vengeance at nightfall

Chapters

chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
chapter 11
chapter 12
chapter 13
chapter 14
chapter 15
chapter 16
chapter 17
chapter 18
chapter 19
chapter 20
chapter 21
chapter 22
chapter 23
chapter 24
chapter 25
chapter 26
chapter 27
prologue

chapter 1

(chapter 1) the hidden district

Three months later, the two sisters had begun to truly set their plan in motion, as they headed to the one place that sold maps of the different districts in Equestria. And though the organisation was built underground, a large guarded entrance gate kept out the suspicious characters that would destroy their bountiful amount of goods. The two sisters approached the guarded gate, as the two guards drew their spears.

“What is your business here?”
said the one to the left, being a large earth pony which made the unicorn to his right look small in comparison.

Nightshade simply smiled and adjusted her dark cloak, and stepped closer to the guards. Although she was no way taller than them she, made up for it in the way she carried herself.

“We mean you no harm, we simply seek a map of Equestria, with each district and city shown on it. If that isn't too much to ask of course,”
she smirked as she looked at them both. And Angel made her presence known as she walked up to her younger sister's side, offering a calm smile.

“We are not letting in outsiders, especially ones with no true wealth,”
at hearing this Nightshade levitated a bag of bits from her cloak, shaking it in front of them to let them clatter.

“Surely this must be enough to get in, and believe me, there's a lot more than just that,”
Angel said in a proud tone, lifting her own bag of bits as well. The two guards stepped back and the unicorn guard used his magic to open the large doors, letting them walk into the bustling and crowded underground city.

“Why do I get the feeling that bending the rules is part of the ‘business’ in this place?”
Nightshade asked her sister, as they tried to walk through the city filled with busy ponies and some occasional gryphons.

“If that's what you're thinking we need to do, than I think dad would agree, it's a risk we have to take to fulfil his dream,”
Angel said as she looked at one stallion in particular and smiled, winking at him and getting him to blush.

“Most of all, stay professional, no flirting or fornicating. Or so help me I will knock you out and carry you through the city by myself,”
Nightshade hissed at her sister, giving her the coldest stare that she could muster, making Angel look down like a disappointed foal.

“Understood, fun comes after victory, not before,”
she shifted her wings under her cloak and grumbled under her breath.

“I heard that,”
Nightshade said as they continued towards what looked like the centre of the city: a large building that looked like a rock formation that most of the citizens were avoiding. As if it was somehow important or gave off a bad vibe. Regardless of that fact, they moved forward and were eventually close enough to see what was carved above the door. Just above the large carved out doorway was a crown and scroll, which in all honesty, looked as though it may have been an over-glorified cutie mark that was made to suit the building itself.

“Well, this going to suck,”
Nightshade sighed as she started to walk in.

“What makes you think that it's going to suck?”
Angel said as she walked up to her sister's side, feeling confused and concerned.

“Whenever there is a pony who puts their cutie markup like that on the front of the building they work in it's either so traders can know which building to go to, or..,”
she sighed deeply and looked up at her sister “they get off on power and attention like our cousin, it's equal parts annoying and stupid.”

Angel folded her ears back and looked at the large entrance way, which made it look more like a castle than anything

“It definitely requires a lot of money to do this type of work, so maybe this guy is just proud of his achievements?”

Nightshade just chuckled
“In the vainest ways,”
as she laughed the sound of hooves on the dusty tiles caught her attention, and she instantly stopped laughing and looked in front of her. A few meters away there was a stallion with an incredibly well-groomed mane standing with what looked to be two guards at his sides, and he didn't seem to be in the best mood either.

Angel quickly tried to seem better conducted in front of the handsome stallion

“Please excuse my little sister, she has a thing again simply flaunting power…….and money,”
Nightshade just rolled her eyes and took a few steps closer to the stallion.

“Sir, is there somewhere we could discuss business, possibly somewhere more private,”
as she said this she tried to walk in the most dignified way she knew.

The stallion just looked her up and down before scoffing

“This foal is your sister? I'm so sorry for your bloodline.”
at hearing this nightshade tensed and folded her ears back in rage, just as she was getting ready to chew him out for insulting her Angel trotted up to her side and tried to hastily calm her down.

“Sir, I understand that you must be busy but we are only asking for something small, it would just take a second and we're probably just as busy as you so we should really just get this out of the way,”
Angel smiled as nervous smile as she looked at him and reluctantly, he agreed and silently told them to follow him.

In a hushed whisper, Angel quietly said
“Professionalism~”
before following the stallion, making Nightshade roll her eyes as she followed them, regardless of her current feelings towards the stallion. As they walked down the twisting corridors the guards stayed close, but not to the stallion or Angel, in fact, the two were talking the whole way.
No, the guards were clinging to Nightshade, eyeing her every step and breath. Although it was awkward to be escorted by guards it wasn't a feeling she wasn't used to, whenever she visited princess Luna she would usually get the royal treatment, and just found it annoying to be watched this closely.

“Hey, Night, true spell said that he can give us the map we need, apparently he already has two,”
Angel said in a peppy tone, Nightshade forced a smile that made one of the guards give her a cold gaze.

“How much do we owe you True spell?” nightshade said with so much forced joy it nearly hurt.

“That's simple, I want to be able to relocate to Canterlot, to work with the princesses as the true royal advisor I'm meant to be,”
the stallion said, in a prideful tone which made Nightshade want to knock him out.

“Awww um you see,”
Nightshade said as she flew up and landed in front of him, not only frightening him but his guards as well.

“That can't happen, our current advisor is perfectly fine, think of something more logical.”

The stallion glared at her and looked lost for words,

“Well….what do you even need a map of Equestria for? And especially one with the place's where the most dangerous creatures live, I mean…it just seems so useless to me just thinking about it!”
He leant in closer to her as he started to yell in her face,

“Unless you're trying to hunt them down and wipe them out, is that what you're trying to do you….you little mare!?”
Nightshade's expression was calm but did show how annoyed she was with being yelled at by a pony she just met.

“No sir, that is not what we are doing, but regardless of our intent we need a map to find those places. Since this is the main place to find the most accurate and recent maps we figured we’d come here, now please, let us just buy a stinking map so we can leave.”
while she stood there the stallion called his guards to him and told them to get the map for them. And instead of sticking around, he walked away with his head hung low.

“I can't believe you were so calm about all this, I think that's most calm I've seen you after being yelled at,”
Angel said as she was practically hopping in place, and making the guard that stayed to watch them back away a bit. When the other guard came back he gave them the map in exchange for 500 bits before they turned to leave, once they were finally out they checked out the map.

“Ok, so the changeling forest is here and the vampire ponies are there, wow, it is going to be a long way before we execute this plan fully,”
Nightshade said as she held the map in magic in front of her, the sheer distance between the changeling forest and the vamp pony horde were was enough to make Angel start to rethink the plan.

“Um sis, are you sure we can do this? I mean we could get really hurt and the distance alone is enough to kill us if the changelings don't,”
Nightshade just looked at her sister with a serious gaze,

“I wish this was going to be easy but it's not, most of the best things take the longest time and this is one of those things,”
she rolled up the map and tucked it in her cloak.

“And I know you're scared, I am too, but if we don't avenge our father then who will?”
Angel just looked at her, before her ears dropped and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What happened to you? You've become so much like him I don't know what to do anymore”
Nightshade sighed and hugged her sister, being as gentle and as loving as she could be without smothering her.

“I haven't changed but my feelings towards Equestria have, and I wish we could stop this but if we do we'll end up in a cell for the rest of our lives,”
she leant back and looked into her sister's bright blue eyes.

“When he died nobody but we and Luna cared, but she didn't even care enough about him to that point to give him a proper memorial. Now we're reforming Equestria, we're fixing it so judgements don't fall on the creatures misunderstood and hated because of one mistake.”
Angel wiped her tears away and sniffled softly before standing up tall,

“You're right, let's get going and fix Equestria,”
after she said that they both made their way back to the entrance, and short after, began their long journey to avenge their father.

chapter 2

a buzzing hive

Soon after leaving the district the two sisters made their way to the most populated forest in Equestria, this forest was known as the changeling forest. Although they knew the risks that could come with trusting changelings, there were more than enough benefits to give them a reason to trust the love sucking creatures. During their long journey they discussed ways to not only get the creatures to agree but to trust them as well, so going to the vamp pony horde would be easier.

“Ugh, are we there yet? My wings hurt. Why couldn't we have just teleported there?”
Angel complained as she flipped over in mid-air in front of her sister, forcing herself to look as exhausted as ever.

“For the fifteenth time no, and in order to teleport long distances you need to know what the place looks like, neither of us have ever gone there so that's not really an option.”
Nightshade said as she looked at the map again, and at the surrounding landscape. Pleased see that they were on the left side of the mountains that hid the district, she rolled it back up and tucked it back into her cloak.

“Jeez, you've been looking at that map so much I have to wonder if you have a crush on it or something,”
Angel said, flying back to hover beside her sister and elbowing her side to emphasise her point. Nightshade just groaned in slight annoyance and gave her sister a cold look.

“How would you know what a lovestruck mare looks like? Since you've never had that feeling before”
she shrugged and flew to the side to get away from her sister a little bit

“After all, all you really seem to want them for is sex and free drinks.”
Angel’s face quickly went from a teasing smile to an offended glare, and she lunged at her sister.

“Why you little, get back here!”
Angel shouted at her sister as Nightshade quickly dodged her, flying a little faster as the changeling forest came into view.

“Hey Angel, check that out,”
Nightshade had slowed down as Angel was just about to grab her, almost causing Angel to crash into her. They both looked at the dark and strangely coloured forest, the trees and plants almost looked exactly like changelings themselves: black with holes throughout the tree's leaves and even trunks, and the whole forest looked like it was pulsating with bright blues and greens. And although it looked bright from a distance beneath the trees looked almost as dark as the Everfree forest.

Angel turned to her sister

“Are we really going in there? We'd hardly be able to see anything that may attack us,”
Nightshade took a deep breath, she was afraid of getting caught by the changelings because they had come so far already.

“Unfortunately, yes, and I know you're scared, I am too, but we're already here so we might as well continue with the plan.”
she looked to her sister, the white in her coat looking more pale than usual,

“I'll watch your back if you watch mine, deal?”
she lifted a hoof to her sister, and with a hoof bump they flew down to the forest and slipped passed the trees and to the dark path beneath them. From where they stood the surrounding foliage seemed to block out the sun and choke out any other ‘normal’ plants that grew them, and although it was dark there were blue mushrooms lining the path, offering a faint ghostly light.

“Wow it's dark down here, we should really just get going before nightfall comes around,”
Angel said while she was practically shaking in her shoes, and quickly started to walk down the path.

“You're right, especially since I have to deal with the moon’s rising and falling, I need to be at full power so I'm ready for anything,”
she followed her sister but made not of their surroundings as the walked. Soon after they started walking a rustling sound caught their attention and the both stopped, looking around quickly.

“What the heck was that?”
Angel said as she backed up to her sister, Nightshade just scanned the inky black bushes blue tipped leaves.

“ I-I don't know, but whatever it was….it's definitely close,”
she pulled out a dagger from her cloak.
“brace yourself for anything, we need to below,”
a sharp pain hit her neck and she moved a hoof to where it came from before pulling out a dart. Angel quickly turned to her sister after hearing her pained groan and caught her just as she was losing her footing.

“Oh nonononono, no Nightshade please, I need you I can't do this without you,”
almost right after she said that a sharp pain hit her in the back, and she winced in pain as the world around her started to blur and she fell asleep.

When they woke up their cloaks were gone and they were chained up, the sound of loud buzzing filled their ears as the features of the room caught their attention. Nightshade shot up almost instantly, the way she usually would whenever her body finally fought off the poison, she panted heavily as if she had just woken up from a bad dream. Angel, on the other hand, groaned and instantly held her head as she carefully sat up and looked around, instantly going ridged at the sight of hundreds of changelings surrounding them.

“Um Nightshade, we might have a problem,”
Angel said in a shaky voice, nightshade just looked around and sighed before getting up and shaking her coat and tucking her wings in properly.

“I noticed, we're chained up and in a throne room, Chrysalis should be coming soon so try to clear your head,”
she quickly fixed her mane and stood in a military fashion, solid but calm

“I'll try to, but what am I supposed to think about?”
Angel said as she ran a hoof through her cotton candy coloured mane
“should I think about a soft and lovely cloud or a nice hunky stallion?”
Nightshade just sighed and shook her head, smiling at her sister's drug induced state of mind.

“Angel, you are a riot”
they both went quiet as the sound of buzzing almost silenced completely, and the large changeling queen, known as Queen Chrysalis, flew down from the high ceilings of her hive like a palace and took her seat on her throne, as what looked to be a smaller male version of her landed beside her.

“It's been so long since I've had guests I simply have no idea what to say,”
the Queen laughed quietly and puffed out her chest more.

“What brings you here you? Besides a map of Equestria.”

Nightshade cleared her throat and looked directly at the Queen

“Your highness, we were wondering if you'd like to possibly be able to roam Equestria freely, and be able to feed your subjects as well.”
at hearing this Chrysalis sat up and smirked, clearly becoming more interested in what she had to say.

“I would love to be able to do that, but as you probably already know, the princesses have been very keen on keeping us…..caged,”
after she said that, most of the changelings nodded reflectively, while Angel stared directly at the changeling who seemed to be the Prince, and instantly started flirting with her eyes and distracted him from the conversation.

“Oh I think they won't give you any trouble anymore, and we came here with a simple plan to help you and the other ponies that were seen more as monsters. We are reshaping Equestria into place the way it should be, true unity and no more judgements to divide us.”
Chrysalis just smiled and looked at her son.

“What do you think of this plan? Does it sound good?”
Her expression changed almost instantly when she noticed how flushed his face was, and she quickly looked back at the two mare's in front of her and noticed the seductive and sly expression on Angel’s face, and within seconds a smirk crossed her lips as well.

“We will go through with this, but under one condition,”
Nightshade nodded and waited for her condition,

“My dear sweet son needs experience with real ponies, he and some of my guards will go with you and your associate to execute this plan of yours. And when it's over they will come back and inform me.”
Nightshade nodded and the Queen just smiled

“Than it's a deal.”

Chrysalis looked at her son and quietly talked to him, while Nightshade turned to her now sober sister and sighed.

