"So it's the green one then?"
"Yeah Twilight, just give me the green hammer and we can finish building this dam."
"Alright here." She said, using magic to float the hammer to him. He took it and hammered down the last nail, finalizing the build. The ponies cheered and Nightshade smiled, waving down at them. He slid down the ladder and walked to the other builders.
"Good job stallions, that dam should hold back the flood waters until the pegasi can get here and clear it up." They all told each 'good job' and 'see ya later' as they dispersed. Twilight flew down and smiled.
"Thank you Nightshade, I know you and the others had to take time off from building that office in Manehattan to come and fix up this dam." She said. Nightshade shook his head.
"It wasn't a problem, we'll just finish that building a little bit later now." He responded. She walked to move the citizens away and a pony walked up to him. Fluttershy shivered in the rain and stood next to him, looking up at the shuddering dam.
"Y-You might get sick just standing around out here in the rain." To be honest, Nightshade always watched to see if a building was sturdy enough, but something else was holding him there. He turned to the Pegasus and nodded.
"I just need to make sure it'll stay up, that's all." He said, waving her warning off. She walked away and Nightshade's vision became blurry, his eyes watering not from the rain, but from a sick feeling he felt deep in his stomach. Darkness clouded around him and a shadow walked forward, it's eyes completely blood red. It was almost impossible to look at, for just setting his eyes upon it, Nightshade felt as if his soul would slip away from his body.
"W-what are you?!"
"I am Darkness. You may call me Abyss, the pure incarnation of evil."
"What do you want with me?!" Nightshade asked fearfully. The shadow started circling him and wherever his eyes darted, Nightshade couldn't find any spec of light. All he could see was the Blood red eyes, staring at him as if to mark him as it's prey. Nightshade tried to summon a light with magic, yet he couldn't muster the energy to do it. Abyss darted forward and his eyes were inches from Nightshade's.
"Listen to me, you cur. Do not try to summon and light while in my presence. I should destroy you right now for attempting that. Now, I won't kill you yet, because I need you." He snarled. Nightshade shuddered upon hearing that Abyss needed him.
"W-What do you want from me?!" He asked. A sharp claw slashed a deep cut across Nightshade's right eye. Nightshade howled with pain and covered his eye. Abyss took a more solid form and inched closer.
"I ask the questions, I give the orders, and you listen." Abyss snapped. Nightshade didn't respond, fearful that Abyss would swat at him again.
"Now, I still don't have the power to come back from death. So I still cannot kill Celestia and Luna. What I need you to do, is kill a certain number of ponies. I will used their souls to fuel my darkness, and then i will rule of Equestria with absolute power." Abyss explained. Nightshade shook his head.
"No, I will not help you kill anypony. You can kill me, but I will stand my ground." Nightshade said defiantly. Abyss smiled and walked closer.
"You speak as if there is a choice in the matter." He cackled, pressing his horn to Nightshade's chest. Nightshade gasped for air and hacked. A dark magic that lies dormant in his blood awoke, and seized control of Nightshade's mind. Nightshade's normally Black hair became shadowy and it flowed. Dark red streaks shot through his mane and fur as his eyes turned orange and his normally friendly face turned into a mad grin.
"There were three before you Nightshade. Try to convince them to help. I have heard of the six mares that defeated my son Sombra and Nightmare Moon. I want them neutralized, not killed. Celestia will certainly trade their lives for her own. If you happen to contact Discord, my second failure... kill him. He betrayed me, and I cannot let him get away with it." Abyss finally finished and the dark magic in Nightshade's veins subsided. Nightshade awoke in the field, his head pounding, and a newfound bloodlust tempting him.
"Holy Hell..." Nightshade muttered angrily, rubbing his right eye. He stood up and walked to his tools, about to take them all, but then noticing the sharp axe lying outside the tool box. He picked it up with magic and swung it. He never had any real training in the use of weapons, only enough to fight off a few changelings if they overran the guards. He smiled before using more magic to make a sheathe from grass and he sheathed the axe. He then picked up the toolbox and trotted home.
