The Rise of Nightshade
By: Brickbrock24
Chapter 2
The hard sheets of rain slashed against our heroes as they galloped towards Everfree Forest with great haste. The wind ferociously howled as it swept across the land and gave chills to anypony unfortunate enough to be caught in its wrath. The rain, the wind, and the complaints of some of her friends were nothing compared to the real monkey on Twilight Sparkle’s back: Prince Nightshade. Thoughts of curiosity and apprehension flooded her mind with questions about this new enemy - he wasn’t some legend that could be looked up in a book or be told about in a fascinating oral tale by Princess Celestia.
Twilight looked at the ominous purple gem that Nightshade gave to her during their encounter, “What is this gem?” she asked to herself, “I’ve never seen a crystal like this before, nor have I ever seen anypony, much less an Earth pony, turn a normal crystal into another kind of gem before! How does he have that kind of magic?! Oooooh, my head hurts!” The amount of toil Twilight’s mind was enduring was incredibly exhausting and she began to feel sharp pangs in her head. She decided that it would probably be best if she relaxed her thoughts on the heat of the moment and focused on the task at hoof.
Twilight and friends arrived at the edge of the forest. Everfree had a much darker feel than it usually did. The moon had risen, but it really didn’t make a difference whether it was night or not due to the thick storm clouds that shrouded even the sun’s shine from those under them. The harsh wind made most of the tree branches waver fiercely about, preventing them from sheltering the woodlands from the torrential downpour. Lightning flashed and struck more frequently. The thunder it generated seemed to get more deafening as the storm raged on.
“Uh, d-do we really h-have to go into the forest?” stammered Fluttershy, the shivers from the dreadful weather, the darkness of both the night and the storm, and the terrors of Nightshade had really withered down her sanity, “It’s so d-d-dark and wh-what if we r-run into you-know-who in there…”
“I’d like to get this over with,” said Rarity, “The mud’s really starting to build up in my hooves. It’s because of that Nightshade creep that I’m going to be spending weeks scrubbing off this awful caked sludge!”
Twilight put an assuring hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, “We’ll be fine, Fluttershy,” she said in a soothing tone, though she wasn’t sure if what she was saying would turn out to be true, “We’ll be right by you the whole time. We’ll explore Everfree Forest one baby step at a time and find Prince Nightshade.” Her words helped to lift a small bit of Fluttershy’s fear; but it would, without a doubt, be back with reinforcements.
The group entered the forest. Their coats were awfully drenched from all of the heavy rain that fell from the sky. The woods were much more terrifying on the inside, filling them all with the fear that the enemy could literally be hiding behind any one of the thousands of trees that stood stalwart against the weather. Well, except for Pinkie Pie, who bounced about in a cheerful mood, humming a diddy to herself.
“How can you be bouncy at a time like this?” asked Rainbow Dash, “It’s pouring rain and we’re in the middle of a stinking forest looking for a deranged magic Earth pony!”
“Hey, that’s no reason not to smile, right?” answered Pinkie Pie, “Would you like to join me in imagination land? Right now, I’m pretending I’m a pink mop being used by the royal janitor! Today, I get to clean Celestia’s throne room!”
“I’m sorry I asked…” mumbled Rainbow Dash.
It didn’t take long for Pinkie to come up with another idea, “Not up for imagination land, huh? OOOOOooh! I know! Hey, Applejack! Do you wanna play ‘I spy’ again?”
“Ugh, no…” said Applejack, but it was in one ear and out the other with her hyper pink friend.
“Ok, I spy with my little eye something… tall!”
Applejack sighed. It was another stupid, obvious clue that pointed to the same answer as the previous three rounds, “It’s a tree again, isn’t it?”
“Wow, you’re so good at this game!” gleefully said Pinkie Pie, “Okay, now it’s your turn! Gimme a clue!”
“I really don’t wanna…”
“Aw, come on! Show me some enthusiasm!”
“Fine!” snapped Applejack, “I spy, with my l’il eye, somethin’ pink and irritating!”
Pinkie Pie thought long and hard about this painfully obvious clue, “Wow, this is a tough one…” she said as she looked around the shady woods.
“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,” whispered Applejack to herself.
“I bet it’s that rash on your hoof!” said Rainbow Dash, pointing at Applejack’s left foreleg.
“What in the hay are you talkin’ about?” asked Applejack, looking down at her hoof, “I don’t have a rash…” As soon as Applejack looked down, Rainbow Dash flicked the hoof she was pointing with up and playfully bopped Applejack in the nose.
