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.”