His mind screamed for silence, too many ponies stood around him laughing, talking, playing. He wanted peace, No, he Needed peace. The noise gnawed at him, pushing him to fury. Something inside him told him, "They've never cared about you... Why should you care? Kill them..... take your peace..." Nightshade felt his body shake with fury; he just wanted some quiet, why couldn't these bastards see that? He began to run home, ignoring all those who asked him if he was ok. He kicked his door open and slammed it behind him, before jumping on his bed.
"I-I just need some quiet... I'll be fine....." He said to himself as he laid down. He looked up to the ceiling in fear.
"I-I... I can't sleep. Maybe I should get some help." Nightshade said, getting up and walking out of his house. As he walked down the street, he noticed the ponies staring at him in fear and worry. He looked at them then looked down as he asked.
"Why are you staring at me? Didn't anypony tell you it's rude to stare?!" He screamed, looking at them with rage in his eyes. He felt the axe clap against his flank and he slowly began pulling it from its sheathe, until he heard somepony yell.
"Nightshade, you're bleeding!" Nightshade's eyes widened and he looked into a window. He saw the gash across his eye and put a hoof over it. He ran to hospital and waited in the lobby, still covering his eye. It made it extremely difficult to run with only three hooves for support. As he was waiting, a young mare walked in.
"Nightshade, what can I do for you? Did you step on another nail?" She asked. He shook his head and removed his hoof. He watched her expression change to horror.
"My, dear, what happened?" She asked, looking at it. He sighed and tried to think.
"A-A piece of wood fell down and caught me in the face..." He lied. She studied it more and then led him to a room. She left him there and went to go get some stitches. As he sat there, he felt his wound fester and decay. He looked into a mirror and was taken aback at what he saw. His eye socket was surrounded by shadow, that seemed to be eating away at his flesh. He tried to wipe it away, but to no avail. As it had already taken hold in his blood. The mare came back and gasped, running to his side.
"W-What is this?!" Nightshade asked, panicking. The mare looked at him in fear.
"I-I don't know..." She said fearfully. Nightshade growled.
"Surely you've seen something like this before; you're a nurse, for goodness sake!" Nightshade yelled. She backed away in fear. The shadow ate at Nightshade's mind, dulling his senses and increasing his aggression. He walked forward, pushing the mare into a corner. She looked up in fear.
"W-What are you doing, Nightshade?" She asked, watching him stalk towards her. His axe slowly floated out of the sheathe and towards her neck.
"You can't help... So you're useless. You know what happens to things nopony can use anymore?" He asked, drawing the axe back.
"N-No, Please... I have a filly to look after!" The nurse screamed. Nightshade smiled insanely and the axe swung, hitting the mare with a sickening Thunk! Nightshade looked down at the mare's twitching body. He hadn't hit the mark exactly where he wanted, pieces of the mare's jaw were scattered around the room. Nightshade hit the mare again, and again, and again. Until every last muscle, sinew, or bone that held together the mare's head to her body was gone. He stopped to admire his handiwork, before taking some of the blood and splattering it on the wall. It was a horrifying piece of art. He wrote on the wall until he had finished his message. As he stood back to read it, he noticed that the pain in his eye had gone away. So he took a patch and covered the wound so nopony would ask questions. He picked up the axe and put it away in its sheathe as he walked out of the room. He tried to seem miserable, even though the exhilaration of his fresh kill still hadn't left him. Just as he had walked out of the hospital, he heard a scream for the guards. He walked farther away and decided his next move. It was time to contact one of his predecessors, so he began his way to Canterlot.
As he walked down the path to the castle, he felt the same darkness that had sent him on this path.
"Yes?" He asked, looking around. Abyss walked forward and smiled. Nightshade felt thrilled to see his master approve of his hard work. Abyss looked down at Nightshade and analyzed him.