“Ha, gotcha!” giggled Rainbow Dash, “Hey, you’re right, Pinkie! That did make me feel better!”
“Will you two stop goofing around and focus?!” irritably asked Twilight. With all the racket Pinkie was making, she was surprised they weren’t ambushed by a party of Nightshade’s soldiers, “Look, I see a light over there!” The group trotted over to the dim flicker of light to see what was making it. When they got close enough to see more detail, Twilight and friends discovered that it was what they had been seeking: Nightshade’s camp.
The camp was located in a medium-sized clearing with a thin canopy of branches reaching over it that shielded the campground from aerial view. There were large white military tents surrounding a huge bonfire pit, which was surprisingly still burning in the deluge. Shadow Ponies and Darklings were all about the site. Some stood guard, standing like statues oblivious to the rain. Some were being competitive with each other, others were training themselves in various weaponry - such as shattering cinder blocks with arrows with horseshoes on the end of them instead of broadhead tips. In the tents, Twilight and friends could hear some of the soldiers playing competitive games such as cards and hoof wrestling.
“Look, there’s my brother!” whispered Applejack, pointing her hoof. There stood Big MacIntosh, sad and alone, enduring nature’s cruelty. His neck was chained to a sturdy pole and his legs were in shackles. A muzzle had been placed tightly on his mouth. Applejack was about to rush in and save him, but was stopped by Twilight’s hoof. For a second, Applejack was furious that Twilight would stop her, but then she noticed that Nightshade was walking toward her brother. Twilight and friends crept up closer to get better clarity on what Nightshade was saying to him.
“Why, hello there, my big red friend,” mockingly said Nightshade, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you… anymore, that is.” Nightshade slowly paced around Big Macintosh, analyzing him as if he was judging art for an art contest. “Such magnificent brawn! I’d expect that from a pony who slaves away on a farm all day for a living. Such a waste of your time…” Big Macintosh struggled with his bindings and yelled muffled sentences at Nightshade, for what he said about his life being a waste greatly insulted both him and his family.
Nightshade ignored him and continued, “Now, I know you must be not on the ball with what’s going on or why you’re here, my friend. But I can assure you that your life’s about to get better. With your healthy body and great strength, you are worthy of becoming a Darkling and serving me! Doesn’t that sound wonderful?” Big Macintosh’s eye shrank with fear when Nightshade told him this. Knowing how cruel his captor was, Big Mac realized what Prince Nightshade might make him do: attack his own family as a Darkling.
Twilight and friends watched in horror as Nightshade imbued his hoof with dark energy and walked towards Big Macintosh. He placed his hoof on the forehead of his prisoner and started infusing the evil energy into him. Big Mac writhed and howled as his body filled up with Nightshade’s dark magic. Like a drop of dye diffusing in water, the eggplant purple color of the Shadow Ponies and Darklings began to paint over Big Mac’s red coat, starting from where Nightshade was infusing his magic into him and working its way down. The hue of his mane and tail, which had grown slightly longer, slowly ebbed away and was replaced with a neon green color. But perhaps the most startling change happened to Big Macintosh’s collar. Somehow, Nightshade’s spell had turned the work collar into a steel collar adorned with spikes, much like the collar of a thuggish dog.
“Now, whom do you serve?” asked Nightshade when he had finished the spell.
Big Macintosh looked down at Nightshade and spoke in the low, demonic voice of all the other Darklings, “Nightshade…”
Nightshade smiled and took out three tiny malicite shards, each of them flashing white every few seconds. He threw them a few feet away from him; when they hit the ground, they turned into Shadow Ponies - one Earth, one Unicorn, and one Pegasus.
“You three, take our new recruit to the armory and dress him in armor,” Nightshade ordered them, “But don’t give him any weapons. I’m sure that this beefy farmer here will be greatly satisfied with pounding his enemies into mulch with his bare hooves. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be getting to dinner. It’s spaghetti night and nopony makes better pasta than Sponduli!” Prince Nightshade left his soldiers to unchain Big Mac and walked towards the big tent at the edge of the camp.
“Oooh, that rotten Nightshade!” snarled Applejack, “When I get my hooves on him for transformin’ my brother into a pawn fer his army, I’m gonna-”
“Easy there, Applejack!” whispered Twilight, “Try to keep your voice down. Look, I’m just as concerned for your brother as you are, but we need to focus on finding out what Prince Nightshade is up to!”
“I bet Nightshade’s going to discuss his plans over dinner,” said Rarity, “If we sneak on over to that dining tent, I’m sure we could learn some valuable information.”
