saw it!" Twilight screamed.
He laughed and looked up, his eyes were green.
"Hello girls, ya miss me?"
They looked in horror as fresh blood dripped from his axe.
"I always finish what i start............"
Equestria's greatest fear
After seeing the dream, Celestia had every guard looking for Nightshade and his family. They searched frantically before they finally found the small family and brought them to celestia.
"Celestia........ i have some bad news." Red night told celestia.
"so do i, go ahead and tell yours."
"Yesterday........... i believe Nightshade talked with Sombra."
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she pulled the parents aside and told them of the dream. Nightshade kept to himself, but a little yellow filly peeked out at him.
"h-hi, i'm Nightshade........."
The filly came out just a bit more.
"I-i'm Fluttershy.........."
He moves a bit closer to her and she backed up.
"Its ok..... im not gonna hurt you."
"o-oh, ok, good!"
she smiled and walked up to Nightshade, a small shadow rabbit hopped up.
"Oh wow, i didn't know i could do that!"
Fluttershy petted the creature hesitantly.
"w-what're you going to name him?"
Nightshade looked down in concentration and then looked up.
"ill call him Shade!"
Both of the young ponies played with the shadow rabbit and became friends. As Celestia walked over, the rabbit scampered away.
"Ah Fluttershy, i see you've met Nightshade, would you run along please, i need to speak with him."
"O-oh, ok, bye Nightshade!"
She said as she trotted off, Nightshade turned to Celestia.
"You are a very special colt Nightshade, you are gifted with the shadows, so we wish for you to stay here, and learn to control and use this power."
Nightshade nodded and said goodbye to his parents, he wouldn't go back to everglade forest, Canterlot was his home.
"M-miss Celestia, where do i stay?"
She thought for a bit, then looked at him.
"You may stay here, until you build a house of your own.
Nightshade nodded happily and trotted along, he was Canterlot's newest resident.
Equestria's greatest fear
The End Of Nightshade Horror
Nightshade had earned his second name, Horror, everypony called him that now. He had gotten sloppy with his killings, often staying near the scene to admire his work, guards had almost caught him several times.
"He is getting more bold and foolish by the day........... what are we to do if we catch him?" Luna asked her sister.
"It's no question.......... we execute him."
"Sister, his insanity was our doing."
Celestia looked over. "I know, but he is too far gone, he has killed too many, he must not live to kill again."
Nightshade was staring at the lifeless mare at his feet, suddenly, several guards had swords aimed at him, others held him in place with magic, Celestia flew down to him.
"Nightshade Horror, you have committed numerous murders and crimes against the ponies of Equestria, you are under arrest and sentenced to execution at dusk."
He laughed and looked at Celestia. "Death comes to all, i greet it willingly! What? can't bear to look at the monster you've created?!"
she turned and left him there. He was dragged to a block at dusk and they laid his head sideways on the block and he smiled.
"If i must die, there will be another Nightshade Horror, my clone will take my place!"
The heads pony swung Nightshade's axe down and cut off his head, Nightshade Horror was no more............ or was he?
