//------------------------------//
// A Daring Dive and Royal Combat(14) 
// Story: Monster 
// by BlackWing 
//------------------------------//


A Daring Dive and Royal Combat


"Well shit, I didn't think this through." Nightshade said calmly, now that his initial freakout at falling had worn off. He knew that screaming his head off wouldn't help anything, and he needed to think. It was a two mile fall, he had plenty of time, and nothing else to do.

"Hey, how did the talk with the princess... what the hay you're flying!" A familiar voice popped into his head.

"No, Lyra, actually I'm falling. To my death in fact. And the talk did not go well." He responded.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You know, I'd love to answer that question, but I have a more pressing one at the moment." Even though he saw his imminent death, he hadn't lost his attitude. "What happens if I die, and you're in my head? I don't know for sure, but you're welcome to stick around and find out."

"See ya, I'll talk to you later if you're not dead!" Lyra sounded WAY too happy when she said that. Finally, with her gone, he was able to think.

"Okay, so when I hit the ground, I'm going to have massive injuries, definitely enough to kill me. Since I can see grass down there, It's soft dirt, so at least I'm not going to go splat when I hit it, I'll probably be in one piece." That was a good thing, since if he got splattered then there was no way any amount of life energy could keep him going, for long anyway. He'd have to be put back together first. "If I land legs first, I can minimize the damage to my upper body, but I still have my spine to worry about. I can only heal wounds that I already have, but once I have them, I won't be able to do anything about them."

Realizing that he was about to die, (yes I know it's cliché) his life flashed before his eyes. He saw his friend try to kill him. He saw the soldiers that he defeated. He saw right up to the moment with the polymer suited troops, and how when he drew their energy out, with nowhere to go, it just went back in them on it's own. Suddenly, he snapped out of it.

"Hey, wait a minute. If I could do that, then I'd be able to heal these injuries even while knocked out. Gahh, no good, I don't have the energy to give off in the first place." Then he got an idea. He figured that since he could manipulate stamina, health, and lifespan, that they must all be related somehow, and so, are probably interchangeable. He took fifteen years of his own life, and broke it down into health. Having more health than his body could contain, the excess flowed around him, as a kind of green mist. Since it had nowhere to go, it stuck to him, trying to find a way back in.

"Alright, now this is going to hurt, a LOT." He put his arms in front of his head, and crunched up his legs, so that his limbs would take the brunt of the damage, leaving his core the least harmed. "Here goes nothing."

*THUD*


Meanwhile in Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia was still lying on the ground, unable to get up, and unable to use her magic. This was by far the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to her. That human, Nightshade, had to have been the most impulsive, unpredictable, insane creature she had ever seen, with the obvious exception being Pinkie Pie. To attack a princess, then jump out the window into a two mile drop, he was either really brave, or really stupid. There was no way she would take this lying down, even though she was at the moment.

"Oh LUUUUUUNNNNAAAAA." She called. Her sister appearing before her, after teleporting into the room.

"Yes sister?" Luna saw her elder lying on the ground, trapped by magic hoof cuffs, and couldn't help but fall over laughing herself.

"Luna, if you are quite finished, our guest has escaped." Luna regained her composure.

"How?" She asked.

"How do you think?" Said the now furious Celestia, motioning towards the broken window.

"Should I go get the guards to set you free?" Luna asked, to which she was given a stern response.

"NO! Nopony else is allowed to see me like this. It's humiliating. I'm the princess, and I was outsmarted by a forest monster, a HUMAN no less!" Celestia was fuming mad, but also blushing uncontrollably.

"Alright alright, I'll go get the key. Seriously, the Princess of the Sun taken out by a common pair of magic cuffs. Never thought I'd see the day." Luna got the key from the guard, insisting that he stay outside, and freed her sister.


Lying on the ground, a green mist settling in his body, Nightshade found that he was, very much alive, although in a great deal of pain. Everything hurt, his head hurt, his legs hurt, his chest hurt, both his arms were broken is several places, and he has a few shards of coloured glass lodged in his back.

"Yes! I'm alive! I'maliveI'maliveI'malive!" He screamed as he jumped for joy. "Owowow. Bad idea. Now I just need to find a forest so I can rest and recover, then I'll be right as rain!" Looking around, he saw a vast plain in all directions, and a crossroads. Reading the sign post, he figured out which way was to Ponyville, and started his long journey.