“Good thinking, Rarity!” said Twilight, “Alright, here’s the plan! Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and I will sneak over and eavesdrop on Nightshade. Rarity and Fluttershy, you two stay here and keep a lookout for his soldiers. Does everypony understand?” Twilight friends nodded and put their plan into motion. With the stealth of thieves, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie crept around the enemy camp, taking great care not to make even the slightest of noises. When they got the tent, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie poked their heads under the back tent of the tent to listen in on the conversation that went on within while Applejack kept a lookout for guards.
Inside the tent, Twilight and the others saw Prince Nightshade sitting at a round table with a single lantern hanging overhead. With Nightshade sat three other ponies, none of which looked like they had been turned into savage Darklings. The table was set with a huge bowl of spaghetti with marinara in the center, surrounded by an array of cheeses, apples, salads, and cider. The pony to the left of Nightshade was a pegasus about the same size as Big Macintosh. His coat was ash gray and his tail was a light teal color. He had the same red eyes as Nightshade, but his scleras were normal white ones. He wore a helmet very similar to that of Celestia’s royal guards, though it lacked a crest. It had three blade-like prongs running up the center of the helmet and from the ends of the eyes. The helmet, along with the pegasus’ armor, was painted shamrock green and streaked with silver along the edges. On his left foreleg, he wore a golden bracer with a malicite crystal like a sword from his cutie mark. His cutie mark was a pair of crossed swords. Leaning on the table beside the pegasus was a large broadsword dressed in a leather sheath. On his back legs, he wore leg guards with little prongs sticking out of them that looked like they could slice a pony open.
The pony to right of Nightshade was a mysterious looking mare. Most of her light blue face was veiled in a large tattered mud-colored hood held loosely together by stitches. There was a large tear on the right of the hood, allowing a glowing white dot to stare out into the tent. The rest of her robe wasn’t any less shabbier, with multiple tears and loose stitches, not to mention it looked like it hadn’t been washed in years. On her neck, she wore a pearl necklace with a large gold plate with a bit of malicite shaped like an eye. Her tail was a dark violet hue and was styled into two pigtails. Leaning on the table beside her a long staff with a red magic orb on top of it.
The pony across from Nightshade was certainly the most interesting of the bunch, particularly due to his massive portion sizes. This pony was plump like an elephant and rather short. His coat was a light brown color and his mane, tail, and handlebar mustache were all white as snow. All of them were neatly groomed and styled. He wore a big black top hat along with a tuxedo with a red bow tie and a white dress shirt underneath. On his hooves, he wore shiny black dress shoes and wore a pin on his lapel with a flat circular piece of malicite. His cutie mark was that of a gold coin.
“Vot?” said the pony in the green armor, he had a very thick accent, “You say you met Twilight Sparkle, brother?”
“That’s right, Sky Blade,” said Nightshade, taking a bite of spaghetti, “And I gotta say, she was so much cuter than I thought she’d be!” Twilight felt her cheeks flame up a bit from within, but she wasn’t sure if it was from flattery or awkwardness. “Heh heh, if she didn’t catch me stealing from her friend’s little apple farm, she’d so be into me! I mean, I like to read, she likes to read, and she’s so very pretty and -”
“Oh là là, slow down zere, lover colt!” said the pony in the tuxedo after stuffing a huge slice of cheddar into his mouth, he had a very thick French accent, “So you met zee alicorn we have heard so much about and you, zee great mighty Nightshade, find yourself falling victim to amorous feelings? Zut alors! You should take my father’s advice: To never fall in love… unless eet eez with money!”
Nightshade rolled his eyes, “Yeah, Sponduli, I’ll take advice from a friend whose idea of a healthy meal is giant portion sizes and embellishing them, along with your beverage, with abnormal amounts parmesan cheese!”
“Hey, in order to fully live fancy, every meal must be avec fromage, no?” responded Sponduli, guzzling down his mug of cider after stuffing apple slices in his mouth and vigorously chewing them up like a garbage disposal.
Nightshade sighed, “Never mind,” He turned his head over to the hooded mare, “Any news from the others during my absence, Hitchcolt?”
“Why, yes, Nightshade,” answered Hitchcolt, “I have received a letter from Roger, he’s bringing the fifteen thousand soldiers you requested down to the rendezvous point near Canterlot, along with your sister: Zinnia. He’s also bringing the ‘special prisoner’ that you wanted. They will arrive within three days.”
