> The Past Returns
>  by Robobrony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Two Hearts Re-united
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Past Returns
Chapter 1:  Two hearts Re-united

Dear Twilight Sparkle, ever since I sent you back home, my heart has been aching terribly.  I said that the reason we cannot be together was because of the fear I held onto of being around other ponies.  As I said, such a fear I’ve had for two thousand years cannot simply go away over night, but that does not mean that it can’t go away at all.  I know I never said it to you, and I regret that I cannot say it to you in pony, but I love you Twilight Sparkle, and I always will.  As a promise that I will work hard on trying to get over my fears that keep us apart, I leave with you the very flower that brought us together.  And as a thank you to you and your friends, I leave with you these lunar lily’s, one for you and each of your friends.  We will be together again Twilight.  I promise.  Your love, Nightshade.

She lowered the note to show her face with tears forming in her eyes, but this time, there was a smile on her muzzle.  Spike grew curious about the flower in the middle.  “Twilight, I recognize those white flowers there, but what’s that pink one?”  

She kept her smile as she looked upon the flower and simply stated.  “A promise.”

It’s been a month now since Twilight found those flowers on her doorstep that fateful night with the note attached to the pink flower from the stallion who saved her life and stole her heart.  She resolved to wait as long as it took for him to return.  Twilight told her friends about what happened that day and were very sad that it would be a long time before they would get to see their new friend again. But they held on to that hope that he would come back. 

It was around midday and Twilight was in her room tending to her two flowers and remembering fondly of that strange cloaked pony she met.  She gazed upon the iron root flower as she thought back to the times she shared with him, how caring he turned out to be, even though he wouldn’t admit it at first.  The laughs they shared, the tears they shed, the secrets he finally told her and her friends, that kiss when he admitted how alone he was and finally ready to give up his life.  That very kiss after her confession to him finally melted his cold heart after two centuries of loneliness and solitude.  Finally, that magical night he showed her before they parted. 

Sadly, it was time for her to stop reminiscing and get back to her studies.  After the night she was given those flowers, she was finally able to let herself feel some joy at being home again after so long, to be surrounded by the books she loved, even though she had plenty of books to read while she was under his care.  She made her way over to her desk and began going over a book she had sitting on it.  Meanwhile, Spike was downstairs tending to his own chores in the library so Twilight could study.  He went about the library organizing returned books, dusting the shelves, and sweeping the floor, when suddenly there was a frantic knocking at the door.  

Spike made his way to the entrance to greet a potential customer, but just as he reached the door, before he could open it himself, it flung open and a figure quickly rushed in and slammed the door behind it, knocking Spike back and making him land on his bottom.  “Hey, what’s the big idea!”  He cried out in annoyance.  He picked himself up and looked at the pony that so rudely barged in to scold them.  “Just what do you think you’re-“  but before he could finish his sentence, he seemed to be struck with a sense of familiarty as he looked at the figure as it seemed to look out the window rather frantically.  The figure finally turned to Spike and he could swear he saw this pony before.  The figure was wearing a blue cloak that covered his face, but his muzzle was sticking out.  The cloaked figure had a blue coat and black hooves, with a dark blue tail sticking out the back of it’s cloak.  

Spike gazed at the figure in surprise.  He rubbed his eyes to make sure they weren’t playing a trick on him, when he looked again, Spike just had to make sure that what he was seeing was real.  “Nightshade, is that you?” 

The figure raised a hoof and removed its hood to reveal its facial features.  It had a dark blue mane, two horns atop it’s head that curved back, and light blue eyes with slited irisis like a cat’s eye’s.  The figure finally spoke.  “Hey Spike, long time no see huh.”  

Spike still couldn’t believe it.  Standing before his very eyes, in the library, was Nightshade.  He understood Twilight when she told him that Nightshade was going to work hard at getting over his fears of towns and ponies, but he never imagined that he would see Nightshade so soon.  “Nightshade, I can’t believe it, I’m so glad to see you again!”  Spike ran over and gave Nightshade a hug to welcome him back.  

Nightshade couldn’t believe that Spike seemed to miss him so much, but he was glad to see the little dragon too, so he wrapped a hoof around Spike to hug him back.  “It’s good to see you again too little buddy.”  

“HEY, We’ve gotta tell Twilight!  She’s missed you WAY more than I have.”  

Nightshade didn’t want to say hi just yet.  “Hold on ther little buddy, not just yet.”  

Spike was confused.  “What, why not, don’t you want to see her?”  

“Of course I do, she’s the whole reason I came here.  I just wanted to think up a fun way to surprise her.”  

Spike got a great idea.  “I know how, she’s up in her room studying. When she’s busy studying, she's pretty much oblivious to anything else.  But there is always a way to get her to at least respond, when I tell her she has a visitor.  We’ll go upstairs, I’ll tell her there’s some pony here to see her, she’ll say something to dismiss it, then you can chime in and see if that works.”  

Nightshade liked this idea.  “That sounds perfect, let’s do it.”  

Spike led Nightshade up the stairs to Twilight’s room.  He opened the door and walked in with Nightshade behind him.  Just as he predicted, she was hard at work, reading.  Spike cleared his throat first to get her attention.  “*AHEM* uhm, Twilight, there’s some pony here to see you.”  

Twilight never took her eyes off of her book.  “Spike, you know I can’t be bothered when I’m studying.”  

This was Nightshade’s chance.  “Jeeze, and I thought I was a bookworm.”  

This made Twilight pause her reading.  Something about that voice sounded all too familiar.  She looked up from her book as her mind was filled with nostalgia.  She slowly turned her head to see who had spoken to her.  Her eyes came to rest on an all too familiar figure.  Standing before her, in her library, in her room, was a stallion with a blue coat dark blue mane and tail, black hooves, beautiful light blue eyes, black hooves, and even though she couldn’t see them, she was positive that , under that blue cloak, was a pair of dragon like wings.  Her eyes began to tear up and she said softly, “Nightshade”,  

He looked at her and responded back.  “Hey Twilight, I kept my promise, I’m back.”  

She cried out in joy as she burst into tears, “NIGHTSHADE” and ran to him, tackling him to the ground, and kissed him fiercly as her head and heart were filled with joy that her love had come back for her.  Spike took a few stepps back from the scene and gagged a little.  He loved romance when it came to him and Rarity, but any pony eles, it kind of grossed him out, especially when it came to Twilight and some other pony.  They are practically brother and sister after all.

The two held their kissing embrace for a minute after being re-united after what felt like an eternity to Twilight.  They finally broke their kiss and Twilight looked down at Nightshade, still crying tears of joy to see him again.  “OH, Nightshade, I missed you so much, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you!”  

Nightshade was practically in tears himself as he spoke next to express his feelings.  “I missed you too Twilight.  I feel so stupid that I let my fears keep me away from the mare who showed me such love.  I’ve waited too long to finally say this to you in pony.  I love you Twilight Sparkle, and I promise to never leave you again!”  

“OH Nightshade!”  And once again their lips met in another passionate kiss.  

Spike had seen enough and decided it was time to leave.  “EEEWWWWE gross, I’m outta here, I can’t handle this mushy love fest.”  The couple never seemed to notice Spike when he said this as he made his way out of the room to leave them alone.  

The lovers finally broke their embrace after a few seconds.  Nightshade spoke up.  “Um, Twilight, it’s great to see you again and all but, could I get up now.”  

Twilight felt a little embarrassed when she realized that she was still on top of Nightshade.  “Oh, sorry.”  She backed up to let him stand.  Once Nightshade was standing, he looked at her as she wiped away the tears in her eyes with her hoof.  She then remembered something about the promise Nightshade made to her.  “So, does this mean that your finally over your fears of towns and other ponies?”  

“Not really.”  	

Twilight took on a slightly confused look.  “What do you mean, if you’re not over your fears, then how are you here.”  

He knew his answer would really get to her.  “You see, a few days after I sent you home, I began to try to get over my fears by going into a town here in Equestria just to get used to being around others, but every time I looked at the ponies faces, it sent me back to that night when I lost everything.  I was feeling so scared, I just wanted to teleport back to my house in Blackwood forest.  But then, just before I did, a thought popped into my head, that thought seemed to help lessen my fear.  The more I concentrated on that thought, the less I was afraid.  That thought is what helped me to fight off my fears.”  

Twilight just had to ask.  “What was that thought Nightshade?”  

“It was you Twilight, the thought of you helped me fight off my fear.  The more I thought of being with you, the less scared I felt.  So then it hit me.  If just thinking about you could help me fight off my fear a little, then being with you could help me get rid of my fear completely.  So, here I am.  As long as I’m with you, I won’t have anything to be afraid of, you give me the strength I need to conquer my fears.”  

Twilight smiled even bigger at Nightshades words. She moved closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  He blushed again and Twilight noticed.  “Still!” 

“Hey, give me a break, I’m new to this whole romance thing, jeeze.”  Twilight laughed at her coltfriends embarrassment.  Nightshade began to laugh along with her.  

Twilight then thought that now would be a good time to let their friends know of Nightshades return.  “Come on Nightshade, let’s let the others know your back.”  

“Actually, how about I stay here and you go and get them.”  Twilight gave him a look as if to say ‘Are you serious’.  Nightshade saw this and got the hint.  “All right, all right, I’ll come with you.”  Nightshade placed his hood back on over his head and followed Twilight out of the library to find their friends to let them know the good news of Nightshade’s return.
> Friendly Greetings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Past Returns
Chapter 2:  Friendly Greetings

“OOOOHHHH Nightshade, I missed you sososososososo much!”  

“Um…Pinkie…..it’s great…to …see you too…..but….could you let me go………..please.”  

Twilight took Nightshade to Sugar Cube Corner to see Pinkie Pie first and, as soon as Pinkie saw him, she rushed over from behind the counter and embraced him in one of her Pinkie Pie death hugs.  Nightshade was barely able to get out the words he did as Pinkie was squeezing the life out of him.  Twilight just stood there and watched, laughing at her coltfriend’s predicament.  “Now Pinkie, if you break him, I won’t forgive you.”  She said jokingly.  

Pinkie finally released her grip on Nightshade and he fell to the floor, gasping for air, and feeling such relief that he could breathe again.  He rasped out, “Thanks” to Pinkie as she looked down at him with a smile.  Twilight helped him up to continue the tour of Sugar Cube Corner and introduce him to Mr. and Mrs. Cake.  

Nightshade was finally free to look at the place he was in, there were tables and chairs set up around the main floor, a glass display case near the center of the room with all kinds of sweets inside that also acted as the counter for customers to place and pay for orders.  To his left was a staircase that led up to the second floor which Nightshade could only assume to be where Pinkie, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake lived.  

Nightshade still had his hood on as he was afraid to draw attention to himself from others when he and Twilight made their way through town.  Twilight then thought now would be a good time for him to meet the Cakes.  “Pinkie could you go and get Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I want to introduce them to Nightshade.”  

“Okie dokie lokie!”  Pinkie happily skipped her way past the counter through a pair of free swinging doors into the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were.  “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, there’s some pony here I want to introduce you to.”  

Mr. Cake asked,  “Who is it Pinkie?”  

“Come on out and see.” 

Mrs. Cake responded,  “All right Pinkie were coming.”  

