• Published 20th Feb 2012
  • 13,297 Views, 1,365 Comments

Ascended - BlackWing



2 Years after the events of Monster, 1 year after the epilogue. Sequel. Firebolt fan character.

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"Finally here. It took me so long, but I made it." Firebolt said to herself. She wondered why ponies as famous as the bearers of the elements would live in such a small town. Perhaps they liked the peace and quiet? Firebolt had to come here and ask them herself, since most of the records in the Canterlot archives were obscured, and anything regarding Nightmare was kept in a high security section, 'Royal Eyes Only'.

"Oh my gosh? Are you new in town? Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! You must be new because I know everypony in Ponyville, and if you're new in town then you probably don't have any friends here and you'll be lonely so I need to throw you a welcome party so you can make lots and lots of friends!" A bouncing pink pony appeared out of nowhere, startling Firebolt. Pinkie Pie's mane got singed when the surprised unicorn's orange and red mane flared up. It was Pinkie's turn to be startled.

"Heh, sorry. That happens some times. Usually if I get made, afraid, or surprised, or anything else really." Firebolt said shyly.

"Ah well, that's alright, accident's happen." Pinkie said excitedly.

"You said you know EVERY pony in Ponyville?" She asked the pink mare.

"Yuppers!" She responded.

"What about someone from two years ago?" She asked again.

"Yep, I've lived here in Ponyville all my life! I know everypony who's been here and I never forget a face!" She said while hopping.

"Well, I'm looking for information on a certain somepony who lived here 2 years ago." If Pinkie knew everypony, then chances are she knew about Nightshade.

"Ooh, do you have a friend here you're coming to visit?" She asked.

"Well, no. I didn't actually know him, but he's my idol, and I wanted to know more about his life." Firebolt asked meekly. "His name was Nightshade."

Pinkie got a look of recognition, her mane deflated ever so slightly, and she stopped bouncing. A few tears formed in her eyes as she remembered something, then she shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

"Yeah, I knew Shady. He was... a good friend. Follow me, we'll go to his house." Pinkie said somewhat more sullenly than her regular tone.

Pinkie Pie had since moved out of Sugarcube Corner, and into Nightshade's house with Fluttershy. Scootaloo had moved in with Rainbow Dash, so they could work together more easily, which left Fluttershy all alone. Since Pinkie was the one working the Sugar Shack, and Fluttershy needed comforting, Pinkie moved in with her.

"Hiya Fluttershy, we've got a guest!" Pinkie said, regaining her usual demeanor.

"Oh, umm, hello. Fluttershy said quietly.

"Hi, my names Firebolt." She said quietly, trying not to make the shy pegasus feel off guard. "I'd like to ask some questions about Nightshade."

Fluttershy's ears drooped. She still hadn't gotten over what happened two years before. He was the love of her life, and he was gone.

"Well, umm, I'm Fluttershy, And this is the Shade and Shy Sugar Shack." She said, starting to shake. "We umm, founded it together, even though I really didn't do all that much. He lived in the forest for two years, so he knew all about the trees, and where he came from, it was really popular, so he brought it here."

"Where did he come from?" Firebolt asked, not sensing the yellow pony's discomfort at the subject.

"He came... um, he came from..." Fluttershy trailed off. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. I'm sorry." She ran to her bedroom, tears streaming down her face. Pinkie's mane had deflated a little more at seeing her friend sad, but knew better than to try and comfort the crying Fluttershy. At times like this, she just wanted to be alone, and besides, she had somepony that needed a tour around town.

"What was that all about?" Firebolt asked.

"It's a touchy subject with her. She's already timid, and they were..... close." Pinkie said softly. "Let's go talk to Twilight."


Twilight lived in a giant hollowed out tree, filled with books. This made Firebolt extremely nervous.

"Umm, Pinkie, maybe I shouldn't go in." She said.

"Why's that?" She asked.

"Well, she lives in a tree and umm...." The yellow unicorn said, making herself catch fire slightly before extinguishing it.

"Oh, right." Pinkie said knowingly. She went inside, and after about 5 minutes, she came out with a lavender unicorn.

"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville librarian." She introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Firebolt. Sorry about doing this outside, I just, well, didn't want to burn your house down." She replied meekly, causing herself to flare up again.

"Understandable. Now, Pinkie said you were here to ask me something?" She said. She was always happy to share knowledge with others.

"Well you see, Nightshade is kind of my idol, and I wanted to know a bit more about him, like where he came from, what he is, what happened to him." Firebolt said this as gently as possible, knowing now that he was a difficult topic.