An hour Later


"Man I'm sore." He complained to nobody in particular. He was just used to talking to himself from the fact that he had been alone for a long time, as well as from dealing with Lyra, who would sometimes be listening, even if he didn't know she was there. Deciding that he could use a bit of company on his journey, he opened up his mind to find not Lyra, but Celestia.
Apparently she didn't know that she was broadcasting her thoughts for anyone with an inkling of psychic ability to pick up, probably because she was too pissed off to remember to stop doing it.

"When I find him I'll make him pay for humiliating me! And for breaking my stained glass window! I can't believe he did that! Now I'm going to have to look for him all over again!" Celestia ranted.

"How do we know he's even alive? He can't fly, and that was a two mile drop." Came Luna, the voice of reason.

" I had the guards check the whole area, he's nowhere to be found. He must still be out there. He's probably headed back to Ponyville, so he can escape into the forest. We'll catch him when he gets there." Celestia schemed.

"Should I alert the Elements to come as well?" Asked Luna.

"No, they have done enough. I'm going to take care of this myself." Celestia meant business.

"Oh well, have fun!" Luna joked.

"You're coming too!" Celestia grabbed hold of her sister and rather than waiting for the carriage to bring them there, she simply teleported over. With that her thoughts were gone.


Closing off his mind again, Nightshade Said to himself. "Thanks ladies, now I know what you're up to." And started his journey again.


Three days had passed, Twilight and her friends had returned home to Ponyville, not knowing that both princesses were there. The three day journey had left Nightshade exhausted. He was used to being in the forest, with plenty of life around to keep him strong. This was just a dirt road, with endless grasslands spanning all directions. Sure, there was plenty of grass, but grass has only slightly more life force than bacteria, and draining it would take too much effort. Besides, someone would notice if there was suddenly massive patches of dead grass. Healing his injuries would have to wait till he was back in the forest.

Scootaloo was worried about her dad. Three days had passed since he had gone to Canterlot, and still no word. She had gone back to the cabin to sleep, but it felt empty without him there. She spent a great deal of time with the other crusaders, because for the first time in a year, she felt alone.

"Aww ahm sure he's alright." Said Applebloom in her southern accent, much like her older sister's. "The princess wouldn't 'ave done anything bad to him. He's probably just taking a long time to explain things, and maybe seeing the city a bit."

"Yeah don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon." Said Sweetie Belle, her voice no longer squeaky since she had gown up a fair bit.

"I sure hope so." Said Scootaloo, depressed. "He sure is taking a while."


When he finally arrived at the edge of Ponyville, it was nearly dark, and Nightshade lowered his mind block to try and see what was happening.

"HI!" Oh great, looks who's back. "I see you're not dead! That's a good thing!" Said Lyra. Nightshade didn't respond.

"Hey, why the silent treatment?" She asked. While he didn't feel Celestia's presence, he couldn't be to careful, and waited till he was sure he was alone before talking. 

"Celestia is looking for me, She's a telepath like you, and I don't want her to know I'm here. I know they're in Ponyville, waiting for me to come back. I need some info." He explained.

Lyra told him that there were several guards in town, while there normally weren't any, as Ponyville was a rather quiet place. She told him that they were placed around the town entrances, as well as the entrance to the forest. He quietly thanked her for the information, and closed himself off again. Sneaking around the town was easy at night, his cloak blended in well with the shadows, so even Luna's night guards wouldn't be able to spot him. After all, they were guarding the main entrances, but it's not like the town was walled.

He passed by Fluttershy's cottage, and noticed two guards standing at the forest entrance. Easily putting them to sleep, he snuck past them and into his familiar home. Once within, he passed his injuries onto the local wildlife, then went to take a look at himself in a pond.

"Oh my god." He whispered, shocked. His eyes were sunken, same with his cheeks. It just donned on him that he hadn't eaten in three days. He also noticed that while he didn't have wrinkles, he felt like his body was degrading. Of course. He had used up 15 years of his life, and hadn't replenished them. Finding a grove of very strong trees, he sapped all the lifespan from them. Again, while he was regaining 15 years of his life, to the trees, it was more like 450 years. Draining them caused them to fall with a crash.

"Well shit, now they know I'm here." He said to himself, noticing that he already looked and felt better, as he ran home. On the way, he saw a very familiar flower. Wrapping his hands in some torn pieces of his coat, (the poor thing has been through so much already, I almost pity it), he very gently secured it to his palm, taking great care not to touch it with his skin.

When he arrived at home, Scootaloo was still awake. She couldn't sleep not knowing what had happened to her dad. Her heart leapt when she saw his familiar form walking up to the cabin.

"Dad dad dad!" She cried as she jumped into his arms. "I was so scared, what happened?"