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were both earth ponies.  Mr. Cake had a yellow coat with a short orange colored mane and tail with three slices of a cake for his cutie mark. He wore a white apron and a red hat with white at the bottom.  Mrs. Cake had a blue coat with a swirled tail and mane that looked like swirled ice cream on a cone colored with pink and dark pink, she appeared to be on the chubby side and also wore a yellow apron, and had three cupcakes for her cutie mark.

The Cakes followed their hyperactive baking apprentice to the front of their shop to meet this mysterious new guest that had Pinkie so excited.  Nightshade was feeling nervous at meeting these two, but with Twilight by his side, he felt he could face anything.  Pinkie and the Cakes finally stopped in front of Nightshade and Pinkie proudly introduced them to one another.  “Nightshade, this is Mr. Carrot Cake and Mrs. Cupcake.  Mr. and Mrs. Cake, this is Nightshade, the pony I told you about a month ago.”    

Mrs. Cake took a few steps closer to greet Nightshade.  “It’s very nice to finally meet you Nightshade, and welcome to Sugar Cube Corner.”  

Mr. Cake then stepped forward to give his greeting.  “Yes, were very glad to finally meet you, Pinkie told us all about you and the fact that you’re a shadow walker.  We were a bit skeptical when Pinkie told us about you being from a tribe of ponies that existed two thousand years ago, but she’s never been one to tell a lie.”  

Nightshade finally said his hello.  “It’s nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Cake.”  

Mrs. Cake spoke with a bit of excitement in her voice as she and Mr. Cake were curious to meet a pony from a clan they had never heard of.  “Would you mind taking off your hood deer so we can see for ourselves what you look like?”  

Nightshade was still nervous about showing his face, so he tried to come up with an excuse for not taking off his hood in front of them.  “Um, I don’t know, I…..wouldn’t want to scare you or anything.”  

Twilight spoke next to alleviate his fears and coax him into removing his hood.  “Come on Nightshade, its ok, Pinkie already told them what you look like, besides, no pony here judges others based on looks.”  

“Well, all right, just…try not to be too shocked.”  Nightshade lifted a hoof to remove his hood and show his face to the couple before him.  The Cakes were a bit in awe at his appearance.  

“Well my boy, you certainly look like how Pinkie described you.”  Mr. Cake spoke up.  

Mrs. Cake was next to voice her opinions.  “You are quite the handsome stallion, different, but handsome, Twilight is very lucky.”  

Nightshade was a little surprised that they weren’t afraid of him.  “So….you’re ok with how I look?”  

“Of course deary, besides, you are a bit of a hero for how you saved Twilight.”  

An Idea suddenly popped into Pinkie’s head and just had to yell it out.  “OH MY GOSH,  I just had a great idea!  This calls for a WELCOME BACK TO PONYVILLE PARTY!  We’ll have cakes and balloons and streamers and punch and games, and I’ll invite every pony in Ponyville, we’ll have so much fun, you’ll get to meet every pony Nightshade.”  

This thought of meeting every pony at once terrified him as his eyes went wide with shock and said quietly to himself,  “Every…pony.”  

Twilight saw the fear in her coltfriend’s eyes and knew she had to say something to stop Pinkie, Nightshade just wasn’t ready for something like that.  “Pinkie wait, I really don’t think that’s such a good Idea.”  

Pinkie stopped in her tracks and turned to Twilight.  “Oh, why not?”  Twilight motioned to Nightshade with her head to give Pinkie the hint.  Nightshade was standing there with his eyes wide and shaking a little with fear at the mere thought of having to be around so many ponies at once.  Pinkie got the hint and was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to throw Nightshade on of her famous Pinkie Pie parties.  “Oh, ok Twilight.” 

Nightshade then snapped himself from his fear induced trance and quickly got an idea that might help cheer up his new pink friend.  “Actually Pinkie, I think a party would be nice, just a small one with just you, me, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike.  That I could handle, besides, I feel kind of bad that I wasn’t able to fully enjoy myself last time you threw me a party.”  

This got Pinkie smiling again, happy she would be able to throw some kind of party for her friend.  “Okie dokie lokie, you got it Nightshade, we’ll have so much fun, I’ll get to work on planning it right away.”  Then Pinkie zipped upstairs in a pink blur to her room to begin planning the party.  

Twilight figured it was time to move on and see her other friends to give them the good news of Nightshade’s return.  “Well, we should get going it was nice seeing you Mr. and Mrs. Cake.”  

Nightshade said his goodbye as well.  “It was nice meeting you two, I hope to see you again.”  

Mrs. Cake responded with a smile, “Your welcome here anytime Nightshade, take care.”  And so the couple left the bakery to find the rest of their friends after Nightshade placed his hood back over his head.

“Why don’t we go see Rarity next, I just know she’ll be more than happy to show you the design she came up with thanks to the lunar lily you let us see.”  Twilight suggested. 

Nightshade was a little confused about the word design.  “Sounds good but, what’s a design?”  

Twilight had almost forgotten that Nightshade had been living in forests all his life and wasn’t exactly caught up on current things like fashion, so she explained.  “You see, Rarity has a job that we call a fashion designer, she makes fancy clothes and dresses for ponies to wear.  She almost always uses gemstones in her designs.”  

“So that’s what she meant when she said she could make me an outfit, right?”  

“Right, she’s like that sometimes, and she wouldn’t have charged you either.”  

“That’s fine, because I don’t have any money anyway.  But I don’t think this fashion thing is something I would like.”  

“Just to warn you, she can be rather persistent when it comes to her passion.”  

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”  Twilight just laughed a little as they continued on their way to Rarity’s shop.  

It wasn’t long before they reached it and Twilight announced the name to Nightshade.  “Here we are, Carousel Boutique.”  They made their way inside and found rarity hard at work on a dress for one of her clients. Twilight called out to get her attention.  “Hi Rarity, I came by for a visit, there’s some pony here I want you to see.”  

Rarity stopped her work to greet her friend and this mysterious guest Twilight had brought along.  “Twilight, darling how nice for you to-“  She stopped midsentence when she turned to greet her friend and saw who was with her.  “Nightshade?!”  She said as she looked upon a familiar sight. 

Nightshade removed his hood again to show his face to his white unicorn friend.  “Hello Rarity, it’s good to see you again.”  

Rarity ran over to give Nightshade a hug after not having seeing him in so long.  “Nightshade, what a pleasure to see you again, OH I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.”  

“Jeeze, we haven’t seen each other in a month and you act like it’s been longer.”  

Rarity broke the hug and looked upon Nightshade with a big smile.  “Well with the way you kind of disappeared on us, I thought it would be longer than a month before we would see you again. So does this mean that you’ve gotten over your fears of others?”  

“Not quite, I just couldn’t stand to be away from Twilight anymore, so I just sucked it up and came for her.”  

“OOOHHHHH, how romantic.”  Rarity cooed at Nightshade’s words.  Nightshade looked at Twilight when he said that last part and they smiled at eachother.   “Well, now that you’re here, you simply must let me take your measurements so I can make you a dashing suit for any future dates you and Twilight will go on.”  

“Uh…..that’s ok, I don’t really need a suit.”  

“Oh come now darling, you do want to look good for her, don’t you?  I simply won’t take no for an answer, now come along.”  Rarity grabbed Nightshade’s hoof and started dragging him upstairs to her workroom to begin her work.  Nightshade looked back at Twilight and mouthed ‘HELP ME’ to her in hopes she would do something to help him.  Twilight just followed behind them laughing at yet another predicament that Nightshade found himself in.

“THAT was…the worst,.. most humiliating experience in my entire life.”  

“Oh come on, it couldn’t have been THAT bad.”  

“Are you kidding! I had an easier time facing down a dragon and I barely got out of that without a scratch.”  

Twilight and Nightshade had just gotten out of Rarity’s shop after an embarrassing time for Nightshade while Rarity was measuring his body size and build for a suit she would make for him.  She was poking and proding him with pins by accident while she had him put some raw cloth material over him because he couldn’t stand still, he was very uncomfortable with the situation he was in. “WAIT, you faced a dragon, how did you do that?”  Twilight couldn’t believe what she just herd, no pony could take on a dragon, not even Celestia herself.  

“When you grow up in a forest full of monstrous beasts that could easily turn you into lunch, you need to be tough to defend yourself, all my time there helped me grow in strength and power. Now I can easily handle any dragon that comes my way.”  

Twilight was impressed by this. “Wow, that’s incredible.”  

“So, where to next?”  

“How about Fluttershy?”  Nightshade nodded and they continued on their way to Fluttershy’s cottage near the Everfree forest.   

They reached their destination and made their way to the front door.  Twilight knocked and called out to her friend.  “FLUTTERSHY, are you home.”  Nightshade stood off to the side to surprise Fluttershy with his return.  

Fluttershy came to the door and opened it a little to see who it was. “Oh, hello Twilight, what brings you by?” 

“Hey Twilight what’s up?”  Rainbow Dash was there too appearantly.  

“Oh, hey Rainbow, did you come by here for a visit too?”  

“Yep”  

Fluttershy interjected.  “So what can I do for you Twilight?”  

“Acturally, I brought some pony by you might want to see.”  Nightshade then stepped in from the side and got next to twilight so they could see him.  As soon as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash saw him, their faces lit up with joy and they both exclaimed, “NIGHTSHADE!” 

Rainbow Dash zipped out of the house and tackled Nightshade to the ground in a hug, happy to see him again after a month.  “NO WAY, I can’t believe it, you came back already?!  I thought we wouldn’t see you for a long time!”  

Nightshade looked at rainbow with a smile on his face, happy to see another friend.  “You know, there’s something familiar about this.”  He said rather slyly.  

Rainbow didn’t know what he was talking about.  “What do you mean?”  

“If I recall, the first time we met, you tackled me to the ground just like this, only then, you were ready to beat the hay outta me.”  

“Oh yeah, he he, sorry about that.”  She got off him and helped him up on his hooves. 

He just kept smiling and said, “It’s ok, I forgave you then remember. Besides, I understand why you did it, you were concerned for a friend.”  

Fluttershy then stepped forward to give Nightshade a gentle welcoming hug.  “It’s very nice to see you again Nightshade.”  

Nightshade returned the hug.  “It’s nice to see you again too Fluttershy, both of you.” 

“Come on in and I’ll make us some tea.”  They all gathered into Flutteshy’s living room to sit and talk.  Fluttershy made her way into her kitchen to make tea for everyone while the others sat and talked. 

“So now that your back, there’s something I’ve been dying to ask you since you showed us you have wings.”  Rainbow said to him practically brimming with excitement. 

Nightshade looked at her curiously, wondering why the fact he had wings would be of interest to her.  “What is it Rainbow Dash?”  

“What do you say to you and me having a race sometime?  I would love to see how good a flyer you are, I doudt your as good as me though.  I am the best flyer in all of Equestria afterall.”  

Nightshade didn’t really care about such things.  “Sorry Rainbow, but I don’t feel I have anything to prove.  I just know that I am good at flying, but I don’t care if some pony is better than me or not.”  Fluttershy finally came in with the tea and gave every pony a cup.  Nightshade and Twilight levitated their cup while Fluttershy and Rainbow lifted theirs with their hooves and each took a sip.  

Rainbow was not about to let this racing idea go so easily, she knew how to get to him.  “What’s the matter Nightshade, you-“  

Before she could finish, Nightshade cut her off.  “Forget it Rainbow Dash, I learned my lesson last time, you won’t be goating me into anything again.”  