“You know this wouldn't have gone so well without you, come here,”
she leant over and hugged her sister tightly. Chrysalis ordered her guards to unchain them and give them back their things as she chose the guards that would assist them on their way. And after a small talk about the plan in its entirety they flew off in the direction of the vamp pony horde and got another step closer to succeeding with the plan.

chapter 3

blazing a trail

Literally a day after leaving the hive Angel had attempted to get closer to the Prince, his name was Metamorph, bet Angel had given him the adorable nickname ‘Morphy’ just to make him flustered. Nightshade on the other hand just called him your highness and didn't seem to be interested in talking to him or even being around him. And during the long trek to the horde he had nearly gotten himself killed by dragons, gryphons and even a particularly bad group of ponies, and her opinion on having him around changed drastically. Eventually, they all got tired of walking and, after raising the moon Nightshade had chosen to stop and set up camp for the night. None of the changelings hesitated when they almost instantly laid down together and fell asleep, leaving the two sisters to watch out for them and create a fire to keep them warm.

“Darn changelings,”
Nightshade muttered under her breath, as she dug a place to put a fire and stacked sticks in the hole.
“and just because they're with a prissy Prince who needs help to survive,”

“Don't be so mean sis, Morphy is actually pretty cute when you get used to him,”
Angel said as she struck flint with a rock until the sparks lit up the tinder at the base of the sticks. Nightshade just rolled her eyes and pulled out the map and marked the places they had passed with an ‘X’.

“We'll get to the horde in 4 days, 5 if the Prince gets in trouble again,”
Angel walked over to her and laid down beside of her, glancing at the map.

“Why don't you try to look for somepony at the horde? There's a good chance that those vampire ponies are attractive, and I know you haven't been with anyone in a while and it might be good to get you back in the dating game,”
Angel said as she rested a wing on her sister's back.

“And who knows, maybe their nice.”
The sound of rustling came from where the changelings were sleeping, and Prince Metamorph got up and walked over to them.

“I don't know, I've never seen or met a vampire pony but mother has told me that they are vicious and impossible to reason with. Is that really your next option for an ally?”
He said in a royal tone as he walked over to the two sisters, and Nightshade's frown turned into a grimace.

“Yes, who else would I go to to find strong enough ponies to help dig up the umbrum ponies? Oh wait, you're just a Prince, no pampered royal pony like you would ever understand such a delicate plan,”
Nightshade rolled the map back up and tucked it away in her cloak, before getting up and moving away from the two.

“Goodnight!”
She said sharply while she turned her back to them.

Metamorph laid down in front of Angel and sighed

“I guess your sister really hates changelings, so much for her plan for harmony,”
And he looked down at his hooves.

Angel put a hoof on one of his

“Oh no, it's not that at all, she's always hated high-class royal ponies. And maybe you shouldn't try to be friendly to every creature I meet, I can see why trying to save you from those can get annoying after a while.”
She said as she smiled at him before looking to her sister

“She also hasn't been in a relationship for a while, so maybe you just remind her of those good times,”
Metamorph looked over at Nightshade as well and smiled.

“Maybe, I can help her fall in love with someone again, it might just cheer her up,”
Angel just grinned and tapped his hoof gently.

“If that's what you want to try to do, then by all means, go ahead, just be careful; my sister can be rather picky at times,”
Angel yawned and curled up, moving away from him a little bit

“Well, I'm going to call it a night, I suppose you do the same before she yells at you to wake up tomorrow,”
And with that Angel had peacefully fallen asleep. After a little while of being awake, Metamorph got up and moved to lie down near nightshade and quietly said goodnight before falling asleep beside her.

Early the next morning Metamorph was woken up by being shaken, and he looked around quickly, before looking up to see an annoyed but more or less calm Nightshade, standing over him.

“Why were you sleeping next to me?”
She said in a whispering hiss as she glared down into his blue eyes.

“W-well your sister said you might be upset because you don't have someone to love, s-so I just thought I'd give y-you some….company,”
He stuttered out, giving her a nervous toothy smile. Nightshade just stood up properly and sighed before getting off of him and helping him to his hooves.

“First rule of being around me: don't sleep near me unless you tell me before I pass out, got it?”
He nodded quickly and stood in place in front of her, too scared to move

“Good,”
She turned to her sister and the small bundle of sleeping changelings and cleared her throat before saying

“To your feet! We have a lot walking to do today so we better start moving before it gets too late to move further.”
Soon after that, every one of them got up and collected their bearings before starting to walk, and Angel lifted the sun into the sky before joining the rest of the group.

As the long trek continued Metamorph had avoided any danger he could, which resulted in them moving further and overall walking a day and a half's worth of travelling before they set up camp again. And rather than lying down with his fellow changelings while Angel and Nightshade started the fire and marked the map, he helped set up the sticks and tinder and offered his input on the places they passed and passed through. Although this change in behaviour was good Nightshade couldn't help by feel confused by it, was what Angel told him really that inspiring?

Later that night, after the moon had been raised and everyone was starting to fall asleep Metamorph walked over to Nightshade and gently nudged her awake, causing her to groan and roll over.

“Ugghh what is it, your highness?”

“Well, yesterday you said that if I wanted to sleep near you I should tell you,”
He pawed at the ground with a hoof and looked away from her

“Can I sleep near you tonight?”
Nightshade just smiled and nodded, before moving a little bit to give him a warm spot to lie down, and he did so awkwardly but soon found himself drift off to sleep, and rested his head on her side.

chapter 4

vampires are romantic?

Nightshade woke up to the weight of Metamorph’s head on her, and carefully lifted a wing to push it off her, before getting up and walking over to her sister and nudging her with a hoof.

“Hey, if I'm awake the sun should be too,”
After saying that Angel just groaned as her horn glowed and the sun slowly rose into the sky, lighting up their surroundings enough to let nightshade look at the map with natural light.

“We're getting close, in half a day we'll pretty much be on top of it,”
She said as she showed the still groggy Angel the map.

“That's great, how soon can we go back to sleep?”
Angel said as she got to her hooves and rubbed her eyes, before yawning and looking over at Metamorph, lowering her ears and quietly cooing at him sleeping.

“You didn't wake him up?”
She said as she looked at her sister, Nightshade just rolled her eyes and tucked the map away.

“What difference would it make, he acts like lazy sleepy pony anyways,”
She walked over to the sleeping changeling and shook him gently.

“Rise and shine sleepy head, we're moving again,”
With a small yawn and stretch he got up and towered over her, but being used to it she just stood in place .

“Wake up your guards too, we may need their help with this part of the journey.”

He gave her a confused look, and almost seemed to blink the sleepiness away

“What do you mean by that? Are they going to be bait or something?”
Nightshade just smiled and laughed, patting his chest with a hoof.

“Oh no no no, I would never do something like that to an ally, we simply need their numbers. More ponies means less of a chance of getting attacked,”
He moved his head back and tilted it to the side slightly, and Nightshade just sighed

“We've never actually met any vampire ponies but I'm not taking any chances when we do, just wake up your bodyguards and fill them in on what we're doing.”
After she said that she moved her hoof and he hesitated a little bit, and looked her up and down before walking over to his group.

Angel trotted up to her sister's side while Nightshade watched for their expressions

“What exactly did you do to him, he looked a little scared just then,”
She handed Nightshade an apple and she took it with her magic.

“A little trick dad was good at, it helps better if you seem weak first,”
She took a bite of the apple as she watched the changelings discuss the plan ahead and just chuckled at the faces they made; they were mostly a mix of shock and fear as well as the obvious look of outrage.
One stomped over to them, and by the looks of it he was male.

“What the hell are you pulling us into?! We were sent to protect the Prince and it just sounds like our job is only going to get harder, especially since we might be dead after this!”
Nightshade rolled her eyes and threw the remainder of the apple into her mouth.

“Sir, I doubt that this plan is going to get any of a us killed, especially with our skills and power,”
Angel said as she stepped in

“Not to mention, if you do get hurt we'll protect the Prince until you are able to again.”
She smiled a big nervous smile and the changeling only glared harder.

“And what if we don't come with you, huh? What happens then, do you die when you get there?!”
Nightshade forced a hoof into his mouth, stunning him and shutting him up long enough for her to speak.

“I think that's enough complaining for now, if you don't want to come with us that is one less changeling to deal with, and you can buzz those little wings back to your hive.”
She moved her hoof before continuing

“Or you can stay and not have to risk being questioned by your hive on why you left your Prince with two mare's you don't know well enough to hurt,”
She shrugged and turned around as she started to walk away.

“Ultimately it's your choice, everyone else move and let him consider his options in peace,”
With that the group slowly began moving again while the changeling just stood there, but after a while of thinking we began to walk as well.

After a good few hours of walking they noticed a place with less plants and more red ‘dirt’ around than anywhere else, and Nightshade held out a wing to tell the others to stop before she turned around to face them.

“Ok, so we're here, you five need to look like regular ponies, and just don't talk for now alright, we need to play this safe,”
soon after she said that the four changeling guards turned into two mare's and two stallions, leaving the Prince the only one unchanged.

“I said the five of you, you need to change, you too your highness,”
Sh said with a more stern tone as she walked up to him

“I don't know if they've ever seen a changeling but I know that love filled blood might be something they're interested in,”

“I don't know, mare's seem to have the Sweetest blood,”
A voice said a fair distance away, and Nightshade quickly turned to see the silhouette of what looked like a stallion, and she turned to face him properly as she stood in front of Metamorph.

“Show yourself!”
She called out to the stallion and instead of a response she heard a laugh, which only made her tense up more. Within seconds there was a tall scarred stallion standing in front of her with a smirk crossing his lips.

“Hello my dear, have we met?”
He lifted one of her hooves and kissed it “I do think I'd remember a mare as beautiful as you.”

Nightshade just stood in place as her expression turned from being surprised to disgusted slowly, and she pulled her hoof away from him.

“Right, do you have a leader or something we could talk to? This is kind of an important thing and we don't have that much time to waste on flirting,”
The stallion frowned in an exaggerated way as his ears drooped.

“But, my dear, we just met shouldn't we talk first and get to know each other better?”
He said as he leaned down to her level and brought his muzzle closer to hers

“Maybe over dinner?”

Nightshade just smiled and lifted a hoof up to his chin and sighed as she gave him bedroom eyes

“You know, that sounds absolutely delightful, how about we run off and leave my friends as well?”

He smiled and his ears perked up

“Really?”
Nightshade moved her hoof and fixed her expression to one more serious.

“No, what did you think when I said that? I'd never say yes to that kind of offer right off the bat. Now I need to talk to your leader if you have one,”
He lifted his head up and chuckled.

“Of course, just give me a second to tell him he has visitors,”
And with that, he quickly ran off, leaving them all staring at Nightshade.
She just looked around at them and sighed before sitting down, and everyone else mirrored her movements as they started to wait for the stallion to come back with good news.

chapter 5

a bite too many

After a couple long hours the stallion came back and walked in front of Nightshade

“He agreed to talk with you, but only you, no one else should see our home let alone enter it,”
Nightshade looked back at her sister before turning back to the stallion.

“Go on ahead, I need to talk to my group a little bit,”
He nodded and smirked before trotting away. When he was far enough away Nightshade turned to address the group and got to her hooves

“Alright, Angel, I need you to lead everyone to somewhere more safe and I need you to keep them in line. Do you think you can handle doing that without having sex?”
Angel smiled and laughed a little bit.

“I'll try my best sis, you be careful in there ok?”
She hugged her sister before stepping back and leading the others away. Nightshade turned to where the stallion had gone and followed him in hesitantly, avoiding the more fresh looking blood puddles.

“So um, how far is this place?”
Nightshade said as a hint of fear made her voice shake slightly, and the stallion darted to her side causing her to jump.

“Not all that far, by the way, you seem to look a lot like that princess, you know, the one who raises the moon?”
She rose an eyebrow as he said this.

“You don't remember their names? They are like, the most important royals ever,”
He just shrugged and looked ahead, which made nightshade question his societies knowledge outside of the horde. They walked further in until the smell of blood was truly strong and they entered a large room full of ponies covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of the dead, blood drained animals. Nightshade swallowed hard and stopped

“I don't know if I can do this, what if I never get to survive this,”
She said to the stallion, and he stopped and turned to her, resting a hoof on her shoulder in a comforting way.

“If anyone gets to taste you it'll be me, I just met a beautiful mare that rivals the night itself with her radiance, I'm not just going to let my kind suck her dry,”
She smiled and took a deep breath before standing up tall, and he started to lead her further in and up to a group of mares that looked more than satisfied surrounding a stallion with a pale coat that looked pinker in certain places.

Nightshade stood in the most militant stance she could to force herself to look bigger and cleared her throat before speaking.

“Sir, may I ask you about a possible chance to walk amongst ponies again? And a chance to feed on something more sustainable than prairie animals,”
The stallion raised his head and met her gaze before smirking.

“What are you proposing young mare?”
He said as he sat up and some of the mares looked over at her.

“Well, you see, we're trying to unify Equestria the way it should be and we've already made allies with the changelings in this region. We thought it would be wise to make allies out of the stronger creatures of Equestria first and work our way to the others, your kind happens to be one of them, sir.”
The stallion nodded as though he was considering it and stood up to address the rest of the horde as Nightshade stepped back.

“Would this alliance be worth risking for a more abundant food supply!”
He practically shouted to the other vampires, and a majority of them cheered which lifted her hopes a little bit.

“how can we be sure that you will not betray us?”
He said as he stepped closer to her and leant down over her, forcing her to reflectively recoil and move closer to the ground.

“I will keep an eye on her sir since I met her first it should be my responsibility,”
Said the scarred stallion as he stepped forward and bowed.

“Then it's settled, you will go with this mare and inform us of any changes in the alliance, and in return, we will respect whatever new laws you make in this plan,”
He turned his attention to nightshade and she nodded.

“Thank you, sir, you won't regret this,”
She bowed and opened her wings to truly make an honourable gesture, before folding them and turning to walk out with the scarred stallion at her side. When they had left the horde and gotten far enough away from it he stopped her and stepped in front of her.

“Why didn't you tell me you were an Alicorn?!”
Nightshade just folded her ears back as she looked up at him.

“Is it that big of a deal? I mean I still bowed to him and showed him the respect that is required to make a proper alliance so what's really the big problem here?”
He was about to say something as the sound of hoof steps and wingbeats, as well as buzzing, cut him off.

“So, how did it go? You didn't get hurt did you?”
Angel said as she checked her sister for bites, and Metamorph walked up to her as well.

