Welcome Back
After Fluttershy had finally dried her eyes, she and Nightshade stood up, and she asked him, "How?"
"Well, It's a rather complicated explanation, and I'd prefer to save it till everyone is present, if that's okay with you." She accepted, and they headed outside. Twilight had the book, no longer on her head, Spike was complaining about being awake so early, Rarity was whining about the noise, and demanding to know who interrupted her beauty sleep, Pinkie Pie was trying to lick maple syrup off her mane, Rainbow was glaring at Rarity for putting a Wonderbolt's pin in her hair like a hair bow, not knowing how she did it, Applejack was laughing at Rainbow for 'lookin purdy', Firebolt was grinning ear to ear, Fluttershy walked out to meet her friends.
"Fluttershy, do you know what's going on? Firebolt says she does, but won't say anything about it. She says she's waiting for something." Twilight asked.
"Well, umm, you'll see, umm, I guess." Fluttershy said. Her eyes still had tears in them, but she was smiling.
Nightshade had snuck out the back, and flew up above the clouds. Once they were all there, Firebolt stepped towards the door, and pulled out a camera.
"What the hay is that fer?" Applejack asked.
"You'll see." she said. She flared up, giving the signal that she was ready. Nightshade saw the burst of flame, and went into a nose dive. Faster, faster! The rush of moving so quickly after having held perfectly still for two years was amazing. All the ground crew except Fluttershy and Firebolt looked up, after hearing a massive boom. They saw a black shock wave spreading out over the town, with the center being right above them. A black blur slammed into the ground, causing dust to kick up. When the dust cleared, Nightshade stood before them, with the same stupid grin on his face, and his wings spread full. The mane six looked at him, and all their jaws dropped. Fluttershy had been expecting something, but not something that, magnificent. All the rest were just stunned to see him. A camera flash went off, Rainbow with the Wonderbolt's pin in his hair, Twilight's hair all messy from having slept with a book on her head, Pinkie still covered in syrup, Rarity having not put on any makeup, getting up that early. Applejack looked normal, having already been up, and not having been pranked. Same with Scootaloo.
"N...Nightshade?" Applejack stammered.
"Did'ja miss me?" Nightshade said, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head slightly to the side.
"DAD!" Scootaloo screamed, running up to him, giving him a hug. She was a lot bigger now, almost full grown, but not quite.
"Hey Scoots, I see you made the Wonderbolts, you've come pretty quick in three years. Not being able to fly at all, straight to one of the best in Equestria." He was proud of her.
"Yeah, well, she had a good trainer. We pulled of some crazy stunts in the advertising biz, and well, eventually, they took notice. She's the youngest ever member." Rainbow said, not full of pride, but humility.
"Nice hair bow, Rainbow." He replied. She looked at him strangely, before finally understanding that he was the one that put it there.
"Little bro! You've grown up!" Nightshade told the dragon, who was now as tall as Big Mac, which was natural, since he was bipedal. Spike accepted the compliment, and flexed.
"What do ya think?" He asked.
"I think getting some fresh air did you some good. Just LOOK at you. Pretty soon the girls will be all over you, so you better watch out come spring, we don't want a repeat of THAT year." They both laughed at the joke, everyone else was still speechless, and Pinkie had finally gotten the syrup out of her mane.
"Pinkie, thanks for running the Sugar Shack while I was gone, I figured waking up covered in maple syrup wouldn't be the worst surprise to have. You all can just call this payback from mating season. I still haven't gotten Big Mac, but, that'll come later." He laughed.
"You mean, you pranked us?" Asked Rarity.
"Well, seeing as how I just came back, it's the only time I can get away with it without getting you all mad, so yes, I pranked you. Although really wasn't much of a prank, except for Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, all I did was get you up early. Besides, Rainbow looks nice, Pinkie likes being covered in syrup, and what better way to wake up than being next to the one you love?" He laughed again, giving Fluttershy a slight nudge. Firebolt had was rolling on the ground ablaze. She wasn't trying to put herself out, she was laughing her flank off, and the excitement had been too much for her. Spike belched up a letter, the princess had obviously noticed Black Law, the note, and the dream catcher, as well as the missing statue in her back yard. She wanted an explanation.