Twilight leaned over to Nightshade to whisper something in his ear.  “Probably should have warned you, but Rainbow Dash can be rather persistent when it comes to racing too.”  Nightshade then got a little worried.  

“Oh come on, PLEEEAAAAASSSSSSE!”  Once again, Nightshade was face to face with that dreaded look Pinkie gave him when he first refused the decorations she wanted to put up around his house for that party.  Rainbows eyes were wide as dinner plates and tearing up, lips were pouting with the bottom one quivering, and once again, Nightshade could swear he heard a whimpering dog.  

“Will you ponies stop giving me that look, it’s too much.”  Finally, he caved in while Twilight just laghed at yet another predicament Nightshade was in.  “FINE, how will we do this?”  

Rainbow Dash lept into the air with joy that she was going to get her way.  “ALL RIGHT!  We can meet up at Ghastly Gorge later today for a race!”  

Nightshade looked at her curiously.  “Where’s Ghastly Gorge?”  

“Don’t worry, we’ll get every pony together and go there later so they can see us race.”  

“As long as it’s just our friends and no pony else.”  

Rainbow Dash was a little sad at this, she just wanted to show off in front of all of Ponyville.  “Oh, come on, I just know all of Ponyville would love to see a race as epic as this. Picture it, the best flyer in Equestria vs. the last shadow walker. The ponies will go CRAZY over this.”  

“Look, I’m sorry Rainbow, but I’m just not completely over my fear of being around others I don’t know.”  

Rainbow Dash just wouldn’t let it go.  “And what better way for others to get to know you than with a big race against me for them to see. I’m tellin ya they’ll love it.”  

Nightshade was getting very annoyed with how persistent she was being.  Twilight was about to say something when Nightshade spoke up again.  “That’s just the problem!  They all know you, not me!  In that race, every pony will be cheering for you, not me, because they already know you!  I don’t even care about proving who’s faster than who, can’t you see that!?”  Nightshade slammed his hooves on Fluttershy’s table, causing the cups to rattle a little to get his point across. This caused Fluttershy to recoil a bit in fear, while Twilight looked at him with worry on her face.  

Rainbow Dash finally got the message and felt bad for pressing the issue so hard.  “Hey,…..i’m sorry Nightshade.  I just got a little excited at the chance to show off against some pony else.  I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m really sorry.”  

Nightshade took a deep breath to calm himself down.  “It’s ok Rainbow,  I just haven’t gotten over my fears completely, besides, even if I did, I don’t think it would feel very nice if every pony there who was watching would be cheering for you and not me.”  

“How about some other time, after every pony here gets to know you. I guess I can wait until then.”  

Nightshade looked back at her and gave a smile. “I would like that Dash, thanks.”  He then levitated his cup and took another sip. 

“So, how’s the tea?” Fluttershy asked.  

Nightshade smiled at her when he responded.  “It’s great Fluttershy, thanks.”  This seemed to brighten the mood as every pony continued to drink their tea, sit, and chat for a while.  Finally it was time for Twilight and Nightshade to go see Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres and inform her of Nightshade’s return.

Twilight and Nightshade were on the road to Applejack’s farm when Twilight decided to ask Nightshade about what happened at Fluttershy’s.  “Hey Nightshade, about…..what happened between you and Rainbow Dash.” 

Nightshade interrupted her.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’m still not used to being around others so I kinda let my emotions get the better of me there.  I’ll try to work on that too. I promise.”  Nightshade gave Twilight a reassuring smile as they continued on their way, Twilight smiled back, knowing that there wasn’t any hard feelings between him and Rainbow Dash.  

Soon they reached Sweet Apple Acres and made their way up the path to the house.  Before they reached the door, Twilight spotted Big Mac and called out to him.  “Hey Big Mac, look who’s here, you remember Nightshade right?”  

Big Mac kept a straight face as he walked up to the two and simply said, “Eyup.”  

Twilight continued with another question.  “Is Applejack around?”  

“Eyup.”  Is all he said and pointed his hoof out toward the apple orchard that he and Applejack ran.  

“Thanks Big Mac.”  

“Eyup.” 

Twilight and Nightshade made their way to where Big Mac pointed.  “Is that all he can say?”  Nightshade asked as he removed his hood again. 

Twilight chuckled and responded.  “He’s just shy. Once he warms up to you, you can get more out of him.”  Twilight then heard a familiar sound.  “YEEHAW!”  Followed by the sound of a tree shaking and apples falling into baskets. 

“What was that?”  Nightshade asked.  

Twilight chuckled again and answered, “That was applejack.”  The two followed where the sound came from and soon found the farmer pony bucking apple trees.  Twilight called out to her, “Applejack!” 

Applejack stopped her work and looked at who was calling her.  When she saw the familiar figure of Nightshade, her face lit up and she ran forth to meet them.  She stopped just in front of Nightshade, grabbed his hoof and started shaking it vigorously.  “Nightshade! It’s a real fine pleasure to see you again, I can’t tell ya how much we all missed ya, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!”  

“IiIiTtTtsSs goOoOdDdD TtTtOooOooO SeeEeEeeE YyYyYyOoOuUuU TtOoOoO.”  He said as he was being shaken about.  Once again Twilight just laughed at another predicament Nightshade got himself into.  Applejack finally released her grip on Nightshade’s hoof and he just gave a nervous pained smile to Applejack as his hoof throbbed in pain. 

Twilight then intervened. “So, I see you’re hard at work as usual.”  

“Darn tootin, it is harvestin time after all.”  

Nightshade got curious at this word.  “Harvistin?”  

“It’s the time of the season when the apples are just right for bucking so we can collect them and sell them at the market.” Applejack informed. 

“Oh, I get it, when the fruit is at its peak of flavor.  I kinda did the same thing with the fruit trees in Blackwood forest.”  

Hearing this, Applejack thought Nightshade would have some fun bucking the trees here, plus, she wanted to see just how strong he was.  “So, you think you can handle buckin these here trees and lend me a hoof.”  

“Are you kidding, the fruit trees in Blackwood are thicker than these trees, I could buck these easily.”  

Applejack gave him a smirk.  “Prove it.”  

“All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”  Nightshade got in front of one of the trees with apples still on them, turned around and gauged his stance and distance from the tree.  He reared his back legs up and thrust them against the tree as hard as he could.  *CRACK*  Applejack’s and Twilight’s mouths hung open as the tree Nightshade bucked broke in half and fell to the ground.  Nightshade looked behind him to see the damage he had done, he looked back at the two with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head with a hoof in embarrassment.  “Oops, uh he he, uh, guess I overestimated the force needed.  Uhm,…..sorry….uh…don’t worry, I can fix it.”  Nightshade then turned back around and faced the downed tree.  

He focused his magic in his horns and caused the tree to levitate off the ground while surrounded by a black aura.  Nightshade put the tree back on to the stump it was on and caused the two to merge back to one, and just like that, the tree was good as new.  Twilight and Applejack were still in shock at what they just saw.  Applejack finally shook her head to bring herself back to her senses and spoke up.  “Well I’ll be, you sure are one strong stallion, I’ll give ya that, how did you get ta be so strong like that anyway.”  

“Like I said, the fruit trees in Blackwood are thicker and stronger than these apple trees. I had to build up my leg strength to buck them and get the fruit. Sorry again about the tree.”  

“Ah, that’s all right pardner, at least ya’ll were able to fix it.” 

Twilight then came to her senses.  “Wow Nightshade, you are just full of surprises.” She was very impressed with how strong he was.  

“So, shall we try that again, I think I’ve got it figured out now.” Nightshade asked Applejack.  

“That’s all right sugar cube, I can handle things from here.  I’d best be gettin back to work then, we can catch up some other time.”  

Twilight said her goodbye to Applejack.  “All right, we’ll see you later Applejack.”  

Nightshade said his goodbye. “Bye Applejack, see you later.”  The couple left the farmer to her work and left Sweet Apple Acres to head back into town.  “So…..now what?”  Nightshade asked. 

“Well we could go back to the library and just spend time with each other.”  

“That sounds like a great Idea. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”  Nightshade responded with a smile. Twilight smiled back, happy to be reunited with her love. 

> The Welcoming Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Past Returns
Chapter 3: The Welcoming Party

After spending the day letting his friends know that he had come back and spent the afternoon alone with Twilight, Nightshade went home for the night.  He came back the next day to see Twilight again to spend time with her.  Nightshade knocked on the door of the library, still wearing his cloak as he was still wary of being around others, and Spike answered the door.  “Hey Nightshade, good morning.”  He said with a smile. 

Nightshade smiled back and greeted his little dragon friend.  “Hey Spike, good morning, is Twilight around?”  

Spike stepped aside to let Nightshade into the library.  “Yeah,  she’s upstairs in her room getting cleaned up.” 

Nightshade was anxious to see his new marefriend.  “Guess I’ll just wait for her then.”   He didn’t have to wait long though for as soon as he said that, Twilight came out of her room and saw Nightshade. 

Her heart filled with joy at seeing her coltfriend.  “Nightshade, good morning.”  She quickly made her way over to him and he greeted her.

“Good morning Twilight, it’s great to see you again.”  They gave each other a quick kiss on the lips.

Twilight then had a thought.  “Hey Nightshade, would you care to join us for breakfast, were having oatmeal.”  

Nightshade was just glad to be with the mare he loved, so he gladly accepted the invitation.  “I would love to.”  Spike and Twilight made their way into the kitchen to start making breakfast while Nightshade took the opportunity to look through Twilight’s book collection.  He started with the shelf closest to the door and made his way around the library, one book seemed to catch his eye.  He paused, levitated the book off the shelf and read the title out loud.  “The legend of Nightmare Moon.”  Curiosity got him as he opened the book to read more.  He read it to himself as he waited for breakfast.

The Legend of Nightmare Moon

A long time ago, harmony in Equestria was maintained by two princesses. Celestia raised the sun and brought daylight to the world, and Luna raised the moon every night and brought peaceful rest to the ponies.  One day, Princess Luna grew jealous of her big sister, for while the ponies frolicked and played during the day, they slept through and shunned the night that Luna brought.  One night, Luna refused to lower the moon and make way for the sun, her jealousy and bitterness turned her into a wicked mare of darkness known as Nightmare Moon.  Celestia had no choice but to use the elements of harmony to banish her now transformed sister to the moon, where she would stay for a thousand years.  If Nightmare Moon should ever return, she would bring about everlasting night.

The End

Nightshade got curious and worried about this story.  “Wait, two princesses.”  He spoke to himself.  “But I thought there was only one, and what are these elements of harmony?”  

Before he could think any more on the matter Twilight called out to him.  “Nightshade, breakfast is ready.”

Nightshade thought to himself again, “Guess I’ll have to ask Twilight about this.”  He made his way to the Kitchen table and sat down to join Twilight and Spike for breakfast.  As they ate, Nightshade decided to ask Twilight about that story he read.  “Twilight, while I was waiting, I found an interesting story I wanted to ask you about.”  

Twilight looked up from her meal and looked Nightshade in the eyes.  “What is it Nightshade.”  

He began to tell her of the story he read.  “Is it true that a long time ago there were two princesses here in Equestria? I was reading this book called The legend of Nightmare Moon and it spoke about a princess Luna who was the younger sister of Celestia and she turned into some sort of monster and was banished to the moon with the power of these things called the elements of harmony.  If what that book says is true, what will you do if this Nightmare moon comes back, will these elements be enough to stop her again?”  