"Well, he came from another world, and I actually helped bring him here. Although all I did was supply the magic to do it, if you want to know more about him specifically, you'll have to talk to Lyra. She was the one who brought him here, and she knows more about him than any other, except the princesses and Fluttershy of course." Twilight said, simply stating facts. She also didn't really want to talk about him. She had fared much better than Fluttershy though, as she and Rarity were the ones who knew him the least.

"By the way, be careful around Lyra, she still blames herself for what happened. She might not tell you anything. She's beaten herself up over it for the past two years, please be gentle."


"So, you had a telepathic connection to him?" Firebolt asked Lyra, now in her house along with Bon Bon and Pinkie.

"Yeah, at first it was only in my sleep, and then I learned to do it while I was awake. I was obsessed with humans, and since he was the only one here, I went a little crazy." Lyra explained, Bon Bon raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, a lot crazy. I pretty much stalked him, real world and in his mind. I didn't give him any space, and while I though I loved him, I tried to force myself on him. I didn't consider how he felt. When I learned he didn't return my feelings......" Lyra had broken down crying now. "I understood what he had been through. His only friend betraying him? Having to run from everything. I knew everything about his past, but I was blind to his emotions." Lyra paused. "Everypony forgave me. Even he forgave me. But I still can't forgive myself for what I did. Because of me....."

"Maybe I should go." Firebolt felt sad that everyone was so hurt by her questions, but also very frustrated that she wasn't getting any answers, or at least as many as she wanted. He was her idol, and he somehow gained wings before he died. Maybe she could learn how he did it, and do it herself.

Speaking to Rainbow Dash, who simply said he was the only one to ever outrun her, Scootaloo who gave the story of how they lived in the forest, how he adopted her, taught her to fly. Because of Lyra, she finally knew where he had come from, and because of Scootaloo, she finally knew how he spent his first two years in Equestria.

"If I was him, I wouldn't have been able to adapt. Heck, I still haven't adapted to living in Equestria, and I was born here." Knowing where he came from was half the puzzle, but what she really wanted to know, was where he went. She thanked everypony for their time, and left Ponyville. Taking out the necklace, which she saw a similar one being worn by Fluttershy, Pinkie had explained that it was a dream catcher, mean to ward off evil spirits. Once outside of the town, she reached into her saddlebag, and took it out.

"So, that's what you are. Maybe I should put you back. After all, it has an extremely high sentimental value. Seems like that Fluttershy gave it to him, she'd be crushed if she went to visit and it wasn't there.

"What is it you desire?" A voice inquired

"Who said that?" Firebolt asked.

"What is the thing you desire above all others?" The voice asked again.

Firebolt had to think about it. Sure, she wanted to know more about Nightshade, but a lot of that was knowing how he got his wings. No, flight was definitely the top of the list.

"I desire wings, that I might fly through the clouds, and across the sky." She answered the voice.

"Become my bearer, and I shall grant you your wish, and anything else you have in your heart." Firebolt recognized the voice coming from the necklace, and a grin appeared on her face.


Meanwhile, within Nightshade's mind, encased in stone. Something had happened.

1 Year Ago

"Thank's for the birthday present, and the song Fluttershy." Nightshade cried. "I know you miss me, and I miss you, but I have to stay here and keep Nightmare trapped." Suddenly, Nightmare, which had been taunting him for the past year, telling him to use their combined power, break out of the prison, and go see his loved ones, became silent.

"What's the matter tall dark and gruesome? Can't stand to see someone happy?" He turned, and saw that Nightmare had been imprisoned in a circle. Taking a closer glance, the circle was actually a dream catcher, the strings stretched out, wrapping the black smoke in a kind of spider web. Nightmare could no longer move within his mind, and could no longer speak. It had been bound within the trinket, now worn around his neck.

"Silly superstition my ass, those things actually work!" The reason dream catchers ward off evil spirits is not that they are a barrier, they are a trap. If an evil spirit enters the web, they become hopelessly entangled within it, while good spirits and dreams are funneled into the wearer. Since the spirit was in him, and then the dream catcher was placed on him, Nightmare didn't have a chance to escape. It was trapped.

"Well, this is pleasant. Your soul has left your body. That black smoke that gave me an upgrade, as well as the Black Law, you're not in them anymore. Your new body is that little ring. But now there's a problem. Your old body and mine are fused, but I've got two life sparks now. My spark with 10 seconds left, and yours, which is immortal. I could break out of here, but I'd explode, unless...." Nightshade always was a thinker.