"Well... It seems I found the right Stallion for the job. I want you to seek a private audience with Princess Luna. They have certain, precautions, that keep me from assaulting them outright. Yet, if I have an agent inside their defenses, I can thrust darkness back into the heart of the Lunar Princess." Abyss cackled. Nightshade bowed.
"It will be done." He said. Abyss smiled ear-to-ear and faded away. Nightshade continued down the path until he finally reached the gates. He didn't know how they would react to the scarring around his eye, but his still stood tall. As the guards let him in, they stared at his wound. Nightshade groaned and shrugged their attention off. As he walked through the streets, he grew tired of the countless ponies gawking at him; he walked into a small clothing store.
"Hello and what may I do for yo-" She stopped mid-sentence after seeing Nightshade's wound. All of this attention made Nightshade itch, He just wanted them to mind their own business. He walked forward to the front desk.
"I need an eye-patch... as soon as possible." Nightshade said, rubbing the back of his neck. She nodded and scurried to the back of the shop. She came back later and smiled apologetically at him.
"This is the only one. Hope it fits." She said, putting it around his eye. Nightshade looked in a mirror and smiled. It made him seem violent and dangerous. He threw a few bits at the clerk and walked out, before walking to the front of the Keep. He looked at the guards and sighed.
"I seek a private audience with Princess Luna. Please tell her Nightshade is here to talk with her about the integrity of the Keep's foundation. Nightshade smiled as they walked away and shut the door behind them.
"Dumb asses don't even know the Keep's foundation is stone." Nightshade said, laughing to himself. A few minutes later, the guards came back out and ushered him in. As he walked to the throne room, he looked to the guards nervously.
"Princesses, it is an honor to speak with you. Could you please send the guards away? Those weapons are making me nervous..." Nightshade said, looking around at them. Celestia nodded at the guards and they filed out of the room.
"Well then Nightshade. The Keep's foundation is made of stone, so what is threatening its integrity?" Celestia asked, lifting an eyebrow at Nightshade. He gulped and looked at Luna.
"Nightmare Moon? It's time to rise again..." Nightshade said, pulling off his eye-patch. The shadows jumped out at her and she gasped, a blast of light erupting from her horn. Celestia scanned the room for Nightshade, before hearing his axe leave its sheathe. She sent a blast of magic at him and he jumped out of the way, his axe landing a few feet away from him. Nightshade cursed and darkness seeped from his horn, Luna kept shooting bursts of light at the shadows, but the snaked their ways under, between, or over the Rays of light. All Luna could hear after that was her sister's frightened screams for her, then she was no longer Luna. She was Nightmare Moon.
The Shadow Thickens As Darkness Rises
Celestia couldn't do it. Not again, she just can't. Even as her sister walked forward, dark magic clouding her body as She began the transformation. The guards rushed back in, holding their weapons at level with Luna. She hissed and flew out of the Throne room. Nightshade began to panic as they closed in on him. That bitch left me! Nightshade thought to himself, his back hitting a wall. He focused his magic and faded into shadow. He looked down at his hooves, noticing they were near transparent. He smiled and walked past the guards, who were looking around furiously for him. As he walked out of the Keep, He felt a shift in the balance of things. If it wasn't clear to Celestia what was happening, this shift should've provided her with some clarity. As nightshade walked out into the streets, he materialized and join the swarm of ponies on the street. Now, there was only one clear feeling to him. Bloodlust, he needed to quell the need for killing. So he looked for a dark alley, and there was where five ponies were brutally murdered, each with their own blood message, over the span of five days. By now, of course, the Mane Six was alerted to Nightshade's ever haunting presence. They sought help from everypony they could think of, yet nopony had the answer for this particular problem. They were at their wit's end, when they decided to contact somepony they thought they would never have to ask for help from. Celestia sighed as she summoned up the dark magic, a small window opened up into another dimension. A long figure slithered its way into sight and they heard a cackle.
"Oh, well if it isn't Celestia, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Discord asked, a throne appearing under him as he spoke. Celestia looked at him and sighed.
"Discord, we have an evil on the loose that I believe you're quite familiar with." She said, staring him down. He looked up in thought, then shook his head.