Twilight laughed a little as she saw he was genuinely worried for her home and country.  She decided to tell him all about it to ease his worries.  “It’s ok Nightshade, that thing with Celestia banishing Nightmare Moon happened a thousand years ago, not too long ago, she returned and me and our friends found the elements of harmony and turned her back to normal.  Nightmare moon isn’t a threat anymore.  Princess Luna is good now and no threat to Equestria.”  

Nightshade still had a question left unanswered.  “So then, what are these elements of harmony?”  

Twilight continued with her lesson, knowing full well that Nightshade might be surprised that she was one of the representatives of the elements of harmony.  “You see, the elements of harmony represent the qualities that best represent harmony, they are magical items that draw power from the bearer that best resembles the elements. There are six in all.  Rarity represents generosity, Rainbow Dash represents loyalty, Fluttershy represents kindness, Applejack represents honesty, Pinkie Pie represents laughter, and I represent magic.” 

Nightshade was impressed that the mare he loved was a bearer of such powerful magical items, as well as his friends.  Then he remembered something else he wanted to tell Twilight, something he knew she would love to hear.  “Twilight, there’s something else I want to tell you.”  

Twilight looked up at him from her bowl.  “What is it Nightshade.”  

Before he could talk, there was a knock at the door.  Twilight got curious as to who would be coming to the library today, it was a Sunday and she had the library closed on a sunday.  “I wonder who that could be?”  She got up and made her way to the door to greet her visitor. 

When Twilight opened the door, she saw her hyper active pink friend Pinkie Pie there wearing a basket on her head filled with pink envelopes jumping up and down with excitment.  “Hey Twilight, I’m here to drop off an invitation to the party to welcome Nightshade back.  There’s one for him too, could you give it to him if you see him.”  

Twilight figured Pinkie would be glad to give Nightshade his invitation herself, so she told Pinkie that Nightshade was already present.  “Actually Pinkie, Nightshade is here right now, you can give it to him yourself.”

Pinkie quickly zipped in to the library and stopped right in front of Nightshade who was very surprised to see Pinkie move so fast.  She hopped up and down in excitement to see him.  “Here you go Nightshade, an invite to the party to welcome you back.  I just know were going to have a great time.”  

Nightshade smiled at her as he levitated one of the envelopes from the basket atop Pinkies head. “Thanks Pinkie, I’m looking forward to it.” 

“Well, gotta go, plenty more invites to hand out, see ya later this afternoon at three o’ clock.  OH, before I forget, here’s an invite for you too Spike.” 

Pinkie lowered her head so Spike could take an invitation to the party.  “Thanks Pinkie, I can’t wait.”  Then Pinkie zipped back out before anypony could say good bye.  

Now that Pinkie was gone, Twilight remembered Nightshade had something to say.  “So Nightshade, what were you about to tell me?”  

Nightshade then had a great idea.  “Actually Twilight, this is news that all our friends should be aware of, so I think it can wait until the party, trust me this is something every pony will want to hear.”  

Twilight got really curious then at what this news was that every pony would want to hear it, but she was just going to have to wait for the party for Nightshade to reveal his secret.

After the three finished their breakfast, Spike went out to see if he could help Rarity around her shop, while Twilight and Nightshade decided to head out and Twilight could give Nightshade a proper tour of Ponyville.  He still wasn’t too comfortable with being in a town, but as long as he was with Twilight, he felt he could face anything.

Twilight pointed out all the places of interest while Nightshade just looked on at some of the things in town he had never seen before, such as the town’s clock tower. He asked Twilight about it, what it was and how it worked.  Since he had lived in a forest for two thousand years away from civilization, he had no idea of the concept of electricity or clocks.  Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at her coltfriend’s amazement at such things.

Lunchtime rolled around and Twilight thought it would be a good idea to take Nightshade to one of the local restoraunts for lunch.  “Why don’t we grab a bite to eat, my treat.”  

Nightshade was a little apprehensive at going to a place where he would be in close proximity to others, but he would tough it out for Twilight’s sake.  “Sounds good, I guess.” 

Twilight led him to a place called The Hay Bale.  They went inside and one of the pony waiters greeted them. 
It was a mare earth pony with a white coat and a pink mane, her cutie mark couldn’t be seen as it was covered up by her uniform.  “Welcome to The Hay Bale, how many in your party?”  

Twilight answered.  “Two.”  

The waiter then noticed Nightshade and eyed him curiously.  Nightshade just recoiled a bit and turned his head to the side, hoping that she wouldn’t see his eyes. The waiter just had to speak up.  “Is this your coltfriend?” 

Twilight happily answered.  “Yes he is, but he’s a little shy, that’s why he’s wearing a cloak.”  

The water thought it was cute that a big stallion like him was so shy that he would wear something to cover himself up.  “Aaawwee, well, I’ll show you to your table.  Right this way please.”  The couple followed the waiter through the place while Nightshade was still apprehensive as others seemed to keep looking at him curiously.

The waiter led them to a table on a patio outside the establishment so they could enjoy the beautiful day while they ate.  She handed both of them menus and asked what they would want to drink.  Nightshade eyed the drink choices on the menu curiously as he had never heard of any of the choices on there.  Apple cider, carrot juice, fruit juice, he did want to try something new but wasn’t sure what they would taste like.  He looked at Twilight as if to say, “Why don’t you choose for us.”  

Twilight got the message.  “We’ll have two glasses of fruit juice, thank you.”  The waiter wrote down their drink order and went back inside to get them.  As Twilight went through the menu, she heard something rattling.  She looked across the table to see Nightshade was shaking a little, causing his menu to do the same.  She went over to him to see what was wrong.  “Nightshade, are you ok?” 

Nightshade quickly looked to his side to see Twilight there.  “Huh, oh yeah, I’m ok.”  He lied and Twilight could tell.  He was still a little frightened of being around others like this.

Twilight was starting to have second thoughts about her choice.  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, we can go back to the library and have lunch there.”  

But Nightshade didn’t want to disappoint her.  “No, it’s all right, really.  Besides this is our second date and I wouldn’t want to ruin it. As long as your with me I can face anything.” 

Twilight smiled when Nightshade said this and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. This time, he didn’t blush and Twilight noticed.  “You didn’t blush, does this mean you’re finally over that?”  

Nightshade smiled back at her and responded.  “I am.”    

The waiter finally came back with their drink orders and the couple was ready to order what they wanted to eat.  Twilight figured Nightshade still wouldn’t be too sure about what to ask for so she ordered for them again.  “We’ll have two salads please.”  Twilight stayed next to Nightshade for the rest of their lunch date so he would feel at ease a little.  Nightshade enjoyed the juice and salad Twilight ordered for them as he practically swallowed his drink down in one gulp after his first initial taste, and gobbled up the salad that was placed before him.  Twilight laughed at his enthusiasm as he seemed to forget all about his fears when confronted with such tasty drinks and food.  Twilight paid for their meal and they left.  

After lunch the two made their way to the park and just sat under a tree with Twilight telling Nightshade more about Equestria and all the modern things they had that Nightshade missed out on since he lived like a hermit in a forest.  Before they knew it, it was time to head to Sugar Cube Corner for the party Pinkie put together for Nightshade.  They left the park, made their way through town to the bakery, and up the stairs to Pinkies room where everypony was already there, waiting for them.  

Nightshade removed his hood and figured now was a good time to tell them what he wanted to before the party started.  “Everypony, before the party starts, there’s something I would like to tell you.”  The ponies and Spike all turned their attention to Nightshade to hear him out.  

Applejack asked what everyone was wondering.  “What is it sugar cube?” 

Nightshade looked over each of them before speaking.  “I’ve decided to move my house here, in Ponyville.” 

Pinkie immediately jumped in the air and screamed at the top of her lungs,  “YAHHHOOOOOOOOO, THIS IS FAAAAAANTAAASTIC. WE CAN MAKE THIS A WELCOME BACK AND WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY!!”   

Applejack came forward to say something.  “Well that’s great news pardner, glad ta know you decided ta come outta yer shell so suddenly.”  

This seemed to worry Twilight a little.  “Nightshade, are you sure.”  

Nightshade looked at Twilight with a smile on his face.   “Twilight, last night, I realized something.  Even with my ability to teleport great distances and make it seem like I’m not that far away, my heart could tell the difference.  Even one night so far away from you was hard.  So I figured that the only way to keep me from feeling that pain again was to move here so I could be closer to you.”  

Twilight smiled a big beautiful smile at Nightshade’s romantic words. She then embraced him in a loving hug as they shared a passionate kiss.  The other ponies let out a group AAAWWWW , except for Spike and Rainbow Dash who both proceeded to make gagging noises to themselves at the romantic sentiment.

After a moment, the two broke their embrace and Twilight then had another thought in her head.  “But wait, how are you going to get your house here, don’t tell me you know a spell to move massive objects great distances.”  

Nightshade kept his smile as he answered her.  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I just need to find a place in or around Ponyville where I can put my house and you’ll see the rest. But for now,….LETS PARTY!”  Nightshade trotted forward into the room to begin the party with his friends.  “So what kind of party games do you girls usually play at these?”  He asked the group.  

Rarity answered, “Well one of them that Pinkie thought we should start with is one of my favorites.  It’s called pin the tail on the pony.  It’s lots of fun.” 

Nightshade gave her a curious look.  “Sounds painful to me. Why would you want to pin a tail on a pony, we already have tails.”  The room filled with laughter at Nightshade’s confusion over the name of the game.  Nightshade started to look a little upset at their reaction of his confusion. 

Twilight and spike were the only ones who didn’t laugh for they remembered that Nightshade wasn’t exactly up to date on the party games they had today.  Spike stepped forward to try and amend the situation.  “Girls come on, cut him some slack!   Need I remind you that he has been alone and away from civilization for two thousand years.”  This soon got everypony to stop laughing and began to feel a little guilty for laughing at Nightshade.  

Rainbow Dash then stepped forward to apologize to Nightshade for their outburst.  “Heh heh, uh, sorry Nightshade, we kinda forgot about that.”  

Nightshade just smiled at her to let her know there were no hard feelings.  “So, I’m guessing by your reactions that I was wrong in my assumption as to how the game is played.” 

Pinkie decided she was the best pony to explain the game.  “You see that picture on the wall over there with a pony on it. What you do is, you take a paper tail with a pin in it, you put on a blind fold, we spin you around until your good and dizzy, and finally you walk forward and try to pin the tail on the pony. Fun, right?”  

Nightshade laughed at himself for his misunderstanding.  “OK I get it know, that makes much more sense than what I thought. It does sound fun. Can I go first?”  

Pinkie smiled at him and said, “Of course you can, her, take this tail and we’ll blindfold you so you can’t see.”  Nightshade took the tail in his mouth and allowed Pinkie to put the blindfold on him, then she began to spin him around a lot until he was very dizzy. “Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail on the pony as best you can.”  

Nightshade was very wobbly on his hooves from being spun around as he made his way forward.  He heard everypony cheering him on as he clumsily walked toward the picture.  Nightshade misjudged how far away the picture was as he ran into the wall and fell back.  

The ponies and spike rushed over to see if he was ok. Twilight was the first to call to him.  “Nightshade, are you all right?”  She removed the blindfold covering his eyes.  They seemed to roll around in his head at the dizziness he was feeling.  

