vengeance at nightfall

by NightSugar pone

chapter 3

blazing a trail

Literally a day after leaving the hive Angel had attempted to get closer to the Prince, his name was Metamorph, bet Angel had given him the adorable nickname ‘Morphy’ just to make him flustered. Nightshade on the other hand just called him your highness and didn't seem to be interested in talking to him or even being around him. And during the long trek to the horde he had nearly gotten himself killed by dragons, gryphons and even a particularly bad group of ponies, and her opinion on having him around changed drastically. Eventually, they all got tired of walking and, after raising the moon Nightshade had chosen to stop and set up camp for the night. None of the changelings hesitated when they almost instantly laid down together and fell asleep, leaving the two sisters to watch out for them and create a fire to keep them warm.

“Darn changelings,”
Nightshade muttered under her breath, as she dug a place to put a fire and stacked sticks in the hole.
“and just because they're with a prissy Prince who needs help to survive,”

“Don't be so mean sis, Morphy is actually pretty cute when you get used to him,”
Angel said as she struck flint with a rock until the sparks lit up the tinder at the base of the sticks. Nightshade just rolled her eyes and pulled out the map and marked the places they had passed with an ‘X’.

“We'll get to the horde in 4 days, 5 if the Prince gets in trouble again,”
Angel walked over to her and laid down beside of her, glancing at the map.

“Why don't you try to look for somepony at the horde? There's a good chance that those vampire ponies are attractive, and I know you haven't been with anyone in a while and it might be good to get you back in the dating game,”
Angel said as she rested a wing on her sister's back.

“And who knows, maybe their nice.”
The sound of rustling came from where the changelings were sleeping, and Prince Metamorph got up and walked over to them.

“I don't know, I've never seen or met a vampire pony but mother has told me that they are vicious and impossible to reason with. Is that really your next option for an ally?”
He said in a royal tone as he walked over to the two sisters, and Nightshade's frown turned into a grimace.

“Yes, who else would I go to to find strong enough ponies to help dig up the umbrum ponies? Oh wait, you're just a Prince, no pampered royal pony like you would ever understand such a delicate plan,”
Nightshade rolled the map back up and tucked it away in her cloak, before getting up and moving away from the two.

“Goodnight!”
She said sharply while she turned her back to them.

Metamorph laid down in front of Angel and sighed

“I guess your sister really hates changelings, so much for her plan for harmony,”
And he looked down at his hooves.

Angel put a hoof on one of his

“Oh no, it's not that at all, she's always hated high-class royal ponies. And maybe you shouldn't try to be friendly to every creature I meet, I can see why trying to save you from those can get annoying after a while.”
She said as she smiled at him before looking to her sister

“She also hasn't been in a relationship for a while, so maybe you just remind her of those good times,”
Metamorph looked over at Nightshade as well and smiled.

“Maybe, I can help her fall in love with someone again, it might just cheer her up,”
Angel just grinned and tapped his hoof gently.

“If that's what you want to try to do, then by all means, go ahead, just be careful; my sister can be rather picky at times,”
Angel yawned and curled up, moving away from him a little bit

“Well, I'm going to call it a night, I suppose you do the same before she yells at you to wake up tomorrow,”
And with that Angel had peacefully fallen asleep. After a little while of being awake, Metamorph got up and moved to lie down near nightshade and quietly said goodnight before falling asleep beside her.

Early the next morning Metamorph was woken up by being shaken, and he looked around quickly, before looking up to see an annoyed but more or less calm Nightshade, standing over him.

“Why were you sleeping next to me?”
She said in a whispering hiss as she glared down into his blue eyes.

“W-well your sister said you might be upset because you don't have someone to love, s-so I just thought I'd give y-you some….company,”
He stuttered out, giving her a nervous toothy smile. Nightshade just stood up properly and sighed before getting off of him and helping him to his hooves.

“First rule of being around me: don't sleep near me unless you tell me before I pass out, got it?”
He nodded quickly and stood in place in front of her, too scared to move

“Good,”
She turned to her sister and the small bundle of sleeping changelings and cleared her throat before saying

“To your feet! We have a lot walking to do today so we better start moving before it gets too late to move further.”
Soon after that, every one of them got up and collected their bearings before starting to walk, and Angel lifted the sun into the sky before joining the rest of the group.

As the long trek continued Metamorph had avoided any danger he could, which resulted in them moving further and overall walking a day and a half's worth of travelling before they set up camp again. And rather than lying down with his fellow changelings while Angel and Nightshade started the fire and marked the map, he helped set up the sticks and tinder and offered his input on the places they passed and passed through. Although this change in behaviour was good Nightshade couldn't help by feel confused by it, was what Angel told him really that inspiring?

Later that night, after the moon had been raised and everyone was starting to fall asleep Metamorph walked over to Nightshade and gently nudged her awake, causing her to groan and roll over.

“Ugghh what is it, your highness?”

“Well, yesterday you said that if I wanted to sleep near you I should tell you,”
He pawed at the ground with a hoof and looked away from her

“Can I sleep near you tonight?”
Nightshade just smiled and nodded, before moving a little bit to give him a warm spot to lie down, and he did so awkwardly but soon found himself drift off to sleep, and rested his head on her side.