“Three days?!” shouted Sky Blade, “Me and Blayshar vant to lop off heads now, brother Nightshade! I really vant my sword to taste blood of Sun Goddess!”
“Do not worry, mon ami” said Sponduli, “I am sure you will be able to shine soon enough.”
Sky Blade snarled at Sponduli and gave him an icy stare, “And vot about you, blubber donkey?! I haven’t seen you do anything useful around here! I go out and risk my life for Nightshade, vhile you hide in tent like cockroach! You vouldn't know usefulness if it came up, sliced you open, and harvested your fat for butter! Vot have you done to help, comrade? VOT?! I should pop your head like cranberry, you-”
Nightshade slammed his hoof on the table, his eyes seeing red as they gazed at his brother, “THAT’S ENOUGH, SKY BLADE!” he yelled, “You will treat Sponduli Moolalli with utmost respect! He has been just as useful as you have, Sky Blade! After all, he’s the one who supplied me with the mythril I used to forge our armor and your sword. He also supplies me with other metals, as well as mountains of gems for me to turn into malicite! Also, he’s a wonderful cook! Usefulness doesn’t just apply to being able to fight, Sky Blade. Sponduli is a prime example of the point I’m trying to make! Do you understand?”
Sky Blade grunted, “I understand…”
Just then, one of Nightshade’s hooded Shadow Pegasi entered the tent. He saluted to Nightshade and said, “Forgive me for interrupting, my lord, but I have good news to tell!”
“Oh yeah?” said Nightshade, “What is it?”
“We have managed to find and capture the little purple creature you told us to find! We found him strolling about the streets of Ponyville with an umbrella!”
“Excellent, you are dismissed!” The pegasus nodded and took his leave. Nightshade turned back to Hitchcolt, “Now, where was I? Oh yeah, tell me the current status of ‘Project: Dark Sun’, Hitchcolt.”
“Well, the ooze isn’t quite perfected yet, your majesty, “ said Hitchcolt, twiddling her fork around, “But I can assure you it’ll be ready soon! I just need one last ingredient! I suspect that some energy from our six Elements will be enough to perfect the Dark Ooze.”
“Yes…” said Nightshade, gazing down at the bat shaped malicite crystal embedded in the gold bracer on his hoof, “Yes, of course! Very well, at the rendezvous point; Me, you, Sky Blade, Sponduli, Roger, and Zinnia will combine the powers of our Elements into the Dark Ooze. Then, at nightfall on the fourth day, we begin our attack on Canterlot to claim our prize!”
Hitchcolt glanced at Sponduli, the conversation seemed to pass right over him like a river washing over stones. He had already devoured the whole nine yards of pasta and was stuffing his mouth with cheese like a chipmunk.
“Geez, slow down there, Sponduli,” said Hitchcolt, feeling a bit nauseated from watching her friend wolf down food into his bottomless pit of a stomach, “With the all the food you’ve eaten tonight, you must weigh as much as Appleloosa!”
At the drop of a hat, Sponduli responded, “Zat eez alright. After all, zat eez a pretty small town, no?”
“Yeah, but you’re going to risk putting yourself into the hospital again!” said Hitchcolt, “I mean, haven’t you ever heard of savoring your meals?”
“No way, mon amie!” said Sponduli with a mouthful of cheese and apples, “You see, zee philosophy I follow when I eat eez to treat every meal you eat as eef eet were your last! Besides, my supposed ‘disgusting’ dining etiquette cannot possibly be as grotesque as zat hideous face of yours!”
Feeling her anger flare up inside of her, Hitchcolt lashed at her chubby friend with her personal vendetta, “It was because of an idiot student of mine that my face is like this! You’re all lucky that I veil it with this hood; otherwise you’d be peeing yourselves out of fear! I mean, sweet Luna, I bet my face is so mangled that I could even give Princess Celestia nightmares! Don’t push me, Moolalli, or the hood comes off!”
“Don’t aggravate her!” said Sky Blade, “Please, I can’t stand looking at her gross face!”
“Well, maybe she should mind her own business on how I eat!” shouted Sponduli, “After all, I do not criticize her alchemy or any of her magical work. Why should I be treated any different?”