"Well, the princess wanted to send me home. Not here, I mean where I came from. I didn't want to go, and we had a little bit of an argument." He said in a chilled tone, trying to be as cool for his daughter as possible.

"An argument?" She said confused.

"Umm, yeah, and it involved me going through her window into a two mile fall." He said.

"She threw you through the window?!?"

"No, I jumped, after I tied her up. Couldn't let the guards catch me." She thought her dad was awesome, but falling two miles when he couldn't fly was just downright impressive. "Come on, let's go inside, I'm starved"

So sooner that he finished saying it, Nightshade heard a thump, and looked at the edge of the clearing. He saw two massive life forces, and he knew exactly who they belonged to.

"Scootaloo, go inside, don't come out, and don't look. It's about to get dangerous." He instructed her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The princesses are here, and they aren't happy." He said coldly. He wasn't going to lie, he was scared. Here he was, about to face off against BOTH princesses, who in Equestria were the equivalent of gods. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, couldn't believe it. Nightshade, who had saved her from the timber wolves, then from two manticores, then from Gilda, and escaped the capitol, was now going to fight the two most powerful beings in the world. While she respected the princesses, he had taken her in, cared for her, and taught her to fly. They may have been the most powerful, but he was the most awesome. Even Rainbow Dash didn't compare.

"I know you're there. There's no use hiding, I can see you both, plain as day." He said. Standing a ways away from the cabin. Knowing they had lost the element of surprise (which is not one of the elements of harmony) the sisters walked out from the cover of the forest.

"Since you know we are here, I assume you know why as well." Spoke Luna.

"You're here to kill me." Said Nightshade, swallowing hard.

"No, we're just going to send you home." Said Celestia.

"Same thing in my book. If I go back to my world, I might as well just lay down and die. They will kill me without a second thought, and I will be powerless to stop them. You said your parents sent all the humans away, all at once, but when you tried to do it, you had to put your horn right on me. From what I can tell, you need physical contact to perform the spell." he returned. The sisters were a little surprised at his reasoning.

"That is correct. Just surrender now and make this a whole lot easier for everypony." Said the elder sister.

"Yeah, every pony, but not for me." he shot back. "Besides, I've been here for almost 2 years now. If this Discord or whatever was going to escape using me as a source of power, he would have done it already."

"We cannot take that chance." Celestia responded.

"So instead, you're just going to throw me away, push the problems onto someone else. Let's get something straight princess." Celestia cringed at the word, he knew quite well that she hated formalities. "You want me gone, you do it yourself. I may not be from here, but I'm here now. I'm your problem, you deal with it yourself. You want me out of Equestria? You're going to have to kill me with your own two hooves."

Luna was taken aback by what this creature had said. Sure his world was bad, but he had lived there for a long time before coming to Equestria. As for how he got here, they still didn't know, but now that he was, he was dead set on staying. Surely his world couldn't be that terrible? Celestia however, had a determined look on her face.

"So be it."

Celestia fired a shot of magic, knocking him to the ground. As he stood, she fired another, piercing his shoulder, ripping it apart. Of course, she had not seen his powers before, and although he explained them to her, she had no clue of their full extent. He simply healed his wound. Neither princess felt anything, although Luna noticed that her sister had a very faint, almost non existent, red mark on her shoulder. 

Standing up one again, he said nothing, and charged at the sun princess. Luna flanked him, and launched her own attack, knocking him off balance. He recovered with a cartwheel, and continued straight towards Celestia. He was getting closer, and was smiling wickedly.

Seeing him closing the distance meant only one thing. He was confident. He knew something they didn't, and he was going to use it. Luna charged and tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Using the Royal Canterlot Voice, she shouted.

"Surrender!"

Being pinned by the midnight mare. Nightshade struggled in vain. Finally he stopped moving and said, "Sorry to do this to you, nothing personal." 

Bringing up his left hand, he drove his palm into Luna's chest. She suddenly felt weak and fell over, allowing him to stand. Celestia looked in utter shock. In an instant, the human had downed her sister.

"What? LUNA!" She screamed, running over to her sister. Nightshade just stood there, confident, and showed her his hand.

"Nightshade." He said. "The very same plant for which I took my namesake. I barely touched it, and I nearly died. I had to drain the life from all the plants around me, just to stay alive. I took the name as a reminder that hate is a poison. If left untreated, it can kill with a single touch, and it can spread to any who are near the one afflicted." Said the human, explaining his rather odd choice of name.

"Your sister is a lot more durable, and has a lot more life than I do, so even though she got a lot more of the poison, it just knocked her out. She'll wake up shortly, and recover fully, given a couple of days." Celestia was furious. This human had tied her up, smashed her castle, and now hurt her sister. Celestia called on all her powers, and brought a ball of energy to the tip of her horn, shining like the sun itself.