"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. Tea?" Discord asked, two tea cups appearing in front of him. One of them floated through the window and Celestia took it.
"Thank you Discord, but I think you do know who I'm talking about." Celestia said, sipping on the tea. Discord sighed and rubbed his chin.
"Well, Abyss is the only real evil I know of, but it can't be him. You've killed him, what, three hundred times now?" Discord asked, strongly exaggerating the amount of conflicts Abyss has brought up.
"Discord, I think he is using a certain stallion, known as Nightshade, to attack and kill ponies. This alone is disturbing enough, but Luna met this young stallion... and He awoke the dormant evil in her."
"Oh Celestia, we all have dormant evil inside of us. I've watched several scenarios of "What If" when it came to the evil that resides deep in the mind of your ponies. My favorites so far have been Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Yet I have never heard of a "Nightshade." Abyss gave me the excess of his power, which is why He's using this stallion as a proxy. If you release me, I may be able to fight him. Whatever you do Celestia, do it quick, I can feel the shadows in your world thickening. Darkness is coming, you'd better have a light." Discord said, stretching and laying out across the throne. She nodded and the window grew bigger.
"Alright then Discord. Come back to our world... we need your help." Celestia said, standing aside to let him through. The Mane Six watched as he floated through the window, now the size of a door, and he summoned a small quill and paper.
"Could you please describe Nightshade's appearance and his usual hunting grounds?" Discord asked, a small pair of reading glasses appeared over his eyes as He looked up at Celestia.
"Well... He has black fur, with blood red streaks throughout his mane. His eyes burn like a flame, and he has a grotesque wound across his right eye. He has been stalking the streets of Canterlot, but lately, all his activity has been focused on Bridle Avenue." Celestia finished his description and Discord wrote furiously, before rolling up the paper and tossing it in his mouth.
"I can find him. I don't know if I can defeat him though; his strength grows with every victim he slays." Discord said, as he began floating out of the room. The Mane Six scrambled to find him, but he was already hot on Nightshade's trail.
Nightshade withdrew the axe from the squishy pulp that used to be a pony. He smiled, then furrowed his eyebrows as he lifted a bit of the mess up. He sampled the pony's flesh, rolling it around in his mouth, he fought to get past the metallic taste of blood. He swallowed it and awaited his body's response. Ponies never eat meat, so he didn't know how he would respond to the flesh. He found it surprisingly filling, as he was sitting aside, waiting for another victim, he felt a powerful presence approach.
"Nightmare Moon? Do you have the orders from master?" Nightshade called out. He saw the long shadow approach and smiled viciously as he drew the axe from it's sheathe.
"Afraid not. It's your friendly Neighborhood Discord, here to save the day! Or night, whichever you prefer." Discord said. Nightshade shrugged as he and Discord circled each other. Discord looked over at the squishy, half eaten pony. Discord's eyes widened.
"Goodness, at least Pinkamena cooks them first!" Discord said, tutting and shaking his head. Nightshade raised his eyebrows.
"Who's Pinkamen-"
"None of that matters right now. What does matter, is why you're doing what your doing." Discord said, standing parallel with Nightshade. Nightshade shook his head and began laughing maniacally.
"Why I'm doing this? You should know, this was your previous mission. Until you betrayed our master and became greedy." Nightshade growled. His teeth were sharpened into fangs, and his eyes were screaming with rage.
"It's not really you speaking, is it? It's Abyss." Discord said, watching the young stallion's movements. As Nightshade began to close the distance between Discord and himself, a sword appeared in Discord's hand. Nightshade chuckled and shook his head as Discord summoned his sword. Shadows danced around them, and Nightshade saw Discord's eyes flash Dark Red.
"That's it, Discord. Give in to the darkness, use your dark privileges to fight me." Nightshade said as two creatures jumped out from the shadows. Nightshade spoke in an ancient language, and the shadows growled as the charged Discord. He sent two large blasts of light at the Beasts. The fight was on, and the Arena was Canterlot.