Nightshade managed to focus a little and asked,  “How’d I do, did I get it?”  Everypony gave a relieved sigh to see he was ok and Pinkie looked to the picture to see how Nightshade did at his first attempt of pin the tail on the pony.

Pinkie started to laugh at Nightshades attempt.  The others looked up from Nightshade to the picture to see why Pinkie was laughing. Nightshade had completely regained his senses and looked up from his position on the floor to see how well he did.  Soon every pony was laughing, even Nightshade, he pinned the tail on the pony’s muzzle in a way that made it look like it had a beard.

After a few rounds of the game, Nightshade then grew anxious to try some of the sweets that were laid out on the table.  Not just cupcakes, but there was candy, punck, cake, and cookies. It all looked so good, Nightshades mouth was watering at all the tasty looking treats.   Each treat was just as good and sweet as the last, Nightshade had no idea such sweets existed.  

Twilight tried to warn him not to eat too many.  “Easy Nightshade, don’t eat too many at once or you’ll get a tummy ache.”  

Nightshade looked at her with a mouthful of cupcake.  “How can I take it easy when everything here is so good.”  Twilight just laughed at him for showing such enthusiasm for something so common here in Ponyville.
The party soon wound down and it was time to end it.  Nightshade expressed his gratitude to his new friends.  “I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun since……well ever. Thank you again.”  

Fluttershy stepped forward to address Nightshade.  “You’re welcome Nightshade, that’s what friends are for.”  

Then Nightshade thought now was a good time to show them how he would get his house here.  “So, does anypony know where there’s a space big enough to where I can bring my house here?”    

Twilight spoke up to answer him.  “There’s a big open space next to my place that might work.”  

“Perfect, let’s go, you can finally see how I plan on moving my house here.” Nightshade placed his hood back on and the group left Pinkie’s room, made their way downstairs, and out of Sugar Cube Corner to Twilight’s place to see another spectacle about to take place, courtesy of Nightshade.

Just like Twilight said, there was a large open area to the left of her house that would be perfect for Nightshade’s place.  “All right, stand back and watch me work.” Nightshade removed  his hood and began to cast a spell.  His horns began to glow black and a blue light formed on the ground in front of him.  It then split into two and went in opposite directions leaving behind a line of the same color. The girls and Spike watched as the two lights seemed to form a large circle on the open field.  

Once the circle was formed, strange symbols began to form along the inside of the circle, then another circle began to form in the same manner as the first, encasing the symbols.  Finally, another blue light formed inside at the top of the second circle and began to draw a line from the top to the bottom, then to the right and up at an angle to the right side, then across the center to the other side.  The light kept going in a strange pattern to form a five pointed star made out of a single continuous line of a light blue light.

Everypony looked on in wonder at the sight and Twilight just had to ask Nightshade about it.  “Nightshade, what is that?”  

Nightshade looked up at her with his task nearly complete.  “It’s called a pentagram.  It’s an ancient and powerful magical symbol.  It will give me the boost I need to bring my house here.”  Nightshade then made his way to the center of the symbol he formed.  He concentrated his magic again and formed a dark hole under him as if he was about to use his shadow flight spell. It opened in the same way it had before but Nightshade stayed where he was.  The hole slowly began to expand, but the symbol could still be seen.  Once the hole was equal in size to the symbol, a rumbling started up.  

Nightshade’s house began to fade into existence. It was translucent at first but slowly began to look more solid as the rumbling continued.  Finally, the home was completely solid and the rumbling stopped.  The symbol and hole that formed disappeared.  Nightshade emerged from his front doors to greet his friends and marefriend, smiled at them and said,  “TADAA!  Pretty neat huh.  It is official. I am now a citizen of Ponyville.”   

The ponies all ran up to Nightshade to give him a group hug except for Twilight.  The girls released their group hug and Twilight made her way over to him.  “Nightshade, that was amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it.”  

Then Nightshade looked at her and said, “And just think, now you can check out my book collection anytime you want.”  Twilight initiated a hug and they both gave each other a quick kiss. Nightshade would finally have everything he would need to be happy. A new home, friends, and, a mare who loved him.  Nightshade would never be lonely again. 

> Confrontation, The Beast King Returns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Past Returns
Chapter 4: Confrontation, Return of The Beast King

It’s been a week since Nightshade brought his house to Ponyville and, with the help of Twilight Sparkle and his friend’s, he has gotten to know the citizens of Ponyville and felt a little more confident in being out among them with his hood down.  Needless to say, they were curious about him and gave him strange looks as they have never seen a pony like him before, but they soon got to know him and see he was nice.  Nightshade asked Twilight to send a letter to princess Celestia and Luna to ask for a personal meeting with them to make sure it was all right with them that he takes up residents in their kingdom.  

Twilight tried to tell Nightshade that Celestia wouldn’t care, but he didn’t want to take any chances.  The request was made the day after Nightshade brought his house to Ponyville.  The princesses, being busy as they are, wouldn’t be able to see him right away.  Tomorrow would be the day of his meeting with Celestia and Luna and all his friends would come with him.  

Nightshade started selling some of his healing potions to the citizens for bits so he could save up and get his house fixed up with electricity and indoor plumbing.  When he moved his house here, he lost the plumbing he had as the pipes that ran between his house and the forest’s lake got disconnected.  For the time being, Twilight was more than happy to let Nightshade use her bathroom until he was set up. Twilight never did tell Celestia about Nightshade’s past, that was for him to tell.  

Today, Nightshade felt confident enough to go out amongst the ponies without his cloak on while he went on another date with the mare of his dreams. This would be a surprise to Twilight.  It was around lunchtime and Nightshade was ready to enjoy the day with Twilight.  He came up to the door of her house and knocked.  

Spike came to greet him.  “Hey Nightshade, you here to,”  He stopped when he noticed Nightshade was standing before him without his cloak.  “Nightshade, where’s your cloak?”  

Nightshade just looked at him and sarcastically and casually answered, “Oh, did I forget my cloak, silly me, oh well.”  Nightshade smiled at Spike in a way to let him know that he left it behind on purpose.  

Spike looked at him back and asked, “Are you sure you’re ok to go about without your cloak?”

“Don’t worry Spike, thanks to you and everypony else, I know now I don’t have anything more to be afraid of.  I’ll be fine.”  

Spike dropped his worried expression and replaced it with a smile, glad to see that Nightshade was finally completely out of his cloaked shell.  He then told Nightshade,  “Twilight is upstairs getting ready. She’ll be down soon for your date.”  

Nightshade only had to wait two minutes before Twilight emerged from her room and saw Nightshade without his cloak and got a little worried.   “Nightshade, where’s your cloak?”  

He then got an idea to have some fun with her.  “Oh no, my cloak, what ever will I do.  The ponies will see my full form and chase me through the streets with pitchforks and torches.  Please help me Twilight!”  He said in an overly dramatic, sarcastic and comical way.  

Twilight smiled as she rolled her eyes at him, getting the message that he left it behind on purpose.  “So you really feel ok to be without it completely then?”  

Nightshade smiled at her and responded.  “Thanks to you and our friends, I realize I don’t have anything to fear anymore, so yes. I don’t think I’ll be needing it.  But I may wear it when we go to Canterlot tomorrow to meet the princesses.”

Twilight and Nightshade then left the library to begin their lunch date.  As they made their way through town, Nightshade did notice he was getting odd looks again, but he figured it was because everypony could see he had wings too.  He ignored them as he and his date continued on their way to The Hay Bale where they had their first date in Ponyville.  

They reached their destination and the same waitress they had last time was there to greet them.  “Welcome to The Hay Bale.”  She recognized Twilight right away.  “Hey, I remember you, you were here last week with some stallion in a cloak right, I see he’s gotten over his shyness hasn’t he.”  

Nightshade answered,  “I have, and thank you for your excellent service last week, the food was great.”  

“You’re welcome, would you like the table you had last time?”  

Twilight answered.  “Yes please, thank you.”  The waitress grabbed two menus, lead them to the table they had last time on the patio outside, handed them their menus and asked for their drink orders.  Nightshade already knew what he wanted to drink and eat so he went ahead and placed his orders.  Twilight did the same.  Lunch was uneventful as they ate and talked, enjoying each other’s company.  When it was time to go, Nightshade was able to pay this time as he had some bits from selling some of his potions.

Afterwards they went to the park like last time and just talked and laughed with each other, Nightshade did notice other ponies in the park but none of them seemed to pay him any special attention.  He was glad that he didn’t have to feel like he needed to watch his back anymore, he was just another citizen of Ponyville now. Time flew by and it was time to head back home.  Nightshade walked Twilight to her door and they shared a kiss to end the date.  Twilight did still have studying to do today so Nightshade had to be on his way.

Nightshade didn’t really have anything else to do today, so he just went back to his house which was right next door to Twilight’s.  He went in, made his way to his greenhouse and tended to his plants.  He then got an idea that might make a good impression on the princesses for when he went to meet them.  He grabbed his saddle bags, used his shadow flight technique, and teleported himself to the forest he once called home and emerged at the ruins of his old kingdom.  He went up to one of the ruined buildings covered in vines with lunar lily’s growing on them and used his magic to remove two of them from off the vines.  Nightshade then levitated two pots out of his saddle bag and placed the flowers in the pots.  He teleported back home and felt ready for his meeting with the princesses.

The next day came and Nightshade met up with everypony at the train station wearing his cloak and black saddlebags.  Spike was staying behind at the library to take care of the place.  Twilight got curious as to why Nightshade was bringing his saddle bags.  “Nightshade, what’s with the bags?”  

Nightshade looked at her and responded, “Just a little something for the princesses . A kind of peace offering I guess you could call it.” 

“Nightshade, you don’t have to give them anything.”  

“I just figured it might help make things go a little smoother. Besides I just know one of them is going to really love it.”  

Twilight got curious as to what he might have meant.  “What exactly did you get them?”  
Nightshade smiled at her when he responded.  “Lunar lily’s.”  

The group boarded the train for Canterlot and began their ride there.  Applejack saw Nightshade seemed to be deep in thought as he was staring out the window watching the passing scenery, so she went over to see if he was ok.  “You all right their sugar cube, you ain’t nervous bout meetin the princesses are ya.   Ya already met Celestia.”  

Nightshade turned away from the window to speak with her.  “When I met Celestia, it was at my house.  Now I’m meeting her on her turf, in her castle, with all those guards.”  Nightshade seemed to get more nervous with each word he said.  

The girls all noticed this and gathered around him to try and make him feel better.  Pinkie chimed in first.  “Don’t worry Nightshade, everything will be just pinkie keen.”  

Then Rainbow Dash spoke up.  “Yeah, besides you’re with us.  Those guards won’t mess with you while were around.”  

Then Fluttershy spoke.  “Twilight did tell Celestia how kind you are.”  

Finally, Twilight said her peace.  “The princesses are expecting us after all.  I promise nothing bad is going to happen.”  

Nightshade felt at ease at the words of his friends and marefreind.  “Thanks girls, I feel like the luckiest stallion alive because of you.” 

Rarity then felt she should probably warn Nightshade about Canterlot.  “Dear, there is one thing you should know. Even though the princesses are kind, the ponies of Canterlot are…how shall I put this?”  

Rainbow answered with a bit of disgust.  “Snobs.”  

Rarity continued.  “That’s one way of putting it, yes.  Anyway, it probably is best that you keep your hood up while we make our way to the castle.”   Nightshade nodded in Understanding.