Nightshade saw this attack, and knew that if it hit him, there would be nothing left to heal. He'd be reduced to cinders. Celestia launched the attack, and he dodged skillfully. It went high, tearing into the roof of his cabin, catching it on fire, and making the wall collapse.

"NOOOO!" He screamed, realizing that Scootaloo was still inside. Celestia's rage disappeared as she watched her opponent suddenly lose focus on the fight, and run over to the burning debris, grabbing still burning pieces and tossing them aside.

"Forget it, your house is gone. It can't be salvaged." Said Celestia, her voice like ice.

"IDIOT!" He screamed. Celestia was taken aback, as she was not used to being insulted.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"There was somebody in there!" He said, turning his head. Celestia looked and saw tears streaming down his face, and felt a pit in her stomach. In her fury, she had used far too much power, and did not look to what could be caught by it. Because of her anger, it was very likely that someone had died, all because she was angry about being humiliated, and that her sister was hurt, even though she would recover in a couple days.

Nightshade continued to pull out pieces of the burning wreckage, until he found what he was looking for. Scootaloo, slightly burned, was unconscious, having been hit on the head by a support beam. She wasn't breathing. Pulling her out of the fire, Nightshade himself was burning, but didn't seem to care. Still engulfed in flames, he laid her down on the grass, and went about healing her. He couldn't risk anything, he took all her injuries onto himself, and shrieked in pain as he did so. Scootaloo was fully healed, and Nightshade passed out.

Luna awoke and, seeing the burning scene before her, used her still weakened powers to put out to fire on both the house, and the human, because Celestia was still in too much shock that she had almost killed an innocent pony. After finally being brought back to her senses, she walked over to the human, horn glowing, and prepared to send him home. Then something she never would have guessed happened, Scootaloo woke up, and saw her dad lying next to her, badly burned, as well as the charred remains of the house. Seeing Celestia walking up to him, with a cold look in her eyes, she knew what was going to happen. After all, she had lived in the forest as well, and could tell, just by the eyes, what Celestia thought.

"Move." Celestia ordered, staring at the orange filly standing over the now nearly naked body, as his cloak had been burned right off.

"No." Scootaloo responded. She was determined. "I'm not going to let you hurt my dad."

Both the princesses were stunned. Dad? Is she insane? How could this creature be her dad?

"I have to send him back to his world. If I don't, I risk Discord getting loose, and then all of Equestria will be in peril." She tried to reason with her.

"No!" Said the pegasus with even more determination. "I'm not going to let you take him away! He has done nothing wrong! He only wanted to live in peace!" She began sobbing. "When I was thrown into the forest, he healed me. When I was attacked by timber wolves, he protected me. When me and my friends were attacked by the manticores, he fought them all on his own, and got stung. He almost died trying to protect us! He saved me from Gilda! Scootaloo went on an on.

Celestia was stunned once more. She thought of this human, simply as a monster. Something that needed to be gotten rid of. Did he really do all that? What's more, this filly is the same one that he had gotten captured, trying to protect.

Scootaloo continued."I didn't have anywhere to go, and he took me in." Looking back at the charred house. "We built this house together. He taught me all about the forest. He worked for Zecora to pay for things I needed, so I could go to school! He taught me to fly." She became quiet on the last one. For a pegasus, being taught how to fly was the greatest gift of all, except for one. "He told me to call him dad." Family.

At hearing Scootaloo go on and on about what this human had done for her, Celestia and Luna both had tears in their eyes. They had made a grave mistake. They wanted to get rid of the human because they thought he would bring chaos to their world, and be an aid to Discord. What they hadn't realized was that he had shown such great love to one who needed it so badly, that there was no way he could ever do such a thing. Even now, he went into the burning wreck of his home, and pulled his adoptive daughter out of the flames. Still on fire, thinking nothing of himself, he gave all he had to heal her, to make sure that she was safe. Even though they were a different species, he loved her as his daughter, and she loved him as her dad.

The realization finally came to the royal sisters. He wasn't some violent animal that needed to be caged, or put down. He was a parent, who would fight and give his life to protect his child. He didn't tell them about her, because he knew since he was different, she would be mocked. He kept himself a secret to provide the best life possible for her. And now he was dead. Celestia had killed him. She had taken away the only one to ever show this poor thing the love she needed. 