"My spark is small enough to move, I think I'll keep yours, and you can have mine. My life force should be enough to sustain you in that little ring for the next, oh ten thousand years? Still can't break out though. If I do that, your binding will weaken. You'll still be stuck, but you'll be able to possess me. Maybe if I'm lucky, in 100 years the string will wear through and the necklace will fall off, then I'll can break out, thank you soooooo much for telling me how, by the way, and I can give it to Celestia, who will lock it in a dungeon for all enternity. So yeah, in a hundred years, you will totally regret taunting me with the knowledge of how to break out of here." Nightshade laughed at the evil spirit, bound within the net of spiritual strings in his mind. Having been all alone, nobody to talk to, he was starting to go slightly mad.

Present Time

"Huh, who's this?" Nightshade asked himself, as he saw a yellow unicorn walk up to the statue. She had an orange and red mane, and a flaming arrow for a cutie mark.

"Here stands Nightshade, friend to all. He came from a world far worse, but made ours far better. Gave his life to forever bind the ancient Nightmare, standing watch forever, guarding us from it's return. May his rest be peaceful." The mare said to herself, a tear appearing in her eye.

"Hey now, don't cry over me, we don't even know each other." He said to himself in a slightly teasing tone. She began looking at the objects at his feet. She stopped when she saw Scootaloo's cloud carving, spelling out 'Dad'.

"He was a father? But he's not a pony! He couldn't have had a child. That and the time frame is way too short. Unless he adopted. That's right! I remember reading in the paper that he adopted a young pegasus filly. She must have made that for him." She said, once again to nobody.

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Hmm, are you trying to learn about me for the archives? No wait, Twilight already took care of that. Maybe a fan? Pfft, I don't have any fans. Or maybe I do, I am a hero after all." He said proudly, the same way that Spike talks when he's acting macho, which Nightshade was sure by now he actually was.

"Okay, next round in the Guess the Facts: Nightshade Edition game show!" Once again, having gone slightly mad from being all alone and having nothing to do, he was trying to pass the time by having fun with this unicorn, even if she wasn't aware of it.

"Odd, he was never depicted as having a sword. He always fought without weapons, using his powers. I wonder if it was added later for aesthetics?" The pony said.

"Well, I never had a sword, right up till I got stuck in here. It wasn't aesthetics though. Eeeh, I'll give you that one. It's not like Celestia wants anyone to know that a weapon capable of killing her is sitting out in the open, right in her back yard. Okay, final round!" Nightshade was laughing. This was the most entertainment he had since Fluttershy sang to him almost a year ago, but that was sad, and everyone cried. This was more of a happy entertainment. "Oh, that's right, my birthday is coming up. Two years stuck in here, eternity to go!"

The fiery unicorn was looking at his dream catcher now.

"Strange design. A ring, with a spiders web of string woven in it, and 3 feathers hanging down. It looks like something that would have been made by the buffalo tribes, but there's no record of it. It must have been placed here after he was petrified though. It seems to have a strange black shine to it. Probably part of the design. What I don't understand is why he has wings. There was never any record of him having wings, he doesn't have them in any pictures, when did he get them? I have to know."


"Right once again. If the buffalo tribes are anything like the natives of my world, then you're probably right, and it was put here after I got turned to stone. Although it wasn't black, it was ivory. It's probably black now since Nightmare is in it. And you're right about me not having wings. Such a smart pony." Nightshade said. She began to leave, presumably to go look for more information.

"Wait! Don't go!" He yelled, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. She was the most fun he'd had since he got locked in there. "At least take something for a prize, since you won the game!"

The unicorn turned around, and looked at the necklace. She seemed drawn to it.

"Oh no, not that. Don't take that. Take the syrup, or the plaque, or the dragon scale." He said more quietly. She reached up, and took the dream catcher. Nightmare and it's prison vanished from his mind.

"Okay, good, now change your mind, and put it on the pedestal." He said, like he was trying to get out of a hostage situation.

"Nopony will notice if I take a little keepsake of my idol." The mare laughed, putting the necklace in her saddlebag.

"Gah. Well, at least she didn't put it on. Nightmare is still weak. Now I just have to break out of here, find her, hope she didn't put it on, and bring it back here to Celestia so she can throw it in a safe or something for the next eon. Then I'll have Pinkie Pie throw a massive party for my hotheaded little friend and everything will be right as rain." Nightshade got to work. It would take him about a month to break out. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

Well now, that explains a lot. He coming back! Albeit a little less sane this time around, but at least it's a Pinkie Pie crazy instead of a Hannibal Lecter crazy, and it's only slight. So, what's going to happen to Firebolt? Please don't put it on, we don't want to go through the whole Lyra incident again, except this time with FIRE

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy: *Squee* I'm so happy, I could just hug the life out of everything.

Pinkie: Can't... Breathe...

Fluttershy: Sorry.

BlackWing: Well, that's chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed.