Chapter edited by Brickbrock24
Glimmer closed her eyes and fell asleep. She found herself in another dream, but this one felt much more ominous. Glimmer found herself standing in the streets of Manehattan. The once grand buildings of the city were toppled and in ruin. Many of them were still on fire. The air was filled with ash and smoke, which wasn’t good for Glimmer’s lungs. Glimmer nervously strolled down the streets, which were dead with silence due to the lack of ponies.
Glimmer’s heart then began to pound violently in her chest as she heard the sound of sinister laughter. Out of the blue, Nightshade swooped down from the sky and landed in front of her with a thunderous thud. Her eyes appeared to be hollow and were filled with purple flames.
“You should have stayed at the Weather Factory, you Wonderbolt-wannabe!” she bellowed, “You’re biting off more than you can chew if you think you can possibly defeat me!”
“N-No…” stammered Glimmer, the sight of her corrupted mother sent shivers up her spine. She looked around the decimated city, “I-I will stop you! I c-can’t let you do this to Equestria!”
“You are beneath me, child!” laughed Nightshade, “I am power incarnate! My new arcane powers will rip through anypony who stands in my way! I have hundreds, no, thousands of Shadowbolts at my disposal! When we win this little war, I will take the throne of Equestria and create an empire… of death!” As Nightshade spoke, hundreds upon hundreds of Shadowbolt soldiers began to descend from the sky and landed around Glimmer. Glimmer tried to move, but she found herself frozen in place. It was as if her hooves were cemented to the ground. She looked nervously at the blood-thirsty Shadowbolts. With their wings spread out, Glimmer saw that there were little blades attached to the ends of them.
“M-Mom…” muttered Glimmer, “Please, don't do this. I know there is still good inside of you!"
“No your wrong, come with me we can rule Equestria together. Mother and daughter." shouted Nightshade. A malicious smile grew on her face.
"Y-you’re insane!” Glimmer shouted back glaring up at the mare.
“Let’s play a game, my daughter. It’s been a long time since we have, has it not?” She made a gesture with her hoof, and a group of Shadowbolts led two bound prisoners forward between Glimmer and Nightshade. They had small potato sacks over their heads. “It’s quiz time, Glimmer! Do you recognize these ponies?”
Glimmer gasped in terror when she recognized the identities of the prisoners as Nightshade’s soldiers removed the sacks from their heads. To the left was Thunder Skies, and to the right was Easyglider, next to him was Spitfire and Fleetfoot. Glimmer felt herself gag when she saw that their wings had been torn off their bodies.
“I see the look on your face, these four are very close to you!” laughed Nightshade, “I suppose you wouldn’t mind it if I impaled them with these magic swords?” Using her new magic, Nightshade summoned four deadly looking broadswords made entirely of dark magic and hovered them over Thunder Skies,Easyglider, Spitfire and Fleetfoot.
“N-no… Please…” stammered Glimmer, tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.
“I hope you like going to funerals, Glimmer!” said Nightshade, “Because they’re going to become a regular part of your schedule when I’m through with this realm!” Nightshade slammed her hooves on the ground, and the four magic swords fell at top speed toward their victims.
“NOOOOOO!!!” Glimmer screamed as she woke up from the terrifying nightmare. She was sweating bullets and hyperventilating like a dog on a hot day.
"It was just a dream." Glimmer whispered to herself. "Breathe in, breathe out! Calm down!" Glimmer told herself this repetitively until she could think straight.
It was still dark outside. Glimmer couldn't help thinking about the day before, after seeing her father and talking to Spitfire. Spitfire had then led her to one of the empty guest rooms near the captain's quarters. She had never felt more tired in her life after the long day, but her body urged her to keep going. After the talk with her father, it motivated her to stand up to her mother when the time came.
"My Lady, what is our next course of action?" a dark navy blue stallion asked as he trotted into the room. He stopped in front of Nightshade and bowed to her.
"You know, Darkflight,” Nightshade said irritably as she sat up in her throne, “There was a time when ponies used to knock before entering places!”
"My sincerest apologies. May I have the privilege of speech?" Darkflight asked.
"Yes, speak," said Nightshade, gesturing him to continue.
"Do we have a plan to strike yet? Our troops are ready for battle and eager for carnage, but some are still training.”
"Give me time, Darkflight," Nightshade said as she put her hoof to her head, "We must be patient." She decided to change the subject, “Any news from the scouts watching the Wonderbolt Academy?”
“Um, well…” said Darkflight with a hint of nervousness in his voice. He twiddled his hooves as he continued, “There is one thing we learned that might be of interest to you.” Nightshade noticed the change in her commander’s tone and began to see red,
“This had better be good…” she said through gritted teeth.
“You know that cowardly pegasus that you say betrayed you? I believe his name was Thunder Skies or something.”
“You are never to say that name in my presence, you lowly whelp!” snapped Nightshade, her sudden outburst of anger made Darkflight jump in shock, “Anyway, what of him?”
“He was recently spotted heading into the Wonderbolt Academy by our scouts. It seems that your ex-husband is getting involved in their hopeless little crusade to stop us, Your Majesty” Darkflight expected another burst of rage from his master, but instead she stood as still as a statue. Nightshade then began to snicker, which then progressed into malicious laughter.
“Oh, this is too good to be true!” she cackled, “Now I get to destroy Glimmer, the Wonderbolts, and that spineless excuse for a stallion! Hehehe, I’m going to enjoy ripping off his wings after the way he betrayed me all those years ago! How could he choose keeping a job as a pathetic laborer at the weather factory over me, his own wife?!”
“Um, Equestria to Nightshade?” said Darkflight when he saw that his master was muttering to herself like a weirdo.
“I got sidetracked for a bit there,” said Nightshade, snapping back into reality, “My apologies. Anyway, what’s the progress of the troops in training?”
“Most are about eighty-five percent through,” said Commander Darkflight, “In a few days, you will have thousands more Shadowbolts ready for combat!”
“Very good,” said Nightshade, “I must have some time alone to think of our final plan. In the meantime, speed up the training process anyway you can. I want our new recruits to be sweating a monsoon and to have fire in the muscles when they are done at the end of the day!”
"As you wish, Your Majesty," said Darkflight. He stood up, turned around, and trotted out of the room.
"I must think of a plan, quick!" Nightshade told herself once Commander Darkflight left the room. She got up from her throne and began to pace back and forth. “If those blasted Wonderbolts have time to prepare for my siege of Equestria, then it’ll make my goals unnecessarily arduous!” She racked her brain for ideas, but she turned up blank. She threw down her hoof in anger and decided to go for a walk. If she was going to think of her master plan, she was going to need some inspiration.
Nightshade’s horn glowed purple as she opened the doors of the fortress. She was greeted by a gust of warm wind that made her mane whip around like a flag on a tall flag pole. As she strolled down the stone path in the garden, she looked around and admired the assortment of flowers and other decorations. It had been awhile since she had came to the garden. The tranquil atmosphere that surrounded the garden had allowed Nightshade to think of many of her nefarious schemes in the past.
What is this new bravery inside you, Thunder Skies? thought Nightshade as she stared at group of forget-me-nots, I don’t understand stallions. You refuse to take my hoof and join me on a quest for power like a yellow-bellied coward. Then, out of nowhere, you have the guts to get involved with this conflict between the Wonderbolts and the Shadowbolts.
Nightshade felt a drop of something bounce on her nose. She looked up and saw that it was beginning to drizzle from the the thick blanket of dark clouds that covered the sky above the fortress. The weather made her think of Thunder Skies, which made her furious.
Thunder Skies, I will never forgive you! Nightshade thought angrily to herself, We could have ruled Equestria as husband and wife, and yet you’d rather be a worthless nopony with a mediocre occupation! Better yet, I can try to get Glimmer to rule with me! Maybe that will cause Thunder Skies to join us, we can rule Equestria as a family! No I can not think such weak things, It’s Glimmer’s fault! She was the main reason Thunder Skies decided to stay at the Weather Factory! Suddenly, a light-bulb went on in her head.
“Weather Factory…” she whispered to herself as she stared at the sky. A wicked smile shone on Nightshade’s face as a plan of action began to piece together in her mind. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of this before?!”
“Wow, that was fast, Lady Nightshade!” said Commander Darkflight after Nightshade summoned him to her throne room and explained her plan to him, “Your plan is brilliant, My Liege. As pegasi warriors, I always felt we were missing something from our arsenal!”
“I’m glad you approve, Darkflight!” said Nightshade, flattered that her genius as a villain was being acknowledged, “Whoever controls the Weather Factory controls whatever rains down on Equestria. So if we, the Shadowbolts, were to take over the factory, we would be create all sorts of decimating weather! Lightning! Tornados! Hurricanes! Hail the size of watermelons!”
“Remind me of how we’re going to deal with the Wonderbolts when they eventually arrive.” said Darkflight. He did his best to say it in a way that didn’t sound like he doubted his master, “Need I remind you that a majority of our forces are not yet ready for combat? Ergo, we don’t have as many troops as we would like for an attack like this.”
“There are many pages to this chapter, Darkflight, let me finish,” said Nightshade, “I will lead the force that takes the factory. Meanwhile, you will take your share of soldiers and set up several ambushes around the Wonderbolt Academy. You are to use hit-and-run attacks to cripple our enemy’s forces so that we have less to deal with when they eventually arrive at the scene to try to drive us out. When your soldiers have done their job, they are to meet me back at the battle scene.”
“Shall I begin the preparations?” asked Commander Darkflight, brimming with excitement. Nightshade nodded,
“At once, Commander. Our attack forces are to be armed and ready by nightfall tomorrow. Remember, Glimmer and Thunder Skies are to be captured and brought to me alive. Also, riches and rank advancements go to any Shadowbolt who brings me a pair of Wonderbolt wings!”
As Commander Darkflight left the throne room to do her bidding, Nightshade thought to herself,
Thunder Skies, do you remember the last thing I told you before I left you to live your pathetic life? I certainly do! I said: “You will regret this!”