“That was really brave of you, I never thought ponies could be so brave,”
He turned his attention to the other stallion and looked at him for a little bit before looking back at her

“Is he coming with us?”

“Yes, but he's my responsibility so don't worry about it, now we have to head to Canterlot and send the message of unity to every region of Equestria, we're going to have a lot of work to do so let's get going.”
With that, she opened her wings and flew ahead with her sister at her side and the changelings close behind, while the scarred stallion galloped underneath them. Starting the long journey back home.

chapter 6

plans

As the group ventured on they began to discuss the details of the plan to the scared stallion, who was actually named Valour. And surprisingly, Angel didn't give him a nickname, which was probably the result of her being afraid of him.

“So, what exactly are you planning to do to make this work?”
Valour said as he trotted beside Nightshade, forcing her to slow down a little bit.

“We were planning to send messages to the rulers of the cities in Equestria informing them that there will be an increase in population, and from there, we'd get your kind and the changelings to slowly fill the cities wherever they want. And after that, we'll make allies with more creatures and continue the process.”

The entire group looked a little surprised at hearing the plan in its entirety, and even Angel seemed a little worried as her wings flapped a little out of sync.

“I still can't believe we're doing this, Luna would have never approved of this but imagine our luck with actually getting this far,”
She smiled nervously and giggled like a mad mare before Nightshade flew up to comfort her.

“We're going to finish the plan in its early stages and then we'll set them free, but only when we're sure they're not going to attack anyone,”
Metamorph stumbled back a little bit as his fellow changelings just listened to the conversation.

“You trapped them somewhere? I thought you killed them to take their place,”
The two sisters looked back at him before exchanging a calm expression.

“Do you really think we'd murder our mother and aunt just to rule Equestria alone, we've only started and it's already been too much stress to go through all at once.”
Nightshade said as she smiled.

“We we're just going to execute this plan and then free the umbrum before giving them the reins again, this is too much of a strain on us,”
Angel said as she ran a hoof through her mane.

“Besides, we have other plans for our own lives before that becomes our lives if you know what I mean.”

Valour just thought for a little bit before saying

“But how are you even sure that that will go without a hitch? If it was me ripped away from my Kingdom and trapped for weeks and then suddenly freed to rule the land again I wouldn't be happy”

Nightshade flew down to hover at his side and smiled.

“It's what we'd expect, but we'll be handling the business regarding you and your societies, with your help of course; since you are the two closest things to royalty without actually being the head of your kind you're our best chance of making decisions that involve other tribes.”
Nightshade said in a matter of fact tone and heard an excited squeal come from her sister.

“You mean we get to work with two attractive stallions that will help us make big decisions about Equestria's development?!”
She said excitedly, and the moment Nightshade said yes she was trapped in a bear hug.

“Oh my goodness I love you, I couldn't have asked for a better sister than you, never in a million years!”
Angel said as Nightshade hugged her back, pleased to hear that her sister was happy with the idea.

“I don't mean to sound annoying or rude but do we have a say in the matter?”
Metamorph said to them

“Yeah, not like I'm complaining or anything but it just doesn't seem all that safe, I mean for you”
Valour chimed in, which made Nightshade's ears perk up slightly at hearing the undertone of an accent she couldn't really put her hoof on.

“Well, yes, but I kinda assumed you'd be all for it, especially since you obviously like us, especially you Valour. You couldn't have made your affections more clear”
Valour just smiled and winked at her with his scarred eye, making Metamorph glare at him. The expression was noticed by one of his guards but he quickly played it off like it was nothing to him. After a very long day of walking they arrived in Canterlot and under the darkness of night slipped into the castle, the guards had been hypnotised to see them as royalty and let them pass almost immediately. it was a small precaution Nightshade took into consideration before they left, and it made sneaking in at night much easier. And as they walked to the main hall that looked like set up for the gala, she quickly got them some cushions to sit on instead of the cold floor.

“Ok, so let's discuss what should happen next, boys, what do you think?”
Nightshade said as she turned her attention to the males of the group and they began to tell the sisters what plans they had in mind.

chapter 7

A story told

The castle's interior glowed with the soft shine if moonlight while Nightshade was in her room finishing up the design of the letters, it had been a long few weeks of travelling and to be back in someplace familiar was a great feeling. But she dreaded what might happen to the peace if she was always working, constantly debating the next group of ponies or creatures that would be free to live among them. And on this bright night, she felt more pressured than ever and decided to take a break as she got up and walked over to her window. She drew the curtains away from it as more light shone into the room and she leant on the windowsill as she looked out over Canterlot and the vast land beyond it.

“Can't sleep?”
Spoke a voice that could only be mistaken for Valour, but it was lined with concern. She quickly turned her head to look back at him and sighed

“Yeah, it's just been so long since I've been able to relax like this, it's hard to remember what freedom feels like sometimes,”
She turned her attention back to the night sky as he stepped closer to her.

“You know, I've never imagined hearing something like that from a princess, let alone a mare so free at heart,”
He said as he looked at her, and Nightshade just smiled and giggled a little

“I'm free because that's what I want to be,”
Her smile slowly dropped and turned into a frown as she closed her eyes and sighed again

“I can never truly be free, not after what I have done.”

Valour seemed more than a little puzzled with her statement but turned his attention to the sky

“I don't deserve it either,”

Nightshade's ears perked up slightly and she looked at him, she could see that his small smile was there to cover up the feeling of guilt radiating from him.

“What happened?”
She said quietly

His smile broadened and he chuckled softly before the shine of tears in his eyes forced him to stop

“We all have made mistakes Nightshade, but none compares to the mistake I have made.”

Nightshade sat down and lifted one of her wings to rest it on his back gently

“I doubt that very much, but if you tell me your story, I'll tell you mine,”
He stared into her bright blue eyes before sitting down and sighing.

“Back when I was a young colt I thought the world was a beautiful place, and at a young age I found myself fascinated with alchemy. Although my mother was afraid that I'd blow my horn clean off my head someday she wanted to help me learn more about it, but on one particular day that I spent extra long time at the library reading, I was attacked.”
He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling

“At first, the bite only itched but then it got worse, I was prone to sunburns and with each day regular food stopped being enough. Eventually, I couldn't eat it and my mother wasn't pleased with my sudden change in appetite”

“And?”
Nightshade said as he paused for a moment.

“And then, I could smell and practically hear the blood running through her veins, I tried to stop myself but the hunger and rage made for a nasty combo. Before anything had happened I thought that maybe I should stop when things started to calm down, but that wasn't the case when I tasted her blood.” Nightshade folded her ears back and he looked at her.

“I sucked her dry, and true, she was probably dead way before all the blood was gone but it still bothers me,”

Nightshade looked away from him and slowly folded her wing.

“At least you're not alone, I accidentally killed my first official friend with my magic when I didn't know how to control it,”
She looked at him and offered him a small smile, and he smiled back.

“What did I tell you, we were destined to be together,”
Valour said and his accent was more noticeable again, making Nightshade roll her eyes.

“Keep thinking that casanova and I'll have to check to see if you really are crazy,”
She giggled softly and sighed as she looked back up at the sky

“You can always mimic things or attempt to get things perfectly the same, but it's never as good as the original is it?”
And as they sat there admiring the night, they both felt a little freer.

chapter 8

Set in motion

After the night before Nightshade had sent messengers out to deliver the message of true unity to the rest of Equestria, and things were truly starting to finally change. She had asked Valour and Metamorph to go back to their kind and get ten of them for the first wave of change. They were kept on the border of Equestria still while Nightshade and Angel were going to explain everything to Canterlot exclusively, to make sure the high-class ponies knew to be nice to their future citizens.

She walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the crowd that had gathered in front of them, and she took a deep breath before addressing them
“Ponies of Canterlot, I'm sure that you've heard about the changes that are going to take place in Equestria and we are more than aware that you are the most stuck up out of anyone else we've met, so we'll only say this once.”
Nightshade took a step back

Angel stepped forward and looked down at them before saying
“Please have an air of some kindness about you, the only way this won't work is if you hate them before they even get a chance. If you fail to do this naturally come to us, we'll explain in detail why this change is important.”
The ponies seemed confused at first but carried on with their lives regardless, seeming unfazed enough to execute the second part of the plan.

Nightshade flew out to the changelings and Angel went to the vampire ponies and let them know that they could go where they please, and not surprisingly, most of the vampire ponies went to smaller more rural towns while the changelings went to big cities. For the first few weeks Nightshade and Angel were swarmed with complaints about the changes, and each time it was a complaint about the change in their workplaces due to the new arrival.

To which Nightshade would say
“If you can't handle giving love or blood to creatures who just need a chance than you don't understand what ‘unity’ and ‘diversity’ means”
Which usually resulted in those ponies reluctantly giving them a chance, and in more cases than ever they didn't mind the changes. The big advantage to having creatures like changelings and vampire ponies living and working in society was how hardworking and manageable they were; changelings had a wide knowledge of relationship experience and knowledge. While the older more seasoned vampire ponies were a wonder in sampling blood and defining blood types while being able to have more abundant meals. Slowly more and more changelings and vampire ponies were being brought into Equestria's big cities and Nightshade began planning out what other races would be able to join in true harmony next, and also when they should free Celestia and Luna.

While Nightshade was in her room examining the map of the other places more pony-like creatures lived there was a knock on her room door
“Come in!”
She said as she didn't look away from her map

“Um sis, Equestria is looking pretty good now, we hardly have any more complaints and I was wondering if mom and auntie Tia could come back,”
Angel said as she walked into her sister's room.

“I was thinking the same thing, let's do it now before night comes around,”
Nightshade said as she turned to her sister and smiled before walking out of her room
“I miss them just as much as you do.”
The two sisters walked deep into the castle to where they kept the crystal statues of Celestia and Luna, and they both stood in front of them as they began to reverse the spell. The crystals slowly turned back into their regular majestic forms and they soon looked like themselves again, and their eyes slowly opened.

“It worked, I told you it would work,”
Nightshade said as she almost instantly ran to Luna and hugged her, and reflectively Angel did as well

“We missed you so much mom, and we have a big surprise for you and auntie Tia,”
Before Luna could ask both Nightshade and Angel practically pulled the two Alicorns out of the depths of the castle and to a balcony that overlooked the city. The sight of changelings vampire ponies and regular ponies getting along made their jaws drop.

“How….how did you do this,”
Celestia said as she looked down at them

“Well auntie,”
Nightshade started
“It started off as a way to release the umbrum ponies, but after reading up on them we decided on a less dangerous plan,”

“We went to the changeling forest and the vamp pony horde first and made two allies, we're hoping to expand on our unity plan.”

“But why? Equestria has never had the need for such things before, and it couldn't have been easy to do,”
Luna said as she lowered her wings to her daughters in a motherly way

“It was hard, all the travelling and the stress of dealing with uptight ponies,”
Nightshade said.

“A lot of ponies had complaints as well for the first three weeks after we got back, but we made it work,”
The sound of hoof steps behind them got their attention and all of them turned around, and almost instantly the two princesses were surprised to see the changeling Prince and the second in command vampire pony standing there. They were both dressed in their kinds armour and bowed to the princesses, Nightshade and Angel walked over to them and stood at their sides and looked up at their mother and aunt with a proud expression.

“These two stallions were the first we had the chance to work with, and they are going to be our advisors, as well as the spokesmen for their kind,”
Nightshade said before Angel spoke up

“Their names are Valour,”
The scarred stallion bowed after his name was said and stood back up
“And Prince Metamorph,”
The Prince bowed as well and the two princesses looked at each other, seeming a little unsure.

Celestia looked at them and stepped closer
“Are you sure that you can handle all this responsibility? I mean, you will have to be coronated and publically announced as the ponies who handle affairs throughout the walks of life you've brought in,”
Nightshade and Angel just looked at each other before looking up at her.

“Auntie, we've been doing that job so far, I don't believe it will be that hard to accept the title now,”
Angel said as Nightshade nodded in agreement

“Then it's settled, you shall be coronated in time for the gala,”
Luna said as she stepped closer and smiled at her daughters
“I am very proud of you, both of you have shown just how strong you are, and I'm sure your father would have been proud as well.”
the two sisters smiled at their mother and tears rolled down their cheeks as they hugged each other again.

“Maybe we can get coronated at the gala instead,”
Nightshade as she sniffled slightly and wiped her eyes

“It would lighten the blow and we can celebrate our work on that day, with all the ponies we helped,”
Angel said and Luna just sighed.

“Fine, we'll celebrate your achievement and your ascension at the gala,”
Luna said and the group began discussion the plan for the gala as they walked back to the main hall.

chapter 9

Gala/coronation

“I can't believe that mom was so calm, even after all the changes we made and the choices we made without her approval,”
Angel said as they got ready to greet the crowd waiting in the main hall

“I still think we're going to get a lecture about taking over and imprisoning them in crystal statues,”
Nightshade fussed with her hair as she responded to her sister. This was the day she had been dreading for years but knowing that they wouldn't be alone gave her a feeling of pride

An old looking mare with a faded green coat walked into the room, said

“You're on in five,”
And walked right out.

“I still can't believe this is happening, especially right after our plan, it was so lucky that we survived everything,”
Angel said as she walked over to her sister and smiled as she lifted her wings

“You and me both sis, you and me both,”
Nightshade said as she two lifted her wings and they both made their way to the ballroom.

****

After the ceremony, Nightshade and Angel had parted ways and began to talk to the guests and enjoy the music, but halfway through the night Nightshade had taken a seat and played with the crumbs of her food as she now felt bored with the event.

“Not enjoying your party?”
Metamorph said as he sat at her table and her ears perked up when he looked at the rest of the ponies dancing to the music

“I'm no expert at throwing parties but I think the point is to have fun at them.”
Nightshade lifted her head and fixed her mane, knocking her crown off

“Great, just great,”
She picked it up in her magic and levitated it back on to her head

“I just started being a princess and I already suck at it, what a great start to my life,”

“Actually, I came over here to ask if you wanted to dance with me,”
He got up and walked over to her before holding a hoof out to her

“If you wouldn't mind your highness.”

Nightshade just smiled and got up, taking his hoof as they walked onto the dance floor, soon after they joined the other ponies on the ballroom floor she started to feel more happy to have male friends like Metamorph to talk to. And soon she found herself beginning to be more comfortable with him as she rested her head on his shoulder, the slow rhythmic movements of the waltz felt almost like a lullaby. Until it stopped and she looked up at Metamorph to see why he stopped, only to see his eyes fixated on Valour across the dance floor while he held Angel close to him.