“Oh, please! You’re just a fat, greedy mule with eyes bigger than his stomach! You call yourself fancy? You know jack-squat about courtesy at the dinner table! You’re lucky nopony knows that you’re associated with Nightshade yet, otherwise the hospital wouldn’t admit you and you’d be as dead as a doorknob, you pompous-”
“STOP IT! JUST STOP YOUR SAUCY BICKERING RIGHT NOW, YOU FOALS!!” screamed Nightshade. Another voice, a higher-pitched demonic one, seemed to be simultaneously coming out of his mouth along with his normal voice, echoing in the air as Prince Nightshade continued to scold his companions. The same purple sparks that appeared around his head before had returned and seemed to be raging more fiercely than before, “I’VE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOUR FIGHTING! I’M TRYING TO ENJOY A NICE MEAL AFTER A LONG DAY, BUT I GUESS THAT WAS JUST WISHFUL THINKING! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HAVING TO REMIND YOU TWO THAT NOT A SPARK OF DECENCY COMES OUT OF ARGUING AT THE DINNER TABLE, ESPECIALLY MY DINNER TABLE! NOW APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER OR I WILL HAVE MY BROTHER CUT OFF YOUR EARS!”
As quickly as they came, the creepy voice and the purple lightning around Nightshade’s head had vanished, leaving him clenching his head in anguish.
“You alright, Nightshade?” asked Sky Blade, a small hint of compassion could be heard in his voice, “Vot vas vith that creepy voice that came out of your mouth?”
“I… I don’t know…” mumbled Prince Nightshade, “U-Urgh… P-please excuse me, I have to go lie down. I’m feeling a bit under the weather right now…” Nightshade rose from his seat and slowly walked out of the tent.
Meanwhile, Twilight and friends, who had taken in every last detail of what went on in the dining tent, all had one thought in mind after the talking stopped: They had to get this information to Princess Celestia.
“Alright, I’m back!” said Rainbow Dash, who suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
“What the-” whispered Twilight with a blend of both confusion and aggravation, for she was so caught up with eavesdropping on Prince Nightshade’s planning that she, or anypony for that matter, didn’t even notice she had left, “Where the heck have you been, Rainbow?”
“I got bored of staring into that tent, so I decided to do some exploring! I snuck into a tent next door and found this sweet little chest under the bed!” Rainbow Dash showed Twilight a medium sized treasure chest-like box. The box itself was the same color as her coat and gilded with gold around the edges of both the lid and the actual box.
“Maybe it’s treasure!” said Pinkie Pie, the excitement in her voice was undeniable.
“That’s was I was thinking,” said Rainbow Dash, “I mean, what’s a quest without a little treasure reward, am I right?” At the moment, a panicked scream could be heard from the tent that Rainbow Dash just returned from. The ponies looked and saw Nightshade gallop out of the tent flaps and back towards the dining tent.
“Where is it? WHERE IS IT?!” he shouted hysterically.
“Oh là là, calm down, mon ami!” said Sponduli, confused by the heat of the moment, “Where eez what?”
“My box!” shouted Nightshade, “The little cyan box I keep under my bed! It’s gone! My most prized possessions are in it!”
“Vot?! How can this -” Sky Blade suddenly caught a peculiar smell in his nose and started sniffing the air like a scent-hound “- Vait… Vhy am I smelling… the cotton candies?” The other ponies sniffed around and found themselves smelling it too.
Nightshade looked around, his eyes scanning the tent for the source of the smell. He sensed something behind the tent wall and fired a blast of dark magic from his hoof. The blast tore through the tent and barely missed Applejack’s head.
“What?! You foals actually FOLLOWED me?!” yelled Nightshade, the shock in his voice was undeniable.
“Twilight, we gotta get out of here!” yelled Pinkie Pie, “I don’t wanna get incinerated by Prince Whiteclay!”
“It’s NIGHTSHADE!!” yelled Nightshade from within the tent. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie galloped as fast as they could towards Rarity and Fluttershy. They didn’t even need to use the signal that they had planned to let them know it was time to skidaddle.
Nightshade burst out of the dining tent and frantically looked around. All of the hullabaloo had compelled his soldiers to gather around the source of the noise.
Prince Nightshade barked at his soldiers, “Do not let them escape, you foals! I want half of you to go pursue them at once! GO!!” Without hesitation, half of the gathering of Shadow Ponies and Darklings saluted their master and scattered into the woods to seek their prey.
Nightshade shivered by himself in the rain. Tears began to well up in his eyes as sorrow seeped into his body from the loss of his special box. But that sadness was only fuel for the fiery rage that soon followed. He gazed up at the sky and screamed the name of the pony that duped him at the top of his lungs,
“Curse you Twilight SPAAARRRRRRRRKKKLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEE!!!” After emptying his anger and hate to the heavens, he fell into the mud on his knees and wept.