The train soon arrived at Canterlot , the girls made their way off and were greeted by a unicorn wearing a red suit with gold buttons. He had a white coat with blue, dark blue and light blue streaks in his mane and tail, and his cutie mark was a dark blue shield with a dark pink star on it.  Twilight recongnized him immediately as he called out to her.  “Twili!” 

She called back as she ran over to hug him.  “Shining Armor!”  The girls and Nightshade, who now had his hood up, looked on in confusion at the greeting these two made.  Twilight soon broke the embrace and began introductions.  “Girls, this is my big brother, Shining Armor.  Shining Armor, these are my friends I wrote to you about.”  

Shining stepped forward to greet them.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Twilight told me so much about each of you in her letters, I feel like I know you already.”  

Pinkie quickly zipped up and stopped in front of him bouncing up and down in excitement.  “OH MY GOSH,   I didn’t know Twilight had a big brother, this is great. Hi I’m Pinkie Pie, and its sosososososo great to meet you.”  

Shining chuckled a little at Pinkie’s enthusiasm. “It’s nice to meet you too. Twili wasn’t kidding when she said how friendly and excitable you are.  Why don’t you let me see if I can figure out who is who.” 
Shining Armor named off each and every one of Twilight’s friends perfectly, then his eyes noticed Nightshade behind the girls as if he didn’t want to be noticed.  “Hello, and who are you?”  

Twilight provided the introductions as she figured Nightshade might still be shy.  “Shining, this is Nightshade, my coltfriend.”  

Shining looked at Nightshade and began to say hello.  “It’s nice to-“  but then he stopped when the coltfriend comment caught up to him.  “Wait, your WHAT!”  Shinning was very surprised that his little sister actually had a coltfriend. 

Twilight gave her big brother a sheepish grin upon realizing that she forgot to write to him about the incident that led to her and Nightshade meeting.  “Oops heheh, uh, guess I forgot to tell you huh.”  

Shining looked over at his little sister with a straight face, not knowing what to make of it, then his expression changed to a smile as he was glad that Twilight found a special somepony.  “It’s ok Twili, I’m just glad to know you found somepony special.  So how did you two meet.”  

“It’s kind of a long story, maybe I could tell you on the way to the castle.”  

Before they left, Rainbow butted in.  “Hold on, Twilight, how come you never told us you have a big brother, and how did he know we were coming?”  

Twilight gave another sheepish grin at her friends.  “Uh, he just never came up?”  She said in a questioning tone.  “And also…….he’s the captain of the royal guard.”  She hesitated on that last bit of info.  

Rarity practically swooned at what she just heard.  “MY WORD, captain of the royal guard, oh heavens dear, you should have told us sooner you had a big brother who was captain of the royal guard! Oh and he’s so handsome too.  Tell me dear, you wouldn’t happen to have a very special somepony of your own do you?” 

Shining let out a good chuckle at Rarity’s enthusiasm and the fact that she was practically hitting on him. Twilight just facehoofed at the fact that one of her friends were hitting on her big brother.  Shining spoke up to remind them that they had an appointment.  “Sorry but that’s something for another time, the princesses are expecting you after all.”  

The group left the train station with Twilight, Nightshade, and Shining Armor leading the way so that Twilight could tell Shining about how she and Nightshade met.  Nightshade said it was ok for her to tell Shining about his past and where he came from.  Shining felt gratitude to Nightshade for helping Twilight like he did, intrigued at what he was and where he came from, and pity at how Nightshade lost everything.  “Gosh Nightshade, that’s quite a tale.  Well I’m glad a pony like you has been able to make my sister so happy.  And thank you for saving her like you did.”  

Soon, the group came to the front gates of the castle where two guards in gold armor holding spears stood watch.  Once they saw their captain, they immediately opened the gates for the group to make their way inside.  Nightshade was in awe at the castle interior. Red carpets lined with gold, massive columns that seemed to be what was holding the roof lined the walls, and beautiful multicolored stain glass windows.  

Shining led the group through long hallways until they finally came to a pair of large light blue doors where there were two more unicorn guards in gold armor holding spears.  Their horns lit up and the doors creaked open to let them in.
They made their way into the throne room where princess Celestia and princess Luna waited for them on their thrones.  The princesses stood up and made their way to meet the group at the center.  Shining and the girls bowed before the princesses.  Nightshade was still a little hesitant.  Celestia spoke. “Rise my little ponies, it’s always a pleasure to see you Twilight.”  

Twilight smiled at her mentor.  “It’s good to see you too Princess.”  The girls and Shining Armor then stepped aside for Nightshade to come forward to meet Celestia and moved behind him to watch the meeting. 

Celestia then addressed Nightshade.  “Greetings to you Nightshade.  It is a pleasure to see you.”  

Luna then stepped forward to greet him.  “We are pleased to meet the one who saved our good friend Twilight Sparkle from such danger.”  

Nightshade looked upon Luna in awe.  She wasn’t as tall as Celestia, but she was just as stunning.   Luna had a midnight blue coat and wore silver shoes on her hooves. She had a black necklace with a crescent moon on the center and a black crown on her head.  Her mane and tail looked as if they were made of the night sky itself as it was blue and sparkled with stardust.  Nightshade bowed before the princesses to show his respect. “It is an honor your majesties.”

Celestia was surprised that Nightshade was showing such respect for her and her sister now.  “So Nightshade, I understand you wish to live in Equestria now, correct?”  She asked.

Nightshade rose up from his bow to address the princesses.  “I do your majesties. I bring a gift as a show of good faith. I’m sure you and Princess Luna will like it.”  Nightshade used his magic to open his saddle bag and levitated the two lunar lily’s he brought with him.  “I have two lunar lilys for you and your sister your majesty.”  

Luna eyed the flowers curiously.  “Sister, are these the flowers thou spoke of before?”  

Celestia put a smile on her face that Nightshade was giving them a beautiful gift. “It is Luna.”

Luna smiled as well.  “Wonderful, we were unaware that such plants would want to be much like the moon that we raise each night. It is very nice to know such things.”

Nightshade then thought to impress her more.  “Actually your majesty, I do have a giant lunar lily in my greenhouse that blooms on the night of a full moon.  You and Celestia are more than welcome to come and see it on the night of the next full moon if you can.  Also there is a lake in the forest I come from called moon lake, it gives off a white glow as well and causes the plants around it to glow as well. I would also be more than happy to take you to it sometime.”

Luna smiled bigger at this.  “There is even a lake that emulates our moon? Oh most wonderful of news.  Sister would it be possible sometime in the future to see these.”  

Celestia looked at Luna with a smile on her face.  “I don’t see why not.  Thank you for your invitation Nightshade, and for the flowers.”  Celestia took hold of the lilys with her magic and teleported them away in a bright white flash.  “Now Nightshade, I am curious as to why you wish to live here in Equestria.”  

Nightshade took on a somber tone as he began his explanation.  “Princess, have you ever herd of a tribe of ponies known as the shadow walkers?”  

Celestia and Luna looked at Nightshade with a curious expression and Celestia answered.  “I must say I have not, what do these shadow walkers have to do with you living in my country?”  

Nightshade levitated his saddlebag off his back and set it aside so he could remove his cloak.  “Because, I am a shadow walker your highness.” Nightshade removed his cloak before the two princesses who were then left in shock at what they were looking at. Nightshade was unlike anything they had ever seen. “I am Prince Nightshade of the now deceased shadow walker clan. I am the last of my kind because of a terrible king that once ruled Equestria before you. I don’t know his name, but I could never forget his face.”

Luna spoke.  “The last of your kind, how could such a terrible thing happen?”

Nightshade began to tell his story to the two princesses.  How he lost everything, how he had been alone for two thousand years, and how he managed to find something wonderful after everything he had been through.  Nightshade finished his story with how he and Twilight got back together about a week ago.

Luna spoke up again.  “We can sympathize with part of thine plite Nightshade, we too know what it is like to be alone for so long.”

“I know, I am well aware of the whole Nightmare Moon incident, Twilight told me about it.”  Nightshade informed Luna.

Celestia finally decided that she heard enough.  “Nightshade, you have my deepest sympathies. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that such a thing was even allowed to happen.  You are more than welcome to call Equestria your home.”  

Everypony in the room had a big smile on their faces, but none bigger than Nightshade, for after everything he had been through, he really could call this country his new home.  Sadly this tender moment was not to last.  “Oh bravo, bravo, I do so love a good sob story.”  A voice from nowhere called out.  Everypony looked around the room to try and find the source of the voice, but it couldn’t be found.

Celestia spoke out to try and find out who it was.  “Who goes there, show yourself!”  

The voice answered back.  “Oh very well, if I must.”  Then in a quick white flash, a figure appeared between Nightshade and the princesses.  It was a creature that seemed to be made of all kinds of animal parts.  It had one deer antler, a light blue horn that was all bumpy and looked distorted, grey fur from the base of its shoulders up, two yellow eyes surrounding red irises, a short black mane that ran all the way up its long neck, a snaggle tooth, a lions paw, an eagle claw, a dragon leg and a goat leg, brown fur over the rest of its body, one black bat like wing, one blue feathery wing, and a long red scaly tail with a white tuft of fur at the end. 

The girls and Shining gasped in horror at this strange beast that had appeared before them. Celestia cried out in fear and confusion.  “Discord, but how did you escape your prison?”

The creature identified as Discord laughed a maniacle laugh.  “HA HA HA, oh please. If you must know, when you and Luna had your little spat a thousand years ago, it weakened the spell you used with the elements of harmony to seal me away.  All it took was a little disharmony among three little fillies to give me the boost I needed to finally break free of that stone prison you put me in.”  He explained with confidence in his voice.  “And now, as I understand it, there are six new bearers of the elements of harmony.”  

All the while Discord was telling his story, Nightshade seemed to be frozen in place. He stared at this tall creature before him.  As he did, flashes of memories of the dreadful night he lost everything came to him. He remembered riding on his father’s back when he looked back at the scene of his home being destroyed.  He remembered the king standing over the scene, laughing maniacally.  He saw those same red eyes in the creature now before him. Those same red evil piercing eyes.  “You.” He said quietly to himself.  Then he shouted out louder.  “YOU, I REMEMBER YOU!”  

Discord turned to face the pony yelling. “And who are you?”  He asked.  

Nightshade yelled at him more, full of rage.  “DON’T ACT LIKE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM, YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING I LOVED! TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING I CARED ABOUT!”

The girls huddled together in fear of Discord.  Shinning called for the guards outside the doors.  “GUARDS, INTRUDER IN THE THRONE ROOM!”  The two guards burst through the door and charged at Discord.

Discord just snapped his eagle claw fingers and caused the two guards to levitate off the ground and sent them back outside, slamming the doors behind them.  “You fool, do you honestly think you are all a match for me, I’m the god of chaos.”  Celestia and Luna looked on in horror as there didn’t seem to be anything they could do. “As for you.”  Discord turned his attention to the six ponies.  He snapped his eagle fingers again and caused Twilight to disappear from where she was and reappear in front of him. He grabbed her with his lion paw and held her by her throat.  “You, I will deal with first, since you are the bearer of the element of magic.” 

Twilight’s eyes filled with fear as this monster held her up by her throat. The ponies all called out to her. “TWILIGHT!”  

Twilight called out as well. “Nightshade, help!”   