“Are you two honestly competing over us? This is supposed to be a fun night remember,”
Nightshade said as she stared into Metamorph’s turquoise eyes

“In any case, I'd have to deal with old business before I'd ever choose between you or him, and honestly, I don't even know if I like either of you enough to make that decision yet.”

He stepped back from her and just stood there in shock

“You were leaning on me and seemed more than a little happy to be with me, how could it not be me?”

Nightshade shrugged and looked up at him nonchalantly

“I was really stressed out and you helped me calm down a little bit, maybe it's the fact that I know your mother and how you guys work better than I know his kind. The closest I got with him was swapping stories about our lives,”

He leant down to her and looked into her eyes

“What did he tell you exactly? A sappy sad story about not being accepted or something?”
Nightshade shook her head

“Than what was it?”
As he said this his voice sounded sharper and filled with angry anticipation.

“You don't deserve to know, and now I realise I don't deserve to either but it's personal regardless so maybe you should just ask him yourself!”
After she had said this the crowd went silent and turned their attention to her, when she noticed she turned away and trotted out of the ballroom.

“Nightshade wait!”
Angel said as she flew after her sister and landed behind her halfway down the hall

“Valour explained everything, is there really something wrong with being hit on by two stallions?”
Nightshade just gave her a look that basically said are you serious? And Angel just looked down as Nightshade began to walk away again.

“Who would you choose if you had to?”
Angel said as she followed her sister

“I can't say anything until I'm done with old business, when I come back I'll let you know who,”
She walked back to her room and Angel helped her out of her dress.

“How long will you be gone?”
Angel said as she looked down and Nightshade hugged her tightly

“Not long, but please tell mother and auntie, Tia, I went to visit an old friend in the gryphon Kingdom,”
She stepped back and looked into her sister's eyes before turning around and flying off.

“Please be safe” Angel said as she watched her sister fly into the night sky before returning to the ballroom, when she got back Metamorph and Valour were confused as to where she had gone but didn't ask, as Angel walked over to the princesses to tell them first. And even on Nightshade's flight away from the castle, she hesitated for a moment before continuing on her way.

chapter 10

Separation

It had already been three days since Angel last saw her sister, watching her fly off in such a bad mood made her somehow feel guilty for it. On the bright side of the situation, neither of the stallions bugged her about Nightshade's whereabouts, she guessed that they might have thought that she left because of them, which wasn't entirely wrong; they did annoy her enough to make her storm out and fly to the gryphon Kingdom. And although Angel knew that their job would be harder to do alone, she knew that having her sister constantly be upset would be far worse for all four of them. So while they waited for her return they looked at the places marked on the map and settled on seeing them separately after they read up on them, and so went on the long wait.

****

After three weeks of waiting Nightshade finally returned to the castle, but she didn't at all seem happy to be back at all: her mane looked messier than usual and her fur looked matted in some areas. All and all, she looked like a totally flipped version of herself. She took off her crown and saddlebags and set them down near her bed before slipping off her silvery-blue hoof covers and climbing into bed.

“Nightshade? Is that you,”
The familiar voice brought her back to reality and she sat up to look over at Metamorph as he looked in from her doorway, and his expression of joy slowly fell as he got closer to her bed.
“What happened? You don't look that good at all,”
He said as he sat on part of her bed, and she sunk back under the covers

“I spent my whole life trying to preserve something that was already gone, and now I've got nothing to go back to,”
She said in a weak and almost sickening voice, and Prince Metamorph moved to lie down beside her.

“Why don't you tell me about it? Maybe getting it off your chest will help you feel better,”
She looked up at him and rolled over to face him before throwing her hooves around his neck and pulling him into a hug as she softly cried into his shoulder, he wrapped his hooves around her and pulled her closer as he soothingly rubbed her back with a hoof.
“It's ok, I'm here for you,”
He softly said and she hugged him tighter

“I knew I should have just let myself stay, whatever would have happened would have been better than feeling myself die a little bit more on my way back,”
She moved her head up and nuzzled his neck softly with the side of her muzzle.

“You know, your mother and your sister missed you a great deal, maybe it would have been easier to bring one of them with you,”
He said and he gently ran his hoof through her mane
“even I wouldn't have minded the trip if you asked me to go with you,”
She leant back and looked up at him with a small smile, and he wiped away some of her tears with a hoof.
“I'm sure your family will be thrilled to have you back,”

“You know,”
Nightshade said with a sniffle
“I think you might be right Morphy,”
After she said this she got up and kissed his cheek softly before hopping off her bed and trotting out of the room, starting to look for everyone else.

Metamorph ran a hoof over the cheek she kissed and just sighed
“That mare is one heck of an emotional roller coaster,”
He got up off her bed before fixing it and leaving her room as well.

After some searching Nightshade found her sister and Valour, as well as the two princesses, discussing the map from her room, she hadn't even noticed that it was missing before then. As she walked into the room they all looked at her and Angel sprung from her seat to hug her sister

“Oh I missed you so much,”
She leant back and looked at her sister
“So, how did it go with Windbreaker?”
She asked almost instantly knew as she began to examine her sister's physical state.

“Well, actually, it didn't go so well, especially since he got another mate already,”
She said as she looked away and Angel held her sister close in a comforting hug

“I'm so sorry, I really didn't know,”
Angel said and the sound of Valour getting up got her attention and he slowly walked over to them.

“A relationship you wanted to rekindle has fallen apart, it's rather sad don't you think?”
He said as he got closer and almost shoved Angel aside as he stepped in front of her
“now you can make your choice, yes?”

Nightshade took a step back as her ears perked up before quickly dropping to the side
“What is wrong with you?!”
She practically hissed at him and he just frowned
“My longest most pleasant and favourable relationship just ended and the first thing you think about is who I choose?! You have definitely got it twisted,”
She turned around and began to head out of the room and to the ballroom, sitting in the centre of it and looking at the interior of it.

“If only I stayed long enough to enjoy the night properly, none of this turmoil would have happened,”
She looked down at the shiny clean floors in front of her and almost jumped at the sound of Valour’s voice

“Do you really think there is something wrong with me princess? Isn't that a little against what you've been trying to promote?”
He walked into the room and stood a few feet behind her, and she turned to look at him angrily.

“I know well enough that you don't want my affections as much as Metamorph does, and I don't understand why you keep trying to me when the odds of getting me are slim,”
She said as she got up and faced him, seeing his smirk as he stepped closer.

“Such a ridiculous mare, thinking you can say no to me without any repercussions?”
Seconds after he said that he ran at her and pinned her against a wall with a hoof over her throat
“You were right about one thing, your affections weren't my main focus, it's a shame that you are so pretty though, I'd hate to damage such beauty.”
He leant in and sniffed at her neck before running his tongue over an artery before pulling away
“but there is something about your blood that's intoxicating.”
He bared his fangs and just as he began to lean in light blue magic threw him away from her, and she fell to the ground just as Angel let her magic drop and ran over to her sister. And carrying her to her room, heart pounding so fast that she felt too weak to even stand when they got there.

“Your ok right? He didn't bite you?”
Angel said as she looked her sister over for any bite marks

“We…..we need to get rid of him and check his kind for double-crossers, he might have had a more sinister plan in mind.”

chapter 11

Traitor

Angel sighed as she agreed with her sister's decision, and moved to sit beside her and lean back onto her bed

“And here I thought that maybe I could make him like me, this just ruins everything previously established by our plan. And now no one is safe from him,”
She sat there for a moment in silence before her ears shot up

"No one is safe!”

Nightshade looked at her as the same thought ran through her mind as well and she got up quickly

“We need to get to mom and auntie Tia before he does. ”
Without another word the two bolted out of the room and ran directly to the main hall, when they got there they saw Valour starting to advance on the two princesses slowly and without hesitation, Nightshade shot at him. The moment he turned around she grabbed him in her magic and galloped away, heading for the dungeons beneath the castle. While she ran deep into the castle with Valour, Angel explained what had happened in the ballroom, and Luna didn't hesitate to go down to the dungeons as well.

“This is one of the reasons why we didn't want to make an alliance with them, Alicorn magic gives a boost to the blood they'd get from one and your sister is probably the most well versed in the dark magic she possesses,” Celestia said as she walked with Angel

“So, basically, what you're saying is if he drank her blood he'd get some of her magic and power?”
She said as she tried to properly dissect what Celestia was saying

“In a way, the same would happen with you but the magic wouldn't be as strong,”
She looked ahead and looked more and more worried with each step she took

“But who knows what would have happened if he managed to drink her blood? I'd hate to see what would happen to Nightshade if it's not enough,”
She said in a more somber tone, and Angel began to favour her sister more and more. Once they got down the dungeons and found Nightshade and Luna they noticed that they were staring into the locked cell in front of them, and Luna's expression made her look like she was ready to tear him limb from limb.

“I can't believe such filth was right in front of us all this time, I really should have guessed from his dreams that he was no good,”
Luna said as she turned her snout up and away from him

“I promise I'll never make the same mistake twice, but I really must know what you saw,”
Nightshade said and Luna turned to face her and lifted a wing to shield their faces.

“In his dream, he turned you into his kind and brought you back to his home and planned on using you and your title to take over Equestria, before killing you and taking over completely,”
Luna said as she stared into Nightshade's eyes which were rapidly filling with fear

“Is…is this going to be enough to hold him?”
She said as her voice wavered slightly.

“If cut down the amount of blood he gets, then yes, until then we have to just wait and hope this is enough,”
When she had finished Nightshade nodded and Luna lowered her wing and looked at Valour again

“If you don't rot here than you will in Tartarus,”
She said coldly as she began to walk away.

“Of course you were going to use me, I bet you didn't even kill your mother or feel sorry for any lives you've taken,”
Nightshade said when Luna was out of sight

“How else was I going to take over and make our kind the most abundant type of ponies? You really are cute, though, so bold for such a short princess,”
He said with a chuckle.

Nightshade's wings tensed

“It…is..a MEDICAL CONDITION!”
She said as she practically flew at the cell and punched him so hard in the muzzle that he slipped off his hooves and a small trail of blood dripped out of his mouth and nose

“And in case you were wondering, I'd choose Metamorph either way.”
She spat at the ground near his hooves and walked away from the cell door

“Fucking prick,”
Celestia and Angel moved out of Nightshade's way when she walked back to the ground level of the castle and was met with a familiar face.

“Nightshade, are you okay?”
He looked down at the blood on her hooves and instantly began to look more worried

“Don't worry Morphy,”
She said as she lifted the bloody hoof up

“It's not mine,”
She smiled and walked towards her room and he followed her.

“Then whose is it?”
He said as he walked at her side

“It's Valour’s, that prideful prick tried to double cross me and kill me to take over Equestria, and I popped him in the muzzle.”
She said calmly as her smile turned into a frown

“It was my mistake for trusting him, though,”
She looked up at Metamorph and folded her ears back

“I put everyone in danger, especially the ones I love the most.”
She looked away from him and down at the floor in front of them

“Hey, everyone makes mistakes, even my mom made a mistake that wrecked the plan she had to take over Equestria because of one loose end. But we got back up and moved on,”
He stopped her by holding a hoof out in front of her and she looked up at him before rearing up and kissing him and accidentally poking her lip with one of his large fangs.

“Ow….on a better note, I choose you, out of all the things that happened you've been supportive and showed more emotion than I've ever seen from a stallion,”
She kissed his lips softly

“And I can't see myself with anyone better, Morphy.”

chapter 12

Old friends

Nightshade and Metamorph were outside on a brisk night under the light of the moon, laying down in the centre of the Canterlot gardens. It had been a couple crazy busy days after the incident with Valour, but after the change in the quantity of blood he got, he became tamer and less likely to attack. So after talking to the multitude of vampire ponies that had shown up, they were deciding to take a break from everything, and since Angel said that she'd come to join them after she dealt with one more thing they patiently waited.

Nightshade sighed
“I love how the night sky looks when mom lets us help raise the moon,”
She got up and looked around
“but she said something about the flowers she planted out here,”
She said as she walked away from their spot as she began to look around.

“What exactly do they look like?”
Metamorph said as he got up as well, watching her walk around and look around at everything

“lunar lilies, she planted them so they would bloom on our birthday and they're gorgeous when they bloom,”
She gasped and trotted over to him, grabbing his hoof and pulling him to a small patch of budding purple flowers.

“Is this what you were looking for?”
He said with some confusion as he leant down and looked at one closely
“they just look like regular purple flowers,”

“Of course they do, but she told me that whenever they'd bloom she'd come out here and sing our lullaby to them.”
She smiled and laid down in front of them
“I can't remember the last time I heard it, she'd always sing it when we had nightmares or just couldn't get to sleep,”

Metamorph just laid down beside her and looked at her
“Would you teach it to me?”

Her ears shot up and she looked at him with a small blush
“I don't know, it's really old and I'm not really the best singer,”
She fiddled with her hooves as she looked down at them
“You're better off asking our mom to teach you.”

He nuzzled her and gently grabbed her hoof with one of his own
“I'd prefer to hear it from you, and I bet your singing voice is beautiful,”
She smiled and sat up

“If you say so,”
She cleared her throat and began singing, although it was the old equestrian tongue it was still a beautiful tune. It had an almost ghostly melody that seemed to be magical all on its own, and as she slowly stopped a tear rolled down her cheek as a small smile crept onto her lips. She quickly wiped it away and looked at him, noticing that he too was brought to tears

“That was the most beautiful lullaby I have ever heard without knowing what the words meant,”
He said as he held his hooves up to his muzzle.
“How long have you remembered that lullaby?”

She just shrugged
“For as long as I can remember, probably a hundred years, maybe longer,”
His smile only grew and she looked at the flowers again
“I just used to sing it to my little dragon, I just hope she's been ok without me.”

“Why don't you ask her yourself?”
Angel said as she walked into the garden and towards them, accompanied by three other mares and a bright blue dragon about the size of a dog. Nightshade practically squealed with joy and held her hooves out as the blue dragon began running at her, jumping into her open hooves for a loving hug.

“Oh my sweet baby, you've grown up so much,”
She said as she held the dragon in what looked to be a suffocating hug, and she simply nuzzled Nightshade's neck

“Whoa whoa whoa, who the heck are all of you?”
Metamorph said as he stood up and one of the mares instantly glared up at him.