This sight made Celestia think back to her own family. How Discord had taken away her and Luna's parents. How much she hated him for it. Would this filly grow up hating her? Had she become the very thing she despised? The thought weighed heavily on her, and she felt a sharp pain in her heart.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low moan. She looked back, and saw Nightshade, struggling to get up. He was still alive. He was badly burned, several bits of his skin were black and falling off, his long brown hair was gone, he had a bruise on his head, several broken bones, and was coughing up blood. Scootaloo rushed over to him to hug him, but he wailed in pain as she did.

Celestia looked at his broken form in pity. She had caused this. Nightshade was right all along. He was in Equestria now, and he was her problem. Her responsibility. She walked up to him, and Scootaloo became defensive again, but was dismissed by Celestia's loving gaze. This time, she knew she wasn't going to harm him. She stepped aside, and Nightshade heard Celestia's voice in his head.

"I was wrong. About everything. For the first time in my life, I have made a mistake that almost cost two innocents their lives. I hope you can forgive me. I am the one who has caused all of this, and now I'm going to fix it." She lifted him with her magic, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Please, pass your injuries to me, give me your pain, give me your sorrow. I want to make it right."

He looked at her with hazy eyes, and the colour began to come back to his face.His wounds healed, the bruise dissapeared, and he no longer coughed up blood. His burns disappeared. He was not healed fully however. Many pieces of skin had fallen of due to the burns, and were no longer present to heal. He would still need to be hospitalized while he recovered. While Celestia had very minor wounds, she still felt the anguish in full.

After it was over, many of the guards arrived at the scene, having seen the bright flash of magic, and came to investigate. Seeing a burned house, the monster which they had been on the lookout for, being supported by a sickly looking Luna, followed by a slightly charred Celestia, and lead by soot covered but none the less health Scootaloo. They didn't need any orders, and quickly sent for four stretchers, one for each.

In the Ponyville hospital, Celestia, Luna, and Nightshade all had beds right next to each other. Scootaloo was given the once over, and told that she could go home. When she explained that she no longer had a home to go to, since it had burned down, the hospital staff agreed to give her a room while her friends recovered. They kind of had too, after all, they did have both princesses there. After agreeing they would talk more once they had all recovered, they all headed off to sleep.

In his dreams, Nightshade found not only Lyra, but Celestia, and Luna as well.

"Oh geez, not this again, and now you're both here too?"

"What do you mean again?" Luna asked quizzically.

"Oh, I forgot, you didn't know. Celestia, Luna, this is Lyra, my psychic stalker."

"Hey!" Lyra was a little upset at being called a stalker, but for all intents and purposes, it was true.

"She's the reason I could tell that you were trying to get into my mind. Although I didn't know Luna was a telepath as well." he explained.

"Well, normally I don't use my powers. A thousand years with nopony to talk to will leave you rusty." Luna responded.

"Well great, now I've got three of you in here, and since you all know me now I'm sure you'll all be able to pop in any time you want just by focusing on me. Just perfect." Even being in the hospital, he hadn't lost his sense of humor.

"Well, it's a party now!" He said. For some reason, everyone except him looked around expecting something to pop up out of nowhere and start rambling. Then Nightshade decided that there was something he had to do. He had to show these ponies his world.

"Lyra, Celestia, Luna, while we're here, I think I better show you my world, my history, and why I don't want to go back. That way, when we leave, you'll all have a better understanding of what I feel, and why I feel it. A quick warning though, you all know the legends, and you'll see some things you would rather not, so if you feel like you can't continue, or need a break, just tell me" They all agreed. Bringing up an image of a high school classroom, placing the three ponies in desks, (which Celestia found embarrassing and Luna found hilarious) Nightshade began.

"This is a map of Earth."



Well, I think that went pretty well. I honestly cried at the part with Scootaloo in the forest. I know I usually make cliffhangers, and that makes people go crazy for the next part, but since I'm not entirely sure what I'll do next, (I have a good idea though) I decided that I wouldn't leave you hanging, and closed this chapter off an a calmer note. It can't be an emotional roller coaster all the time, and I thought I'd end it with a bit of comedic relief. I know this one ran a bit long, and I could have split it in two, but i decided that the second part didn't warrant being it's own chapter. So I had to push this one a little far. I'm not as happy with this chapter as I was with some of my others, but hey, it's what felt right.

 Well, he's finally out in the open. Celestia and Luna aren't trying to kick his ass any more. Their house is gone, so I guess they'll be living somewhere in Ponyville. How will they take him being there. How will he adjust to life outside the forest? Someone who dislikes society is now being put back into one, albeit a much better one. What kind of crazy antics will he get into? Well he EVER get these ponies out of his head? Find out in the next chapter of 'Monster'