Nightshade grew angrier and yelled at Discord.  “LET HER GO DISCORD, THIS IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME!”

Discord looked down at him.  “Oh, I know exactly who you are now. Your one of those wretched shadow walker ponies I exterminated two thousand years ago. I’ll deal with you later. Right now I will not allow even one of these bearers of the elements of harmony to live so they can seal me away in stone again.”  Discord then made a sharp serrated dagger appear in his eagle claw and pointed it at Twilight’s throat.

Nightshade continued to yell and fume at this monster that was now threatening his love.  “I SAID LET HER GO, YOU AND I HAVE UNFINISHED BUISNESS YOU MONSTER!”  

Discord smirked as he said his next line.  “Make me.”

That was the last straw.  Nightshade felt so many emotions erupt within himself.   Love for Twilight Sparkle, fear of losing his new love, anger and hatred at the creature that was threatening her and was responsible for taking his world away from him.  All these emotions raging inside him seemed to awaken some kind of power.  Nightshade unleashed the same fierce roar he did when his cold heart finally melted away.  

“RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  As he shouted,  the entire castle seemed to shake at Nightshade’s yell, dark clouds formed in the sky, blocking out the sun, causing the room to grow darker.  Every shadow that was present seemed to move and come to life.  The shadows then shot forth from their sources and started to gather underneath Nightshade.

Discord watched in curiosity at the spectacle taking place. The ponies all watched in worry at their friend as his rage seemed to be the cause of what was going on.  Even the princesses became fearful of what was happening as they had no idea what was to come of such a display of power and emotion.

A dark, black hole had formed under nightshade as he had his head held up and his wings flared out. Then, the hole formed a dome as it closed up around Nightshade.  Black and purple colors swirled around the dome in such a way, it was as if a violent storm was raging within.  The dome then doubled, then tripled in size.  It then shot upward forming a large column of darkness that shot through the roof of the castle, punching a hole through it and reaching up to the clouds.  The column then began to dissipate from the top where it met the clouds down to the floor of the throne room.

Once the dark column was gone, a strange new figure stood where Nightshade was. A large creature that could easily be as tall as Celestia, but it had its head lowered, and was bobbing its head as it breathed with its eyes closed.  This creature was all black, it’s mane and tail appeared to be made of a black fire. It had the same kind of wings as Nightshade did and two long horns adorned its head.

Discord felt a bit of fear as he could sense great power emanating from this shadowy creature.  Twilight was still in Discord’s grasp but she saw all that was happening and grew scared and worried over what might have happened to Nightshade. Twilight tried to call out to it, hoping that that might be Nightshade.  “Nightshade?”  

The creatures head stopped moving and its eyes quickly shot open, revealing red glowing piercing eyes with the same black slited irises that Nightshade had.  It raised its head and cried out. 
“DISCORD! I SWEAR IF YOU HARM ONE HAIR ON HER HEAD, I WILL DRAG YOU TO TARTUS KICKING AND SCREAMING MYSELF IF I HAVE TO! LET….HER….GOOOOOO!”  Its voice was much deeper than Nightshade’s.  

With those words Twilight cold tell that somehow, this new pony might be Nightshade, but she still felt some fear at the rage he was showing towards Discord.  

Discord composed himself to try and let this thing know that he wasn’t afraid.  “You still think you can take me,  I’m a freakin god of chaos!”  

This new Nightshade spoke back.  “I don’t care if you’re the god of the universe! NO PONY THREATENS MY FRIENDS OR THE MARE I LOVE!”  

Twilight’s fear soon melted away as she realized that this was indeed Nightshade before them.  She called out to him again.  “Nightshade!”

Nightshade called back to her.  “Don’t worry Twilight, I won’t let anything hurt you, and I’m going to prove it right now!”  As soon as he said that, his shadow quickly shot fourth along the floor until it was directly under where discord was holding Twilight, then a tentacle shot up and enveloped her body in darkness. It then allowed her to slip through Discord’s grasp and it sunk back down to the floor, moved back to where the others were behind Nightshade, and Twilight re-emerged from the shadow unharmed.  

The girls and Shinning embraced Twilight in a group hug, thankful that she was safe again.  They then turned their attention back to Nightshade who kept his glare focused on Discord.  The Princesses felt some relief that this new form was Nightshade and clearly was going to do whatever it took to defend their subjects. Nightshade then spoke again.  “Don’t worry, I won’t let any pony get hurt. I swear I will eliminate this threat.  I was hoping for a chance like this so I could finally take my revenge for what you did to my clan two centuries ago.”  

Discord spoke, still feeling some fear but tried not to show it.  “NO, your all supposed to be dead, I had all of you exterminated.”

Nightshade spoke  softly with a growl.  “You missed one.”  His body then became enveloped in a black flame like aura, he quickly shot forward towards Discord.  Discord couldn’t act fast enough as Nightshade flew into him, ramming him in his chest.  They were sent flying through one of the stain glass windows, causing it to shatter. 

Nightshade’s black flames enveloped Discord as well, he cried out in pain as the fires burned his body.  “AAAAHHHHH!”   Nightshade slammed Discord into the ground so hard, it created a small crater.  Nightshade backed up as Discords body still burned from the black flames now covering him.  

The girls, Shining Armor, and the princesses all ran to the broken window to look down at the scene.  Celestia then figured now would be a good time to get the elements.  “Girls, we must hurry and retrieve the elements of harmony.”

Twilight tried to object.  “But princess, what about Nightshade, we can’t just leave him!”  

Celestia knew there was no point in sticking around.  “There is nothing we can do.  Discord is too powerful even for me, but I feel confident that Nightshade will be fine.  He can handle Discord and buy us time while we gather the elements, but we must hurry.”  

Twilight didn’t want to leave Nightshade alone, but she knew Celestia was right. As if to confirm this, she heard Nightshade call up to her.  “She’s right Twilight, I can handle this monster, you go and get the elements while I deal with him!”  

Twilight called back down to him.  “Please be careful Nightshade!”  

Shining spoke to Twilight.  “C’mon Twili, let’s go.”

Celestia then lead the group away from the battle about to take place with worry and concern on all their faces.

The flames on Discord’s body finally died down, He slowly got up and looked at his assailant.  “You think I’m going to let them get the elements just so they can seal me away again, well forget it.”

Nightshade glared at him.  “Don’t worry, you’ll be dead long before they get here with them.”

Discord was actually surprised by this.  “What are you talking about.”  

“You really think I’m going to just let them turn you to stone again.  Forget it! You deserve a fate far worse than that for what you did to my clan!  This is justice! You killed my ponies and family, so I’m going to kill you!”

Discord laughed hard at this proclamation. “HA HA HA!  You, kill me, oh that is rich, haven’t you been listening, I’M A GOD OF CHAOS! You can’t kill a god.”

“That’s where your wrong discord, you see, after you slaughtered my ponies, I did some research on you, courtesy of the knowledge my clan gathered on deities of the world.  You see, your chaotic magic is useless against my shadow magic and is the only power that can kill you.”

Discord grew fearful at this fact. “You’re lying!”

“Try me.” 

Discord took on a more serious look and made two weapons appear in his hands. A large swordfish in his lion paw, and a long cane with a blade at the end in his eagle claw.

Four long shadowy tentacles appeared around the base of Nightshade’s neck.  Two of each of them merged to one so that he now had two long sharp shadow blades pointed at discord.  The battle was about to begin.  The two lunged at each other. Their weapons clashed and they glared at each other with their weapons locked together, they then pushed apart and started swinging their weapons at each other. 

As their weapons clashed with each swipe and counter made, it sounded like metal. They continued to match each other blow for blow. Nightshade made a lunge for Discord with his left shadow blade, Discord countered with his cane and tried to lunge at Nightshade with his swordfish.  Nightshade countered with his right shadow blade and wrapped it around the fish, then yanked it out of Discord’s grasp.

They jumped back from each other and Discord held out his lion paw, the swordfish flew back to him.  Nightshade then separated his two shadow blades back to his four tentacles.  He caused them to fly forwards to Discord in an attempt to skewer him.  Discord swiftly ducked and dodged each one and slashed at them with his cane and fish.  The tentacles retracted from where they were sliced back to Nightshade.  Nightshade then caused his tentacles to retract back into his body.  His own shadow then grew in size and shot fourth along the ground as more shadow tentacles emerged, ready to pierce through Discords body.  

Discord took to flight and swiftly and expertly dodged each one to close the gap between himself and his opponent.  Discord got closer and raised his fish, ready to strike at Nightshade. Nightshade saw this and produced a shadow wall in front of himself just in time to block Discord’s strike.

Nightshade caused his shadow shield to push forward, causing Discord to fall back a bit.  Nightshade lowered his shadow shield to look at Discord.  They just glared at each other for a moment.  Discord then lunged forward to swipe at Nightshade with his cane.  Nightshade quickly disappeared into his shadow just as Discord swiped at him. Discord scanned the area for Nightshade but was nowhere to be seen.  Nightshade then silently emerged from a shadow that appeared behind Discord.  He swiped at Discord's back with one of his blades and slashed Discord.  

Discord cried out in pain as he moved forward a bit.  "AH!"  He looked back at Nightshade over his shoulder. "Lucky shot."  He then quickly turned to swipe at Nightshade with his cane, but Nightshade quickly stepped back in time to dodge it.  Once again the battle of blades continued as they swiped and countered each others blow.  Nightshade then quickly leapt back and made his four tentacles again. He shot them forth in another attempt to pierce Discord, but once again discord countered and slashed each one.  While he was busy with the tentacles, Nightshade disappeared again and reappeared behind discord.  He turned his back to Discord, raised his legs, and made an attempt to buck him in the back.

Discord seemed to see this coming as he jumped up just in time to avoid it.  The tentacles he was slashing disappeared as Nightshade fell to the ground on his belly.  Discord looked down at Nightshade and kicked him in the side, sending him flying back a few feet.  Nightshade cried out in pain.  "YAAAHH!"  He struggled to get himself back up and glared at Discord. Discord just smirked back at Nightshade.  Nightshade then produced four black holes around him in midair, black energy balls shot out of them at Discord.  Discord began to form his own white orbs and shot them to counter the black orbs.   They continued to fire there magic orbs at each other, some were countered while some flew past their intended target and landed on the ground behind them, causing small explosions.  Seeing that this was going nowhere either, they ceased the magic orb fight. 

Then Nightshade shot into the air to begin an airial assult.  Discord followed suit.  Nightshade reproduced his tentacles and made his two shadow blades again.  Discord readied his cane and fish for combat.  They charged at each other in midair and their weapons clashed as they passed, again and again. Each time they did, the dark clouds above erupted in lightning, neither one seeming to gain the upper hand.  They charged at each other again and locked their blades. as soon as they did, lightning flashed again in response to the two titans fight.  They glared at each other as they tried to push the other back.  Rain started to fall from the clouds above, but neither of them noticed.

Discord managed to force Nightshade back and began his assault, Nightshade was being pushed back as he blocked and countered Discord's strikes.  Nightshade was forced to quickly fly back away from Discord.  He formed his four tentacles and focused each end to a sharp point in front of him.  He flew at high speed to Discord with every intent on finishing this.  Discord saw him coming and crossed his fish and cane to block. Another bolt of lightning struck as  Nightshade hit discord and was now pushing him back in mid air. They broke apart once again.