“These are our old friends from years ago,”
Angel said as she hopped up to the pinto mare with plenty of blue in her coat and mane
“This is seafoam Blossom, but we just call her Blossom,”
The mare waved at him with a happy smile before Angel moved to the next mare. She looked more like a bat pony with a fiery mane, tail and hooves
“This is Inferno with an ‘I’”
She just nodded in a very dignified way as Angel moved to the last mare, who had a white coat and a long black and red mane.
“And this Scarlett,”
She just rolled her eyes and looked away, from what Metamorph could see Scarlett was the only unicorn and the only one without wings.

“Okay, so who's the little dragon?”
He said as he pointed a hoof to her and she slipped out of Nightshade's arms, before standing in front of him and holding out one of her front webbed feet.

“My name is Sapphire, and it it nice to meet you Prince Metamorph,”
She said as she shook his hoof
“I'm practically Nightshade's daughter”

“She's right, but Angel, why did you bring them here to meet him now?”
Nightshade said as she gently ran a hoof over sapphire’s head frill.

“Well, you've been talking about how much you missed sapphire and I just thought that you'd like to see everyone again,”

“Yeah, we really missed you over the years,” Blossom said as she hopped up to Nightshade and hugged her.

“Not to mention you kind of disappeared when you gave sapphire to us to take off,”
Inferno chimed in as she walked over to her as well

“I trusted you two enough to take care of her because you two are mature enough for a baby dragon, and besides, you're together anyways so I thought doing as a team would be easy for you,”
Nightshade said as she let go of Blossom

“There you go analysing everything again, jeez, do you know how to act normal?”
Scarlett snapped as she frowned at everyone.

“We all know you have a soft spot for Sapphire and Blossom,”
As soon as Angel said that everyone but Metamorph nodded, and he decided to sit down and try to absorb everything.

And all through the night, they swapped stories and eventually, everyone was smiling and pleasantly chatting about what they've been doing after they stopped working as bounty hunters, and little by little Metamorph began to be more fond of Sapphire and the rest of Nightshade's friends. But after a few long hours of talking they separated and left to go home and get some rest, while Sapphire chose to stay with her adoptive mother and new soon to be father, in Canterlot.

chapter 13

alliances

After the pleasant night before sleeping comfortably became an easy task; with no worry on her mind about her young dragon and a changeling mate willing to be with her and protect her, but sadly, their rest was interrupted. A firm knocking woke Nightshade up and she groaned as she rubbed her eyes, waking up Metamorph and Sapphire in the process.

“who is it?”
She said as she began to force herself into a sitting position, and Sapphire moved her slender body away from her mother's

“um there is an important matter from out of town that needs to be taken care of,”
Angel’s voice said from behind the door, and Nightshade got up and off of the bed.

“who's here this time?”
Metamorph said as he yawned and got up as well, picking up the still sleepy Sapphire and resting her on his back

“business from out of town, I suppose we'll have to hold a meeting to discuss what they want,”
Nightshade said as she quickly fixed her mane and put her crown on
“let's go greet our guests before they get upset with us for being late,” she said as she opened the door to see a very anxious Angel behind it.

“come on, the requested you personally and I think you might want to hear what they had to say,”
They left the room and made their way to the main castle entrance, but Nightshade would have never expected to see a group of armoured griffins behind one that almost looked to be royalty, and she froze.

“princess Nightshade, we have come to discuss a possible alliance, after seeing how you changed equestria we figured you'd do the same for us,”
The more royal griffin said and she looked at her sister and colt friend before turning to him and speaking

“we should discuss the details further, so we truly understand the reasoning behind why you want to do this,”
She said as she stood as tall as she could.

“very well then, lead the way,”
Said the griffin and they all made their way to the main hall. As they walked to the main hall they quickly got acquainted with the griffin leader, as it turned out his name was fleetwing and the armoured griffins around him were his guards. The thought of seeing a griffin guards made Nightshade feel easy but she forced herself not to show it. When they arrived they took their seats and begun the discussion, the alliance was to truly merge their kind and allow both ponies and griffins to not only visit each other’s land but live there as well. And after some small talk the agreement was practically set in stone Nightshade had offered them to stay in the castle until the felt as though they needed to leave.

Nightshade turned to Metamorph and smiled
“this is going to be a good development for equestria abroad, soon we'll be so diverse this place will be the slitting edge of equality,”
She said as the griffins walked out of the room, lead by Angel so that they could get to their spare rooms.
“oh shoot, I have to feed Valour again,”
She said as her joy quickly turned

Metamorph put a hoof on her shoulder
“don't worry, I'll take care of it for you, you just go and rest ok?”
She smiled and nodded before he got up and walked out with Sapphire on his back. It was only then that she noticed that one of the griffins didn't leave, and she tilted her head in confusion.

“aren't you going to go rest as well? It really must have been a long trip from the griffin Kingdom,”
He got up and walked over to her before taking off his helmet, and the sight of the familiar face stunned her.
“W-Windbreaker?”
Was all she managed to say as she stared at him, his features weren't as rough as the others which she had come to expect from him.

“I truly am sorry about what happened before, I just assumed after all that time you would have moved on,”
He gently grasped one of her hooves and kissed it softly
“she was nothing compared to you,”

She pulled her hoof away and folded her ears back as she looked away from him
“you know this can't happen, especially not now.”
He lifted one of his talons to her cheek and gently turned her head so she was facing him again

“can't you give me just one more chance?”
He leaned in closer to her and she pressed her head into his talon gently, lifting a hoof up to it as she closed her eyes.

“that's not how it works, I did love you and I waited until it was safe enough for me to go to you, but after this long I've moved on” she pushed his talons away and got up
“you should consider doing that too.”
And with that she moved away from him and walked out of the room,leaving him alone.

chapter 14

challenges

Nightshade walked to her room in the heat of mixed emotions from shooting down an old love of hers, and as she stepped into her room she flopped onto her bed. And after a few minutes Prince Metamorph walked in as well, holding a snarling and spitting Sapphire with him.

“I swear, that stallion is not worth the roomy cell your mother gave him, Sapphire nearly tore his hyde apart because of his rudeness,”
He closed the room door behind him and put Sapphire down, and as soon as she was free she ran to the door and tried to reach for the handle.
“I can't believe we're letting him live here still, even if he is locked up,”
He moved to lay down beside her and nudged her gently with a hoof when he noticed her frown.

“he's staying at the castle, he's staying here today and I don't know how to feel about it,”
She said in a flat tone, and Metamorph tilted his head to the side

“who is staying here? And why does he bother you?”
She looked up at him and folded her ears back and he almost instantly knew who she was referring to.
“no, when did you find out that he was staying here?”
He said as he sat up and leaned down to spot any physical change in her emotion

“he's one of the griffin guards, after everyone left he asked me to give him another chance and…and” she struggled to get the words out and squeezed her eyes shut before covering her face with her hooves.

“and you miss him,”
Metamorph said as he laid down in front of her and gently ran a hoof over hers
“I understand why, but you know just as well as I do when it comes to relationships,” Nightshade scoffed a little bit and moved her hooves.

“actually, I think I might just know a little more than you buzz bee,”
While she said this Sapphire pulled herself onto the bed and laid down beside Nightshade and she began to stroke her soft scales
“I've been in a quite a few relationships and most of them I ended myself, I know so much about how these things end up if you give in.” she looked him dead in the eyes and smiled
“when I don't want a relationship I don't look for one.”
A knock on the bedroom door caught all their attention and made Sapphire jump
“come in!”
She said as she pulled the little dragon closer. Windbreaker opened the door and stepped into the room before stopping at the sight of Metamorph on the bed with her.

“Windbreaker!”
Sapphire shouted and hopped off the bed before running up to him and hugging his chest
“it's been forever since I've seen you,”

“hasn't it? I could hardly tell it was you,”
He picked her up and hugged her properly
“wow, you really have grown up haven't you?”

“yeah, mom took great care of me after we left, but you still look the same,”
She touched his beak with both claws and smiled when he made a funny face.

“excuse me, but who are you?”
Metamorph said, cutting off the tender moment

“I should ask you the same thing changeling,” Windbreaker shot back as he set Sapphire down and glared at him
“are you really my competition, a love hungry changeling?”
He said with a smirk.

Metamorph got to his hooves and floated down from the bed with the soft buzzing of his wings and stood in front of him
“at least I care enough to know her for her and I'd wait for as well,”
He said as he straightened up to exaggerate his posture.

“I'd suggest that you keep your distance from my mare friend,”
Windbreaker said as he stepped closer to him

“enough!”
Nightshade said and teleported between them
“you, out!”
She said as she pointed to Windbreaker, and he took a moment before stepping closer to her. Metamorph only growled in response and he backed away before walking out, and the moment he did Nightshade's hooves felt weak and she sat down and stared at the floor.
“dear Celestia, what have I done.”

chapter 15

fuel to the flame

Nightshade sat in the haze of the moment, Windbreaker had come all this way to see her and try to rekindle their relationship. And she had pushed him away, and the pain and fear of losing him made her feel stuck in place. Metamorph walked up to her side and snorted

“I was wondering how long it would take get rid of him, griffins are so territorial and rude,”
He stomped a hoof before looking down at her
“hey, are you okay Nightshade?”
He said with deep concern in his voice.

“I….I didn't want to do this, I…I need to go,”
She got up but kept her eyes off of him and walked out of her room slowly
“I'll see you later Morphy.”
She walked through the castle to a balcony that seemed to overlook ponyville and she sighed as she sat down and looked out at the sky as the sun went down. She leaned over the rail and folded her ears back

“what's wrong your highness? Something bothering you?”
Windbreaker said as he walked up behind her. She quickly turned her head and looked at him

“why would you care? I've already made you hate me,”
She turned away from him and ran a hoof over the rail and stared down at it as he moved to sit down beside her.

“I could never hate you my little starburst, I just don't like knowing that we aren't together anymore,”
He looked at her and lifted a wing to cover her back
“I understand that you've moved on and I still love you, but we're just not as close as we used to be.”

Nightshade nodded and lifted her head to look at him
“thank you for understanding Windbreaker,”
Just as the moon began to rise two royal guards ran to them

“your highness, the prisoner is trying to escape,”
Nightshade got up quickly and made her way to the dungeons of the castle and ran to Valour’s cell. She glared at him and he stepped back from the bars

“what is wrong with you? Are you suddenly too hungry to be civilized?”
She said angrily

“well if it isn't the tiny princess, what are you going to do, Hug me to death?”
he shot back as her smirked

“the only reason why you are alive right now is because I don't know what your leader will do if he found out that you were dead. Besides, I don't hug I crush,”
Nightshade said as she fixed her mane and the guards followed by Windbreaker ran down into the corridor.

“Oooooo, how terrifying, I'm practically shaking in my horseshoes,”
He said with a chuckle which only helped to aggregate Nightshade further

“I'd just love to end you right now,”
She said through gritted teeth as she glared at him coldly. It didn't seem to put him off though, if anything he seemed more amused

“go on then, what could you possibly do to hurt your tiny little body?”
Nightshade folded her ears back as her horn began to glow and a blue aura surrounded his body

“you know what, why don't we just muzzle you instead,”
She looked to the guards and one of them trotted away, before coming back with a pony muzzle and the other guard opened the cell and stepped in. After fixing the muzzle to his face they left and Nightshade dropped his body on the stone floor roughly
“try not to die now you son of a horse,”
And with that she strolled out of the corridor
“that ought to teach that loudmouth who's boss.”

chapter 16

bittersweet memories

Nightshade trotted back up the stairs and quickly to the room that now held the map, the two guards had left already but Windbreaker stayed close behind her as they walked.

“who was that?”
He said as he picked up the pace a little bit

“that was Valour, he was one of my supporting allies but he tried to kill me a couple days ago, now we're keeping him at the close watch and he's probably going to get interrogated.”
Nightshade said, not missing a beat as she walked

“but won't word get out to his kind?”
Windbreaker said only sounding more worried

“I'm no stranger to keeping secrets, just because my appearance isn't one anymore, doesn't mean I've given up on keeping them all together,”
When they got to the room she quickly made her way to a shelf and grabbed a mahogany box with gemstones carved into the top and sides.
“and I still keep secrets like this one as well,”
She quickly flew over his head and out of the room
“tell your fellow gryphons to prepare to leave, I don't think it's as safe as it was now,”
Without hesitation, he flew off and to the rooms where they were staying. Nightshade flew back to her room and landed quietly in the doorway, looking in to see sapphire fast asleep on her bed but Metamorph was nowhere to be found. She walked over to the bed and gently tapped the little dragon’s back to wake her up when sapphire lifted her head Nightshade smiled and levitated the box into view

“happy early birthday sweetheart.”
Sapphire practically shot up when she heard those words and grabbed the box

“you remembered!”
She happily opened the box to see a necklace made up of vibrant and colourful gemstones
“mommy, are these the first gems you used for gem magic?”
She said as she looked away from the necklace.

“yes, I figured I could give you a gift that could not only protect you but be memorable at the same time,”
She motioned for Sapphire to turn around and she did obediently, and Nightshade began to put the necklace on her.
“I got rarity to make it with a soft inner lining so it's easier to sleep in as well,”
By the time it was on Sapphire was already on the brink of tears, and she quickly turned around you hug her.

“you're the best mother ever, I can't wait to show this to daddy,”
She let go of Nightshade and ran her claws against the large emerald on her chest and flicked her tail happily

“speaking of which, where is your father?”
Nightshade said as she looked at sapphire, and she happily answered her

“oh, he said he was going to go to his room and try to think about how to make you happy,”
Sapphire’s smile stayed as she stared at the gems.

“thank you, I'll be right back to tuck you in, don't use up the magic in the gemstones before than ok?”
She just nodded and Nightshade bounded out of her room and to Metamorph’s room and took a deep breath before knocking on his door. There wasn't a response but she slowly pushed the door open and looked inside, the curtains were drawn so it was hard to see anything but she noticed the pony shaped figure lying on his bed.

“Morphy? Are you alright?”
She stepped in slowly and walked up to the side of his bed

“I don't know whether I messed up or not, do you think that I was too harsh on your old colt friend?”
He didn't even seem to move as he said this and Nightshade just looked down.

“you were at first, but that's not the reason why I left, the reason why I left was because I needed some air. I knew that if I didn't stop you two you would end up killing each other, and the stress of knowing that I could lose either of you didn't help.”
She lifted her head and looked at him

“why is love so difficult to understand? I mean it's good but it can hurt, and I don't ever want to hurt you,”
Nightshade stepped closer and hopped on to his bed and laid down beside him

“because love is a battle, if you surrender too easy you may actually lose more than you think, and if you try to hold onto too much and don't think about surrendering you push them away. It has to have a balance, a harmony before it can truly be good,”
He turned his head to look at her and met her bright blue eyes

“how do you know more about the thing I need to survive?”
She shrugged and closed her eyes before looking away.

“I've been in my fair share of toxic relationships, they all ended in different ways but they all had similar causes; some were passionate but too close for comfort, others made me feel even smaller than I am now. But with you, I don't feel like I'm talking to a changeling or some dangerous creature,”
She looked back at him and smiled as she leant in closer
“I feel satisfaction in just being your friend, so being your mate makes me ecstatic.”
She leant on him and nuzzled his neck softly
“so please if you're ever upset just tell me, I will do the best I can to turn it around,”
He kissed the base of her horn and held her close.

“right back at you Nightshade, right back at you.”

chapter 17

attack

The next day went without a hitch, with it being Sapphire’s birthday most of the day was filled with plans centred around her. After the long day of celebrating and making sure that she was having fun, Nightshade and Metamorph were just about ready to go to bed. So after picking up the happily sleeping dragon they both made their way back to their room

“well, today was definitely a trip, I hope I can have as much fun as we had today dealing with complaints from ponies again,”
Nightshade said before yawning and stretching out her wings before folding them again.
“I know I planned all this for her ages ago but it was still tiring to do,”
Metamorph chuckled and gently nuzzled her cheek

“you know, you didn't have to wake up so early for the party, everything was ready before she got there anyways.”
Nightshade smiled and looked up at him

“you know as well as me she can be picky about where certain things are or what food is served,”
Metamorph lowered one of his transparent wings to her back

“how about we enjoy the night again? We can sit in the gardens or find a nice cave near the castle.”
She shook her head and folded her ears back

“I need to be here and ready for the ponies before the sun comes up, we have to stay in the castle so the gardens are our best choice,”
He smiled and kissed her cheek

“my mother would just love you, you and your royal limits,”
When they got to their room the tucked Sapphire in and gave her her favourite stuffed animal before leaving, and quietly made their way to the Canterlot gardens. Although the plants weren't as vibrant as before it was still beautiful and peaceful, and like before they took their seats in front of the lunar lilies.
“you know, I never would have guessed a mare like you would adopt a dragon as your daughter, how did that even happen?”

Nightshade gazed down at the flowers and smiled
“I was running away and she was too, I was 300 years old so I was still young at the time, but she was so small and scared. When we met she was confused but interested in me, and shortly after that we began travelling together,”
She looked up at him and folded her ears back
“she was so young at the time that all the time we spent together made her see me as a mother.”
Metamorph was listening intently and smiled a little more as he asked more questions about sapphire, and as the night dragged on they both found themselves falling asleep and got up to go back inside. But once they did the sound of a scream filled the area for a second before quickly falling back into silence, and a short while after a unicorn stallion with a pale lavender coat and navy blue mane ran into view. The front of his body and entire face was covered in blood and he only smirked when he saw them,

“the small princess and the Prince to be, just the ponies I wanted to see.”
he began running at them and Nightshade stepped in front of Metamorph before blasting magic at him, he dodged it effortlessly and kept running. This time shooting magic at her, and she used her magic to make a shield to protect her and Metamorph from the shots. The stallion slowed down and shot a beam of magic at the shield and she flinched, he hooves skidding across the floor slightly as she returned the blast while keeping the shield up.
“just give up princess, you won't win while I'm like this,”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she forced more magic into the beam and the shield began to grow and move towards him slowly. When she opened her eyes a purple aura came from them and her magic changed to a darker more smoky blue, and the shield expanded and moved right at him. Upon impact the magic ran through his veins and shattered him from the inside out before the magic faded, and she just stood there panting as the pink aura faded but her pupils were now slits and didn't change back. Metamorph just stared at her in horror of what he had just seen, and just stayed in place

“you…..you just killed that stallion,”
He managed to stammer out
“you just killed somepony in front of me!”
Nightshade closed her eyes and smirked

“it was us or him, I assumed that you'd want to survive.”
She looked back at him and he immediately saw how different her eyes were

“Nightshade….your eyes…they're different,”
He stepped back and her ears perked up.

“they are? Different in what way?”
She said, suddenly sounding worried

“they're like slits, your pupils I mean, and the rest of your eyes just look blue. I'm guessing this is normal for you,”
He said as he moved a little closer to her while still being hesitant, and her face went pale.

“it's not going away?….why isn't it gone?!”
She said as she began to tremble and fell off her hooves, Metamorph grabbed her and held her close to him

“you mean this isn't supposed to be like this?”
She slowly shook her head as she stared at her front hooves

“no, this has only happened one other time….and I don't know what to do,”
Tears began to fill her eyes and she looked up at Metamorph with pure terror in her eyes
“help me….please.”

chapter 18

study and acceptance

After another long time of panicking Metamorph was finally able to convince Nightshade that her eyes might go back to normal after a good night of rest, and he escorted her back to the room while trying to keep her calm.

****

After that night Nightshade woke up feeling refreshed and smiled as she carefully got out of bed and went to the washroom, but upon seeing her own eyes still blue and still with slits for pupils her smile instantly changed to a look of horror. Immediately she tried to rub her eyes to get rid of it but didn't work, and she galloped out of the room all together and bounded down the hall to the library in the castle. When she got close enough the guard by the door opened it for her, she quickly thanked him on her way in and instantly began to searching for a book that would have a way to fix a magical defect. But after a long while of searching she began to feel more and more helpless, with each book she found, and each moment she spent scanning the pages for an answer she turned up empty hoofed.

“why is it not going away now?! This is probably the worst time for my eyes to look weird and unnatural,”
She slammed a book shut and slid it away from her as her ears folded back,
“and the way I killed that stallion, it scared Metamorph.”
She stared down at her hooves and the blue splatter on them seemed to flash red for a second and she jumped back quickly, her heart was racing as she sat there and she slowly turned her head to a room she was warned about a while ago. It was full of old books and spells that required dark or corrupted magic and even sparked it sometimes. She swallowed hard as she got up and walked towards it slowly as if she was creeping up on her prey, and when she got close enough she saw that a lock was on the door to the room. She looked over at the guard hesitantly and her ears tilted to him to be sure that he was occupied, and as soon as she was sure that he wasn't paying attention she teleported herself into the room and was instantly hit with the familiar feeling of heaviness. The dark spells had been looked up all together which made her feel the stress on her body, but she forced herself up and began to look around; there were a lot of scrolls but a couple journals as well, all with wax seals or locks.
“you couldn't make it easy huh auntie,”
She said to herself as she pulled a scroll off of a shelf
“wow, curses with gems, that's one I've never heard of before. Cool but useless,”
She shrugged and put it back before pulling out another one, and another one until she gave up on her search and sighed, oddly enough she felt a little better than she did before. And after teleporting back out she began to put the books back and swiftly made her way out, only this time the guard saw her eyes and stopped her.

“your highness, are you alright? Your eyes look strange,”
She looked down at the ground and sighed,

“does it really look that bad?”
He began to respond but the moment she looked up at him he stopped and tilted his ears back,

“w-well, they are unusual, but they aren't horrible and frightening,”
He smiled nervously and she smiled back at him.

“thank you, sir, oh, and can you tell the princesses about this so they can help me find a way to fix it?”
He nodded, and she said a quick goodbye as she trotted back to the room. When she got back Sapphire and Metamorph were now up and about, and the moment Metamorph saw her he gasped in shock. Nightshade turned her head away from him and looked away as she stepped into the room, but he quickly moved in front of her and looked at her eyes,

“they didn't change back, was that why you left so early?”
She didn't say anything, instead, she just looked into his eyes and folded her ears back slowly,

“will you…still, love me with my eyes like this?”
He was speechless for a moment before pulling her into a hug.

“you didn't hate me because I was a changeling, I won't think of you any different,”
He leant back but kept a hoof around her back
“you're still the same Nightshade I met months ago.”
After the first few days of everyone being shocked with nightshade's eyes things slowly began to calm down, and just like she guessed before, many ponies and even some changelings complained about the gryphons moving. But like before, they eventually stopped fighting and complaining about it. Windbreaker had decided to come back to the castle to help with the decisions regarding the gryphons as well and moved into the castle as well. Although Nightshade was thrilled to have a friend close by she did still worry about him and Metamorph eventually getting into a fight, and she tried to keep a reasonable distance between the two and the time she spent with them, and as she kept track of the different lands that were being populated in Equestria from the diverse group of citizens, she also made it important to keep them and herself busy.

****

Weeks upon weeks went by and she slowly began to accept her title properly, although she still hated being called a princess it made her feel as though she had a purpose, it gave her the drive she needed to keep Equestria in line with each new decision she made. And for the first time in a long time, she felt like she belonged at her mother's and sister's sides, as an equal as well as a sister and daughter.

chapter 19

ascension, discussion, profit?

Angel paced in the main hall, a year had passed since the plan was set in motion, and she was trying to understand her sister's drive to stay in power.

“I just don't get it: what's so good about being in power to you? You never used to like talking about it so why do you like it now?”
Nightshade sat down and watched her sister doing laps in front of her.

“I never had the chance to truly move on before, but now I have a mate and a wealthy sufficient job with my family, I was just guessing that I could give it a chance,”
Angel stopped and walked up to her sister and stared down at her with angered confusion.

“but why? From the moment we began work on the plan you've been put in danger and forced to take lives, what happened to ‘screw the crown, I still have a life?’ you haven't even brought up anything that wasn't work-related.”
At this point, Angel was looking more annoyed with her sister and even more confused, and Nightshade began to worry,

“I just thought…that maybe Metamorph and I could raise Sapphire better if I stayed in my royal title, that and the possibility of having a foal and growing up together,”
Angel’s physical response made Nightshade confused; it looked as though all the energy she had flickered out of existence and she began to look more sad.

“oh ‘shade, you know as well as me that that can't happen,”
She walked over to her sister as Nightshade's expression became more sharp and challenging,
“Celestia never did it because of how old she would have gotten, and how hard it would be to mourn the death of a loved one so close to her. I don't want you to have to mourn for his death”
Angel put her hoof on her sister's shoulder but Nightshade shoved it off,

“I wouldn't expect you to understand, you've never been with a stallion long enough to fall in love with them, but fortunately for me I have.”
She stood up and stared up into her sister's glaring eyes
“mom knew the risks as well but she still loved our father until she couldn't any more”

“don't you dare bring our Father into this!”
Angel stomped her hoof hard, emphasising her point and rage
“he was a tyrant and he suffered for it!”

“he suffered trying to give us all a place to rule in darkness and night!”
Nightshade's eyes began to water
“and he died trying to give us a chance at true power, but you would have been okay knowing that he was gone wouldn't you?”
She pushed her sister aside and walked out of the room, holding back the tears as she forced herself not to look back. Once she was far enough away she slowed down her walk and leaned on a wall,sitting down and finally letting the tears roll over her cheeks. She breathed hard as the tears felt as though they were burning her face, it hurt to recall the loss of their father but it was the only thing that would stop her sister from continuing the fight, and it hurt more and more each time. The sound of hoof steps coming towards her made her force a powerful stance, and she quickly tried to wipe away the tears and fix herself up, until she noticed that it was Metamorph. And with each second she looked at him her tough act slowly began to fall apart, and she felt the tears building up in her eyes again and she fell back to the ground. Metamorph quickly galloped to her and began trying to comfort her, but her eyes were so filled with tears the only thing he thought to do was hold her close and let her get all the crying out of her system.

“what happened to make you like this, Night? You're almost never this emotional,”
He asked once it seemed like she was calm enough to speak, and she just leant her head on his chest as she stared at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with him.

“how long do changelings live for?”
She said with her voice sounding a little horse,

“I don't know, maybe 100 years, the oldest I know is 95, why?”
He gently ran a hoof over her back and she forced a smile that looked like it hurt.

“isn't it funny how long Alicorns can live for? Angel doesn't want me to get too attached to you because I'll outlive you like there isn't anything I can do about it,”
A small tear ran down her cheek and he sighed as he looked down at her, and knew what had gotten her so upset when she saw him.

“and you don't want to simply break it off, you want to stay with me?”
She nodded silently as her smile faded,

“and I'm helpless, I wish I could just make you an Alicorn like Celestia did for twilight, but I don't even think that's possible,”

“and as far as letting me go is concerned, I can't be let back into the hive if I already have a mate, and my mom already knows about us so I can't really do much either.”
Nightshade looked up at him and her blue eyes were a reddish pink around the edges of them, and he lifted a hoof to her cheek
“you are more than capable of handling loss, I know that from how you tried to live your father's wish. And I know you will be more than capable of handling my death as well,”
He smiled knowingly and Nightshade lifted a hoof to hold his, as another tear rolled down her cheek, and she reared up to hug him tightly.

“I love you,”
She said as another torrent of tears fell from her eyes, and he hugged her back

“I love you too, till death do us part,”
He said as a tear ran down his cheek as well, and he smiled at feeling the warmth of her love.

chapter 20

the royal sisters

Nightshade got up early the next day, and carefully slipped out of bed, going through her morning routine before leaving and heading to Celestia’s room. When she got to her door; decorated with images of the sun and it's orange rays of light and the bright beauty of the sun itself. She knocked on the door and waited for her aunt to allow her to enter,

“come in!”
Celestia called from beyond the door, and by the sound of it, it seemed that she was a fair distance away from it. Nightshade hesitantly stepped into the room and looked around the room before her eyes landed on Celestia laying on a rug near the fireplace, reading scrolls.

“auntie Tia? Can I ask you something? It's kind of a weird question but um…can changelings become Alicorns?”
Celestia lifted her gaze as she said this and sat up,

“is this about your changeling friend?”
She said in a calm yet dominant voice, and Nightshade almost wanted to consider giving up on the idea.

“yes, and he is more than just a friend to me, he's my colt friend,”
She said as she tried to sound more confident in the title, Celestia set down her scroll and quill and looked directly at her,

“Nightshade, you really can't do this to yourself, the loss alone might kill you emotionally. But the pain of living without him-,”

“I know the risk and I know how to get over a death, I'm no stranger to sorrow and loss, I just want to know if that is possible.”
Celestia was surprised from being cut off but stood up and walked over to her.

“I know you want this but I just don't know if that will be the best choice, for him and you, but I understand how much you've put into this and your love for him is true,”
Celestia stood in front of her and Nightshade forced herself to look taller,
“but I don't think that he will need to ascend to live long, when love is abundant enough a changeling can survive for a long time, almost as long as us. The only downside is that after a while of the same amount of love being given from one host for so long, separation may mean death as well as a lack of love.”
Nightshade's eyes lit up and almost as soon as they did the fire died,

“he can die if I'm not there?”
Celestia nodded before extending a wing to her

“but that's for a normal pony, I can't be sure what your love will do for him after that amount of time has passed, he may not even need love every day after that long.”
Nightshade smiled and jumped up to hug Celestia.

“thank you, thank you, thank you auntie Tia, I'll never forget this,”
And with that she happily flew back to her room, and practically pounced on Metamorph, waking him up immediately. Back in Celestia’s room, Celestia had a warm smile on her face and shook her head playfully as she walked back over to her rug. Just as she got comfortable Luna walked into her room, and trotted up to her sister,

“was that Nightshade I just heard?”
Celestia looked up at her and giggled softly,

“it would appear that your daughter is in love with her changeling ally, she wanted to know if changelings could ascend like Twilight and Cadence did.”
She quickly wrote down a couple things, and luna took a few steps closer,

“and what did you tell her?”
Luna looked to her sister with deep concern and Celestia put the scroll away, focusing on her sister.

“I told her the truth; they can't ascend but they can live a long life with enough love to fuel them,”
Luna sighed with relief and sat down in front of her.

“I thought it would have been something terrible,”
A few minutes after she said that Celestia began to pout, but before she could say or do anything a frantic guard ran into the doorway, almost completely falling off her hooves as she struggled to stop herself.

“your highness, the yak delicates came back to ponyville and a huge fight is going on between them and the griffins about superiority! Ponies are injured and 3 are dead.”
They both looked at each other before getting up quickly

“mobilize our secondary fleet of guards and inform my daughters, we're going to need a little more help with this,”
Luna got up quickly and turned to properly face as she said this,
“let them know the casualties and make sure they know what's at stake, if we don't stop this we might have a war on our hooves.”

chapter 21

peacekeepers

The guard ran to Nightshade's room as quickly as possible, and the moment she heard what was going she put on her cloak and told her to tell her sister, before flying off to the front of the castle. Angel immediately had the same response and galloped the same way, putting on her own cloak as she ran out. When they got to the front of the castle they were met with a fleet of guards in heavy armour, as well as Celestia and Luna in all their regalia.

“are you sure you two can handle this?”
Celestia asked as they approached Nightshade and Angel directly, and they both saluted

“we are responsible for the protection and of other tribes and for keeping the peace,”
Nightshade began

“we will do what we can to make sure that mission is accomplished,”
Angel finished, and they both dropped their hooves.

“then go forth and protect Equestria,”
Luna said as she gave them both a quick hug before letting them go, and they both turned and opened their wings and flying over the army.

“we're here to keep the peace, we will not hurt anyone unless hurt first, is that clear?!”
Nightshade said as they hovered over them, and at once they all saluted,

“then move out! we need to get there before more lives are lost,”
Angel said and they both flew towards ponyville. As they flew down they instantly saw a mob sized group of changelings, griffin's and the three yak deities fighting in the centre of it.
“sis, we're going to need some cover and a pod of guards to move to the centre, I'll get the guards if you provide cover,”
Nightshade pulled out two of her daggers out of her cloak,

“you don't have to tell me twice,”
She held the daggers out and the gemstones at the base of the blades began to glow, and soon after she brought them together, and a heavy misty fog descended on the middle of the brawl. While Angel lead half the guards down into it, and the rest moved around the crowd to break it up. Nightshade shot down into the centre of the crowd with her sister at her side, and they both pulled out and held their daggers to the opposite sides of the crowd. They flapped their wings to disperse the cloud of mist, revealing a mix matched crowd being held back by guards, while the griffin and yak Prince stood there with daggers being held by magic pointed directly at their faces.

“I know you two are probably very reasonable folk, but this kind of thing isn't acceptable,”
Angel said as she pulled the daggers back from the griffin's face,

“and things in Equestria have changed since you were here last, your highness, and we'd love to know what happened between you two so this can be settled properly,”
Nightshade pulled her daggers away from the Prince's face.
“now what happened,”
Angel gestured to the general of the fleet, to tell him to disperse the crowd,

“yaks come for visit, griffin bumps into us and is rude, yaks get mad and fight back,”
Nightshade nodded and turned to the griffin.

“I was going to sugarcube corner to get something sweet for lunch, but that over furred Billygoat bumped into me and tried to start a fight!”
The yak Prince moved to confront him again but Nightshade opened her wing in front of him,

“that yak is a Prince, and he is meant to be treated with respect, the same goes for griffin royalty. But since you're not griffin royalty you shouldn't be so hostile towards other royals, I suggest you both go your separate ways and avoid violence.”
Angel turned to Nightshade and she lowered her wing as the griffin left and headed for sugarcube corner, and turned to face the Prince.

“where were you trying to go?”
Nightshade said in a calm and militant tone

“to talk with princess twilight,”
Nightshade giggled and face-hoofed

“of course, you were heading to sweet apple acres, the castle it behind you and to your right, it's near the whitetail woods,”
The yak Prince and his two guards nodded before turning to walk away. As they did the general flew in and landed near Angel, and Angel almost instantly began to smirk at the sight of the male alicorn.

“well hello, how are you you attractive devil you?”
He gave her a confused look

“I'm fine, thank you, and the citizens have been cleared from the streets and checked for injuries, as you ordered,”
He saluted and again she just examined his form.

“you know, my sister is looking for a strong handsome stallion to stand at her side,”
She put a hoof on his chest and smiled seductively, making him blush,

“no I don't,”
Nightshade as she swiftly trotted past them,
“call the guards back, general, we're going home,”
She opened her wings and flew off, and he moved away from Angel and mobilized the fleet.

“maybe I can change your mind little sis, I just need time to work out the kinks,”
Angel opened her wings as well and followed the group as they made their way back to Canterlot.

chapter 22

the general

After an hour and a half of sparring, and some fair rounds with wins and losses on both sides, Nightshade and Angel were finally tired out and decided to call it a day. Like usual, they both began to head to their rooms, longing for a much-needed shower, but on Angel’s way to her room, she spotted the general again. And for the first time, didn't think about asking him to go to bed with her, instead, she thought about her sister and what a good colt friend he would be for her. So, after some thought was given on the subject, she called him over and told him that Nightshade wanted to talk to him in her room. Obediently he complied, and bowed to her before walking away, not seeing the somewhat malicious smile Angel had as he walked away. By the time he got to Nightshade's room she was done with her shower, but far from dry: as her dark blue mane and tail hung over part of her face and cascaded down her shoulders. She was in the middle of drying her mane when she heard the knock come from her room door, and hurried over to it, ignoring the wetness of her coat for the moment. Upon opening the door her calm expression soon had a tinge of confusion strike through it, and the general was more than a little stunned, as his face went from a pale white to a faded pink.

“Oh, I'm sorry your highness, I didn't notice you were um…busy, I'll just come back later,”
He said as he tried not to stare at her directly,

“For what exactly? I don't recall requesting to speak with you,”
Nightshade said as she began to dry the back of her ears, her magic’s glow making her mane and eyes look like they were glistening and practically glowing.

“Are you sure? Your sister just told me that you did and-,”
Nightshade groaned, cutting him off as she face-hoofed,

“Of course it was my sister, I'm so sorry she sent you here for nothing,”
She carefully pushed a couple strands of her mane out of her face and sighed,

“sometimes my sister doesn't like to leave things alone, and I think she's trying to hook us up,”
With a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head, she began to close the door, only to have it stopped by one of his hooves.

“Your highness, I actually wouldn't mind that; you seem like a rather competent mare, and you even have some skill on the battlefield. I can see us together in a way,”
He smiled nervously and she just gave him a sideways glance, before using her magic to push him out of the doorway.

“It would never work between us, I have more reason to not be with you than to actually be with you,”
With that she closed the door and walked back to the bath, leaving the stallion alone outside of her room, and he began to walk away from it, now wearing a frown. And just as he left Prince Metamorph came back to the room, with a very happy Sapphire lying on his back,

“Hey, ‘shade, we're back,”
He said as he trotted in, and Sapphire leapt from his back and to the floor,

“And we got doughnuts!”
The little dragon said excitedly. Nightshade but her slightly damp mane into a bun before walking out of the bathroom,

“Welcome home, you would not believe the day I just had,”
Nightshade reached up and kissed Metamorph on the cheek and hugged Sapphire, making her giggle.

“What happened? Was it something bad?”
He asked as he walked over to the bed, and set down the doughnut box on the nightstand

“Would you call my sister trying to hook me up with an alicorn general bad?”
Nightshade said with a snort and a smirk, but Metamorph physically recoiled, and quickly move to her, grabbing one of her hooves in his.

“What did you say? Is he still around? Should he be fired?!”
He looked around frantically and moved to stand over her in a protective gesture, which just made her roll her eyes.

“I turned him down, I'm never going to give you up and I'm not taking any chances with you either,”
She stepped out from under him and rested a hoof on his shoulder, and he turned to her and his ears slowly drooped,

“I will never give you up for a stallion I barely see anyways, it wouldn't be worth it, and I know you're scared for us but we'll be ok,”
She smiled and he slowly began to smile back.
“fair enough, but if he comes back again can I give him a firm talking to?”
Nightshade just giggled a little bit and looked up into his eyes,

“why of course my dear, and I'll be ready to reject him a second time if it happens to come to that,”
She said, and he leant his head down to nuzzle her before they began to sit and enjoy the doughnuts.

chapter 23

dragons

After a small chat over doughnuts, Nightshade had went to bed, along with Metamorph and Sapphire. But the sleep was any but peaceful for her, in fact, she had an old nightmare come back to haunt her, and for the first time in a long time, she woke up in a cold sweat. Her mind was reeling with fear, as well as the images that had flashed before her eyes. And regrettably, she rose to her hooves and trotted over to her window, flying out almost immediately. She knew that Metamorph would probably freak out in her absence, but she knew she also needed to go to her father's former home, the presence of his magic always used to give her the sense of closure. So after flying past the empire she sighed and flew down to land in a cave in the mountain range nearby, dark crystals filled in and the dark magic was almost overwhelming as she walked into it. She walked into the centre of it and sat down, as she did, she began to make more dark crystals, expelling her dark magic with a sigh. When she was done she got up and walked to the mouth of the cave, and began the long flight home, but when she had gotten halfway there a loud roar almost knocked her out of the sky. And when she looked around for where the roar came from, a large red dragon came into view, and it was quickly gaining on her. Although she was trying her hardest to get away from it, it's large talons grabbed her out of the sky and took her off her original path home. And short after she had been grabbed she passed out, due to the stress on her already physically drained body, when she woke up she was chained up and surrounded.

“the prisoner is awake, I hope your not in the mood to pass out again,”
The red dragon said as he paced around her cage like I prison,

“what…do you want?”
She said as she forced herself to sit up, but soon after she did the red dragons face was right in front of her.

“you of all ponies should know, we want to be able to freely live on your land, while enforcing our tradition,”
She jumped to her hooves quickly to confront him,

“after doing this to me, you'd be lucky to live,”
He just laughed and all the other dragons did as well.

“you must be joking, I've faced ponies larger than you and have won, being an alicorn makes you just a tiny bit stronger than them,”
He grabbed the chains on her front hooves, hoisting her up and exposing her underbelly.
“I'm surprised that you have any power at all, you don't even have any war scars or fighting experience,”
She stared coldly at him, which just angered him further.

“I didn't know fire breathers were so cold hearted and weak, I have an aquatic dragon as a daughter and I'm not afraid of you,”
He grinned and hoisted her body up more, making her wince as she felt her body stretch,

“you may take the night to ponder your decision, but in the morning, you better have a good answer,”
He dropped her heavily, and she groaned in pain from landing on one of her wings. She stayed on the ground as he walked away and sent a few dragons to her, and she quickly worked out the fact that they were going to guard her, and she hoped that her family would be okay without her.

chapter 24

rescue

Later on in the day, Nightshade had tried to reach Metamorph through his dreams, but most of her efforts proved fruitless and she gave up on trying. She laid down and rested her head on her hooves, quietly planning and waiting for something she could use to escape, but just as she began to fall asleep a tug on her chains woke her back up. When she looked around her eyes fell upon a green dragon a little bigger than a griffin, and instead of looking hateful, he looked more curious.

“your princess Nightshade right? I mean, the real Nightshade?”
She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him and adjusted her sitting position,

“yes,and you must be a fairly small adult dragon,”
She said and the dragon leaned in closer, making her move away from him.

“is there anyway I can be a part of the combined and unbiased decision making? I've heard so much about it and I'd be extremely helpful in protecting equestria,”
Nightshade rubbed one of her forelegs with a hoof, and looked away as her ears folded back.

“I don't know, it would require a lot of trust and red tape, and I can't be the only one who wants you to help with big decisions,”
She sighed and looked down
“and trapping me here might have just ruined your chances as well, and I'm really sorry for that as well,”
When she said this he sat up and looked around, and after a while he ran off, leaving Nightshade to her thoughts. But she never would have expected him to come back to her with keys, and he quickly began to unlock her chains. Before picking her up and flying off, and she welcomed the rescue wordlessly.

“where should we go?”
He said as he looked around frantically,

“canterlot, but when we get there, you need to explain the situation completely. I can do what I can to defend you, but after going missing so early in the morning they'd probably assume the worst,”
He nodded mid flight and kept focused on the sky ahead,

“I understand, but if you're an alicorn, why didn't you fight earlier?”
She shook her head and smiled.

“you really love your questions don't you? To give you the short answer, my magic flared up and I spent my time out of the castle to expel it, when I started to fly back I figured I was safe enough to be so weak, but then I you guys chased me and caught me.”
She said in a calm way,

“I'm really sorry, but we didn't think you would have left the castle to talk to a bunch of dragons anyways, and we just really wanted to have more land to raise our young,”
She looked down at the quickly moving scenery beneath her and folded her ears back.

“there is plenty of land for you guys now, and I can willingly give you guys a shot at living among us, as long as you don't try to eat anyone and help us understand you better,”
She lifted a hoof to his broad chest and smiled, as he took a moment to look down at her,
“but as I said, this is a group decision, and I'm only one vote against 6 others, so don't get your hopes up just yet,”
He smiled and kept flying as she curled up in his arms and fell asleep, hoping that her sudden arrival would help the dragon's case.

chapter 25

“but he's a dragon!”