"Spike, please take a letter, and everyone else, please listen in."
Dear Princess Celestia,
I thought you of anyone would appreciate a good prank, but here's my explanation of current events. As it turns out, dream catchers are NOT a silly superstition, and actually act as a prison for malevolent spirits. Fluttershy placed one on me last year, and Nightmare's soul became trapped within. Since I we were both encased in stone at the time, Nightmare's body is now permanently part of my own, Nightmare however, is trapped in that necklace, only capable of affecting anything by being worn. I am now also, much to my disliking, an immortal, as Nightmare now has my life spark, and I, it's. Please lock it away somewhere, so none may ever find it. After 10,000 years or so, my 30 second life span, now forced into a couple bits of string and feather, will run out, and Nightmare will be gone forever.
On another topic, Black Law now responds to me the same way it responded to Nightmare. I'm it's new master, but I have no need for it. Since it's much to dangerous to keep lying around, please lock it away, somewhere safe. If I need it, I can just call out to it.
I also have a new friend, the one who took the catcher off me in the first place, allowing me to escape without being possessed. Pinkie Pie will be throwing a party for her and myself a week from today, (she wanted to do it today, but I want to give everyone time to adjust, she's nodding telling me it's okay) I hope that you and Luna can attend. Being stuck in stone for two years was terrible, I knew everything that was going on around me, but couldn't do anything about it. I actually started going a little crazy. I'll be okay though, once I get some outside time. I'd like to catch up with friends before any official announcements are made.
Sincerely, Nightshade.
Ps. I took the opportunity to play a little prank on everyone, I hope they don't get too mad.
After Spike sent the letter, Nightshade took a good look at him.
"Hey Spike, since when do you have wings? I always thought that you were some kind of wingless dragon." He asked, spotting the purple dragon's bat like wings. The skin on them was green, same as his spikes.
"Shows how much you know. Dragons get their wings once they reach the age of 'eligibility'." He said.
"Well, then maybe come spring, rather than looking out for the ladies, they might have to look out for you." He said, teasing. "If you keep growing, pretty soon I'll be the little brother."
"Nah, you'll always be big bro to me." They both had a laugh, and the others finally joined in. Okay, come on now, group hug! Firebolt, get a hold of yourself, we need a group photo to commemorate our reunion!" Nightshade made the burning unicorn pass out, then woke her up, to get her over her laughing fit. She took the photo, all of them smiling, in a group hug.
"Now set it on a timer and get your spicy head in here too." He told the incendiary pony. This time, they all struck a pose, unique to their individual characters. All three of the photos printed off.
"Hey Spike, send these to Celly will ya? She'll want to see them." Spike took a deep breath, and sent the letters away. His flame accidently caught Firebolt, who ignited in surprise, landing full flamed on the dragon.
"Oh I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He asked her.
"Yeah, I catch fire all the time, what about you?" She replied.
"Thick scales, I'm completely fire proof." He returned her response. She climbed off of him. She began eyeing his wings, and he, her fiery mane. They turned and looked at one another, staring into each others eyes.
"I know that look. Come on, I think I need to get retintroduced to Ponyville, and I think Spike and Firebolt need some time alone."
Wow, bet you weren't expecting that. Here's a bit to know about Firebolt, she's not a full adult, she's actually 18. Since Spike was a teenager age wise in Secret of my Excess, (His age was about 15, but his body was still that of a child, and reverted to that when he gave up his greed.) He's now about the 18 or 19. This makes Twilight and crew about 23, and Nightshade 24, if you count the time he was in the statue. So now you know that there is nothing underage going on here. Back when Spike grew huge, his body had gotten bigger, but he still wasn't mature age wise, meaning although he became massive, he still didn't have wings. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it! Also, as for why Nightshade does NOT want to be an immortal, that will be explained later.
The cake is a lie. Wrong story, but still a spoiler for those you you who haven't played it yet. THE GAME, you just lost. Enjoy breathing manually for the next 10 minutes.
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BlackWing: By the way, this line I draw is the 4th wall. Everything that happens after it is outside the story, and is mostly for explanation and hilarity.