Night Shade was an average little unicorn colt. Well, maybe a little bit more sensitive than most for his age, but that didn't really make him stand out that much. He wasn't able to do magic yet, nor did he have a cutiemark, but there are plenty of late bloomers. That was just how it was sometimes. At least until his father brought home a book that unlocked his true destiny…

Night Shade is actually an exceptional unicorn colt. He now attends The Celestial School for the Gifted (formerly Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns) and through it is taught dark magic under the tutelage and supervision of somepony from The Lunar Order of the Dark Arts, an order founded by the Equestrian government to keep track of those who studied and furthered the dark arts (and ensure ethics are upheld as much as possible while doing so). However, just when he is about to complete his studies and gain full membership of the same order, putting him among the few officially recognized dark magic practitioners in all of Equestria, a stranger from his foalhood visits him after six years of silence.

Short Circuit, or Shortie, has lots of friends (occasionally with benefits) everywhere. Meeting cool and interesting ponies (and creatures) is one of the few things he likes doing as much as he does building things, which he does a lot. An alumnus of The Celestial School for the Gifted (previously Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Foals while he attended), he showed a great aptitude for building machines, magical and mechanical alike. However, he couldn't do half the things he did without making connections and learning from others. When the foal of a friend of his, a Canterlot military medic by the name Archimedes, gets a cutiemark for something he has not seen before, he knows that he has to keep track of him. So, he does what he usually does: give the foal a little remote and tell him to only use it in the event of an emergency. Six years later, he gives the colt a visit as a teen, almost completely grown up and about to complete of his studies. However, he feels the colt will need to use that remote very, very, soon.

Shortie has always thought that the colt would do “wicked” things in his future. Hopefully, Night Shade proves him right in the way he is thinking rather than the way others may expect...

Content Warnings:
"Sex" tag for mentions and implications of sexual activity, sometimes revolving around minors (no graphic depictions; this story is rated "Teen" after all).
"Narcotics" tag for drug and alcohol use (often by minors).
"Death" tag for mentions and depictions of dead bodies (with regards to necromancy, murders, etc).
"Profanity" tag for swearing and a fair bit of it.
"Violence" tag for violent fights that break out (no particularly gory descriptions).

Art is from my friend Bruce/Brutus-Gentle-Cat. Give him a follow on either of his Twitter accounts if you can!