After a flying a fair distance away from the other dragons, the green dragon had landed, waking up Nightshade in the process. When she woke up she yawned, feeling much more like herself before noticing that she was being held close to the dragon's chest, as he made a fire to keep them warm.

“you get too tired to fly?”
She said, and he stopped to look at her,

“well, Centerlot is really far away, I just figured we'd rest for the night,”
She sighed and nodded.

“that would be the better idea in this case, but um, can you please let me go?”
After she said that he put her down in front of him, and tried to fix her mane before she gently pushed his talons away,
“it's fine, I've looked worse than this,”
She walked around to the other side of the fire and lied down, stretching and rolling her wing joints.
“ahh, that's better,”
The dragon just stared at her as she did and stayed quiet,
“maybe introductions are in order, you already know my name but I still don't know yours,”
He cleared his throat and puffed out his chest.

“my name is Pyrite,”
Nightshade tilted her head to the side in confusion,

“isn't that a female name?”
When she said this he sighed and lowered his head, looking a lot less strong than before,

“yeah, my parents thought that I was a girl because of how small my egg was,”
She gave him a small smile before flying over the fire and landing beside him.

“it seems like we're both runts than, what an odd turn of events,”
He looked down at her before lowering his head to rest it on the ground,

“but even your name is cooler than mine,”
Nightshade looked down at her hooves and frowned, fiddling with a blade of grass between them.

“That's where you're wrong, my name is the same name used for poisonous berries that are as black as night, and as tiny as blueberry buds. Even the strongest creatures find themselves falling prey to such a radiant Berry,”
She looked up at him, and their eyes met for a moment
“I'm a danger to those around me, even more so if they love me,”
She looked away from him and went quiet as she began to think about Metamorph, and she lowered her head as well.
“no one can love me without getting hurt,”
She closed her eyes as she felt the familiar sensation of tears, and forced herself to fall asleep again.

****

By the time Nightshade woke up again they were already flying over Appaloosa, and Pyrite didn't take his eyes off the sky. And although she admired his determination, she couldn't help but feel that her plan to help him would be riskier than he'd expect. When they arrived in Canterlot, he set her down and let her lead the way to the castle, frightening a few upper-class ponies as they went by. Nightshade reassured the guards that they passed, that Pyrite was perfectly safe, and that they were going to the main Hall to discuss business. A few guards galloped off to relay the message to Angel, Metamorph and the two princesses, letting them know that Nightshade was back, and safe as well. After a while of waiting the sound of many hooves walking to the main Hall got louder and louder, and the first one to run in and check on Nightshade was, princess Luna herself. She practically knocked her over with a hug, before frantically checking if she was hurt in any way. And while Celestia and Angel walked in calmly, Prince Metamorph, bolted in to stand between Nightshade and Pyrite, hissing at him fiercely.

“stay behind me, these dragons can't be trusted,”
Pyrite instantly looked offended and moved away from Metamorph,

“what in the hay do you think you're doing?!”
Nightshade yelled at him and got to her hooves, and turned him around to face her
“he is the one the guard was talking about,”
She walked past him and towards Pyrite, but he stopped her.

“dragons are untrustworthy vicious beasts, that will devour anything in sight, and you expect me to let you just trust him?! He was probably the one who kidnapped you right!?!”
Metamorph yelled, and Nightshade couldn't help but give him a confused look,

“what? I wasn't kidnapped, well I sort of was, but not by him, he saved me,”
He just snorted and stepped closer to her.

“and you expect me to believe that? All dragons are the same: they steal and hoard anything that they want, and eat whoever tries to stop them. And I don't want you to go out that way,”
She smiled a small comforting smile, and put a hoof on his shoulder, before pushing him aside and trying to comfort the now shaking Pyrite behind him.

“you may not like fire-breathers, but this one deserves thanks from you, rather than a death threat,”
She held one of Pyrite’s talons and he smiled and began to calm down a little bit,

“you know, a dragon can live just as long as an alicorn, maybe you should try to be with him?”
Angel said, and both Nightshade and Metamorph turned their heads to look at her and said;

“shut up Angel!”
In unison, before turning their attention back to Pyrite.

“okay okay, fine, you didn't have to yell at me, it was just a suggestion,”
Angel rolled her eyes and sighed,

“well, at least you tried,”
Celestia whispered to Angel, lowering a wing to comfort her, which made her smile.

“maybe I can try my luck with him then? After all, he might just be the most exotic male I've ever been with,”
After hearing that, Celestia face-hoofed and sighed,

“this is going to be a long meeting.”

chapter 26

years of malice

The discussion took hours to end, mostly because of the more obvious dangers of having a dragon be around, and also due to the rude comments Metamorph always had. It was hard to believe that he wasn't already plotting Pyrite’s death right in that room, he was practically killing him with the cold stare he would have whenever he spoke, and Nightshade was more than a little pleased to finally be done with it. As everyone began to leave the main hall she insisted on helping Pyrite find a place to sleep and settled on a cave that leads beneath the castle. But since Metamorph still didn't like him, he changed himself into a bird; so he could follow them and make sure that she was safe. Nightshade lead Pyrite out to the Canterlot gardens since it was open enough to give Pyrite some room to take off, and the both made their way halfway around the mountain. It was a tiring flight for Metamorph; not having the love for a while and changing his size so much was putting a toll on his body, and he was more than happy to stop when they finally landed.

“okay, this is it, buddy, it's a really deep cave and I'm sure you'll be happy to find many old gemstones the further down you go,”
Nightshade said with a giggle, and he just examined the mouth of the cave,

“I can't thank you enough for this but, you didn't have to give me a place to live, I can always fly here from the dragon lands,”
She just shook her head and walked up to him.
“that much flying would get harder to do after a while, anyways, I don't think your fellow dragons will just forgive you for freeing me,”
She rested a hoof on one of his talons,
“besides, us runts got to stick together,”
He smiled and picked her up to hug her, and she happily returned the gesture. Once he put her down he was more than ready to walk into the cave,
“oh wait, you must be hungry right?”
Nightshade teleported a glowing emerald into her hoof, and walked over to him, moving just out of Metamorph’s line of sight and he flew down to get a better look at what was going on. Pyrite took the glowing gem and rose a scaly eyebrow as he looked down at her,

“why is it glowing like this? It's not enchanted is it?”
Nightshade just laughed and shook her head,

“no, of course not, it's gem magic and it'll help you feel more satisfied than a gem without magic. Just take it easy on your first night okay?”
He nodded and turned to walk further into the dark cave, and Nightshade turned around and began the long flight to the castle. Metamorph stared into the cave as Pyrite’s silhouette disappeared into the sparkling yet dim lights the gemstones gave off, and he flew away after a while, not wanting Nightshade to worry about him. When he had gotten back to the castle and made his way to their room Nightshade was already there, playing with Sapphire and telling her about Pyrite.

“you wouldn't believe it, but he's a runt like me, I don't even think he's a teenage dragon either, isn't that cool?”
Sapphire gasped and stood up on her hind legs with her two front claws on her mother's shoulders,

“can I meet him? I bet he's never seen a sea dragon before,”
Before Nightshade could answer Metamorph walked in.

“absolutely not, those dragons are dangerous and not to be trusted,”
Sapphire immediately began to pout, and looked up at Nightshade with pleading eyes,

“what is your issue with dragons? Sapphire is a dragon and you like her,”
Nightshade said as she put a reassuring hoof on Sapphire’s back.

“those fire breathing sacks of rude are the ones responsible for our dropping numbers, they eat us, changelings, after we've eaten enough to taste sweet to them,”
Sapphire hugged Nightshade with fear, and Nightshade held her close and stroked her head frill,

“Pyrite is not like that, he talked to me when the other dragons wouldn't, he tried to negotiate a safe and harmless option, he freed me against the wishes of his kind. And the only one acting dangerously is you,”
In a moment of rage, Metamorph turned himself into a small dragon almost exactly like Pyrite.

“so if I just looked like this and ate your kind because they tasted sweet you wouldn't get upset!”
He loomed over them, extending his wings to make himself look more threatening, and Nightshade didn't hesitate to smack the side of his now scaly muzzle,

“that is the one thing that we're not supposed to do: we don't judge others based on one thing that they may have done, maybe if you put your differences aside and actually talk to him like an adult, he wouldn't seem so bad to you,”
Sapphire buried her face in Nightshade's dark fur when his expression changed to one of more rage, and Nightshade just stood up, still holding Sapphire close.
“I wanted to come back for you, but if you can't handle knowing that I was saved by a dragon, then maybe you need some more time alone,”
She turned away from him and put Sapphire down beside her, before they both began to walk out, leaving him alone in their room.

chapter 27

vent and calm

Nightshade paced the shining floor of the deep cave, while Sapphire and Pyrite stayed at a safe distance. with a fuming and emotional alicorn in front of them, it just seemed like the best option they had.

“I spent months trying to work out this entire plan, and throughout all the mistakes and hiccups leading up to this point he never told me,”
She stomped a hoof hard, cracking the ground beneath her hoof,
“that is vital information, there was much more important information to worry about anyways, why be an emotional dick about it now?! Ugh!”
Both the dragons flinched, and Pyrite held on to Sapphire in a more protective way.

“mommy? Can we just worry about this later? You said I could spend time getting to know Pyrite, and he clearly hasn't seen a sea dragon either,”
Nightshade stopped and sat down, sighing as her ears drooped slightly,

“you're right, we came down here for you and not me, you two can tell each other about yourselves until you get bored,”
She lied down and felt how cold the ground was, before rolling onto her back and looking up the ceiling, and began to slowly fall asleep. When she woke up Pyrite was sitting beside her, cradling Sapphire in his arms with an excited warm smile on his face.

“I can't believe a pony could raise such a spunky and tough little dragon, and I didn't even think changelings were a problem for them either, how did you even get her to like that changeling of yours?”
Nightshade rubbed her eyes after sitting up, and just looked up at him,

“in all honesty, he was just nice enough for her to be interested in learning more about, and he loves taking care of her anyways,”
She smiled but as she began to remember how she treated him it turned back into a frown,
“he'll probably hate me now,”

“what happened anyway? All you've said about it up to this point is how annoyed he had made you, and that's too vague to assume anything,”
Nightshade looked up at him and took a deep breath.

“he tried to explain why he didn't like dragons like you, but when I asked about why he wouldn't give you a chance he turned into a dragon that looked like you, and I hit him across the muzzle,”
She stared down at her hooves, and her whole body just seemed to deflate a little more,
“I've been in so many broken relationships that I know what mistakes can change the outcome of the relationship, and yet, I keep finding myself in these horrible situations,”
Pyrite lowered a wing to her, and she jumped slightly before looking up him.

“relationships are hard, being with a changeling is probably going to be difficult either way; they are pretty much Equestria's punching bags when it comes to it, even more than gryphons and they're more aggressive. Either way, you're going to have to make decisions, and you've made a huge one already.”
He sat down beside her and looked at the light spilling into the depths of the cave.
“and that was to bring everyone together, and maybe giving him some time away from you is a good choice too, but you won't know until you try,”
She looked up at him and her ears slowly perked up with his honest and kind words.

“how many relationships have you been in?”
She said bluntly, and the scales around his face seemed to become redder,

“well, when you're as small as me, not many, but I learned a lot from the few I've been in. What about you?”
Nightshade giggled and looked down,

“15, they mostly didn't last because of work or the amount of toxicity it had, I've learned quite a bit in my years,”
When she looked back at him she was met with his stunned expression.

“wow, why haven't any of them come back to try to marry into your wealth? I mean, it would probably happen a lot right?”
Nightshade smirked,

“I had a fake identity back then, after our coronation the existence of the mystery mare they liked just ceased to exist, and the only ex I've had come back has turned into an out of town ally and friend,”
He sat back and looked impressed with her planning skills, even before the whole plan for Equestria was even brought up.

“you really thought of everything, haven't you? It's so impressive how you hid so well within Equestria for so long,”
She just shrugged and looked away,
“how did you even do that?”
He said as he leant in a little closer to her.

“easy, I just looked for a gem that could Change the physical appearance of a pony, and just tried to keep my past and lifespan a secret, and that worked for me,”
He gasped and looked at his stomach with an excited expression,

“why haven't we heard about this before?”

“gem magic is still being tested, and it hasn't been written down in a book because there are too many gems and variables for them, plus I kept it to myself and my team until now,”
Nightshade held out her front hooves and he gently handed Sapphire to her.

“is there a way you can teach me about how it works?”
He asked as he lied down and basically surrounded her with his body,

“of course, since you're going to be here you need to know what spells are dangerous or helpful for your kind, and I'd be happy to teach you,”
She moved a little closer to his naturally warm scales and leant on his shoulder, humming the lullaby Luna sang to her and her sister, and slowly began to nod off with Pyrite. And as they slept the moon slowly lifted into the sky, giving the cave a faint and beautiful glow.

prologue

Prologue

The blast of magic that saved the empire was as bright as the hearts of the hundreds of crystal ponies within it, shattering the one pony who couldn't simply be crystallised like the others. While Equestria cheered and celebrated the return of the empire, one of the mare's he had raised to be his successor cursed the radiant ponies, vowing to fulfil her father's dream and show Equestria what true justice was.

Years later.

A mare dressed in a heavy pitch black cloak walked the streets of Manehattan, examining and scanning the structures for any sign of her sister; bigger, older and very much different in appearance she often stuck out on the darkest nights. And in almost no time at all, she was quickly spotted with a stallion at her side, he was obviously drunk while the pale white mare with him walked as though she had nothing alcoholic to drink at all. Nightshade pushed off her hood and called to her, and waited for her to get close enough to give her the details of the plan.

On the train to Canterlot the two sisters stayed quiet and focused, although they had gotten older since the last time they had heard their father's plan it was they made sure to remember exactly what he wanted them to do: overthrowing the highest rulers, making allies out of the most cunning and dangerous races, and taking Equestria by storm with fleets of skilled ponies until the entire continent fell to their hooves. It was vague but all the planning they had done made it easier to get what they wanted, especially when it came to the allies they chose. So when the train stopped and they both got to the castle, they tore through the guards on their way to the princesses, not hesitating to take every precaution they could. And soon, they had encased the two highest powers in Equestria in umbrum crystals, setting their entire plan in motion.

“Now that the biggest threats have been knocked off their high pedestals, nothing will stop us from getting to our allies, Angel, start writing, we have a lot of work to do.”