Nightshade had enough and he was getting tired of this game.  He charged up his magic in his horns to try and blast Discord with the most powerful and destructive spell he could muster.  Discord saw this, dismissed his weapons, and started charging a magic beam of his own to counter Nightshade’s.  

Nightshade charged as much power as he could and let loose with a massive black shadowy beam towards Discord. Discord had his chaotic white  beam  of magic ready and let loose as well.  The two powerful beams met in the center of the two combatants, once again causing another bolt of lightning.  For a moment they seemed evenly matched, but Nightshade just would not let Discord win so he would be free to kill the mare he loved, or his friends.  Discord took his family away before. Nightshade was not about to let Discord take away anything else that he cared about.  

He summoned up all the strength he had, calling upon his love for Twilight, his caring for his friends, and was able to find more power to start winning this struggle of power.  His dark shadow beam slowly began to push Discord’s beam back. Discord saw this and got worried. He was not about to give up so easily.  But for some reason he just couldn’t gain the upper hand.  The shadow beam was getting closer to Discord. He tried and tried to gather more strength but he couldn’t win.  

Soon the beam was on him and in a massive black explosion, it hit him hard.  Discord screamed in pain as the shadow magic caused him great harm.  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  Once the blast subsided, Dicord’s form fell from the sky and landed on the ground with such force it created a large crater.  Nightshade landed on the edge of the crater to look down at his weakened foe.  Discord was still alive, put because of the power struggle in the air, he was too weak to fight back anymore. He lay there nearly unconscious, groaning in pain.  

This was it, after two thousand years of solitude, Nightshade would finally get his revenge against the monster that destroyed his world.  He produced two of his shadow tentacles and formed a single sharp long shadow blade ready to finish off the god of chaos. Another bolt flashed in the sky. He descended down into the crater and placed his shadow blade to discords throat.

“Nightshade, don’t!”

Nightshade turned to look behind him to see who had called him.  Standing at the edge of the crater was his love, Twilight Sparkle, accompanied by his other friends and the princesses, all with a fearful expression on their faces.  “Stay out of this Twilight, this is between me and him!”  He called out to her. 

“Nightshade, don’t do it. It isn’t right!”  She saw what he was about to do and tried to talk him out of it.

This seemed to infuriate Nightshade.  “Isn’t right.  ISN’T RIGHT!? WAS IT RIGHT FOR HIM TO SLAUGHTER MY CLAN JUST BECAUSE WE WERE HAPPY?! WAS IT RIGHT FOR MY MOTHER AND FATHER TO HAVE TO GIVE UP THEIR LIVES FOR ME?! WAS IT RIGHT THAT I HAD TO LIVE IN FEAR AND LONLINESS FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS?! NEED I REMIND YOU THAT HE TOOK EVERYTHING I HAD AWAY FROM ME?!”  

Twilight tried to reason with Nightshade.  “But your better than he is, your good and kind.  What would your parents think of you if they saw you now?!  If you kill him, than your no better than he is, is that what you want?!”

Apparently, Discord had regained his consciousness during their conversation as he spoke up to agree with Twilight with fear in his voice.  “Yes, please listen to her, you don’t want to be as bad as me, do you?”  

Nightshade turned back to discord and spoke.  “YOU STAY OUT OF THIS DISCORD, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK!”  

Twilight called to him again, pleading for him to reconsider.  “Nightshade, please!”

Another bolt sounded in the sky as Nightshade cried out as he raised his shadow blade to strike.  “RRRAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Twilight cried out.  “Nightshade, no!”

Discord closed his eyes to wait for the end.  *SHINK*  After a moment of waiting and feeling no pain, Discord slowly opened his eyes to see a dark shadowy blade embedded in the ground next to his head.  The blade slowly retracted from the ground and disappeared back into Nightshade’s body.  

Twilight and the girls gave out a relieved sigh, thankful that Twilight’s words reached Nightshade.
Nightshade spoke quietly and somberly, but loud enough for them to hear him.  “Your right, I am better than him, my parents ruled our kingdom with love and compassion.  They wouldn’t approve of their son taking revenge like this.”  He turned around and made his way out of the crater. The storm that raged soon began to subside as if in response to Nightshade's change in mood.  The girls all made room for him as he got out. Nightshade looked down at Twilight as he smiled.  She looked back up at him and returned the smile.  

Rays of the sun began to shine through the dark clouds as they parted. The princesses then stepped forward.  Before they could say a word Discord spoke.  “Uhm, excuse me, god of chaos here.”

Nightshade quickly turned around and rushed up to look Discord in the eye and spoke in a low and menacing way through gritted teeth.  “You better count yourself lucky Twilight was here, or you would be dead meat.  So I suggest you let them turn you back to stone and stay there.  And just remember one thing, if you should ever find a way to get out again, I’ll be waiting, and next time, you might not be so lucky.  GOT IT!”

Discord gulped in fear and nodded his head.

“Good.”

Nightshade returned to the group and finally noticed the jewelry they had on.  Twilight was wearing a gold tiara with a purple star on top. The others had gold necklaces on.  Fluttershy’s had a pink jeweled butterfly on the center. Rainbow Dash’s was a ruby lightning bolt.  Rarity’s was a violet colored diamond shaped jewel.  Pinkie’s was a blue balloon. And Applejack’s was an orange apple.  Nightshade then asked them, “So, I take it those are the elements of harmony?”  

The girls all nodded in unison.  Twilight then spoke up.  “I think it’s time for us to impress you. Watch this.”  Nightshade then took a few steps away from the group to join the princesses and Shining to watch what was about to happen.  Thanks to Nightshade, Discord was left powerless so there was no way for him to even try to fight back, so all he could do was wait for himself to be placed back into his stone prison.

Twilight and the girls all began to let off a glow that matched the color of their gems on their necklaces.  They levitated off the ground and the colors merged into a giant rainbow that shot up into the air and arched back down, striking discord.  The rainbow began to petrify Discord’s body and he was once again sealed away. The spell complete, the girls then slowly levitated back down to the ground.

Nightshade was indeed impressed with the power the elements of harmony had.  “Wow, that was impressive.”  He made his way back over to his friends.  They were finally free to fully appreciate Nightshades new form.

Rainbow Dash was the first to compliment him.  “Wow Nightshade, this new look is way cool.”

Applejack was next.  “whoowee, Nightshade, that’s quite a look ya got there.”

Rarity then came in.  “My word Nightshade, I must say I think I liked your original form better, you’ll never be able to fit into that suit I made you now.”

Fluttershy was afraid to approach, even though she knew it was still Nightshade, his new form was scary to her.

Pinkie then chimed in.  “Wow, Nightshade, the way you handled Discord was amazing!”

Twilight was the last to speak.  “Nightshade, this new form is impressive, but is it permanent?”  She was a little concerned over her coltfriend’s transformation.

Nightshade looked down on her with a smile.  “Don’t worry Twilight, this is a form I can take on now if I should need a boost in power, watch.”  Nightshade then created the same dome that was made when he changed, the dome shrank down and faded away to reveal Nightshade back in his normal form.  “See, no sweat.” His voice, eyes, color and size were all back to normal. 

Twilight was relieved to see Nightshade back in his original form.  Then Celestia finally stepped forward to address Nightshade.  “Nightshade, you have done Equestria a great service this day.  You helped stop a terrible threat to our land.  If there is anything we can do to repay you, all you have to do is ask.”

Nightshade looked up at Celestia with a smile on his face.  “All I ask for is what you were going to let me have before this mess started. I would just like your permission to live in your country in Ponyville.”  

Celestia  kept her smile as she responded back.  “As you wish, but if you should ever need anything more, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Nightshade bowed before Celestia.  “Thank you your majesty.”

Later that day, a huge celebration was held to honor Nightshade for his deeds in helping to stop Discord, and the mane six for sealing him in stone again.  Nightshade was a little nervous about being surrounded by others without his cloak, but Twilight stayed by his side the entire celebration so he wouldn’t be so afraid. Now, not only did Nightshade finally have friends, a mare to love and a new home, but he was seen as a hero too. Life couldn’t possibly get any better for him…..could it?

> Life is Complete
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Past Returns
Chapter 5: Life is Complete

It’s been a month now since the incident with Discord, at the celebration that was held to honor Nightshade and the mane six, Nightshade did put in a request to princess Celestia to get some help to get his house hooked up with indoor plumbing and electricity.  Celestia contacted the best construction workers of Ponyville to get the job done.  It only took them a few days for their task to be complete, they even installed a sprinkler system in his green house for him.  Nightshade also managed to start up a potion shop in Ponyville so he could start earning bits and make a living.  At the same time he finally got to meet Zecora and they ran the shop together.  Nightshade was also kind enough to share some of his herbal remedy knowledge with the town’s hospital which they gladly paid him for.

Nightshade was finally able to make a living for himself in his new home in Ponyville.  He was finally getting back a new life after losing his old one so long ago.  But there was still one more thing he would need before he felt his life was complete again.  Tonight was going to be very special, he and Twilight were going on another date tonight and Nightshade had something special planned. First thing he did was ask Spike to send a letter to Luna in secret so Twilight wouldn’t know. He asked Luna if she could make tonight look extra special. 

He then went to Rarity to get her help in looking his best.  “Rarity I would really appreciate any assistance you could give me so I can look good tonight, I’ll even wear that suit you made me.”  

Rarity was very pleased and more than happy to assist.  “Why Nightshade, I would be glad to, I take it you have something special planned for tonight?”  

Nightshade smiled at her.  “You could say that, I just want to look my best for Twilight for our date tonight. And since I’m still new to this whole relationship thing, I would be most grateful for any help.”

Rarity’s smile never left her face.  “Nightshade, dear, when I’m done with you, you’ll be the talk of the town.” 

When Nightshade was done at Rarity’s, his coat, mane, and tail had been thoroughly shampooed and cleaned.  His mane was combed and slicked back, looking very stylish.  He was standing in his room wearing the suit he got from Rarity and was admiring himself in a mirror he bought some time ago. The suit was the same shade of blue as his coat.  It had two baby blue sapphire rubies embedded in both lapels, and gold cufflinks also with baby blue sapphire rubies at the end of his sleeves.  He planned a romantic nighttime picnic in the park for his date.  Feeling ready and eager, but also nervous, he made his way out of his house to Twilights to pick her up.  The sun had gone down and it was night out.

The moon was full tonight, the stars filled the sky, and not a single cloud could be seen. It was a beautiful warm night tonight, perfect for what he had planned.  He knocked on the door to Twilight’s home and Spike opened it to greet him.  “Hey Nightshade, Twilight will be down in a minute.”

Nightshade looked down at Spike with a smile.  “Thanks Spike.”  He and Spike have really grown close as friends.  Nightshade even started to see him as a kind of little brother as well.

Spike just had to ask.  “So what’s this special thing you have planned with Twilight tonight.”

“Sorry Spike, but it’s a surprise. I’m sure you’ll hear about it later, as well as everypony else tomorrow.”

The door to Twilight’s room soon opened and Twilight made her appearance.  Nightshade was left speechless at how beautiful she looked.  She was wearing a white dress with fancy swirls and flowers all over it, it seemed to sparkle with each movement she made.  “What do you think, this is the dress Rarity was inspired to make thanks to your lunar lily.”

Nightshade was silent for a moment before he spoke. “Wow,….you look amazing. Rarity was inspired to make that just from a flower? She is good.”

Twilight chuckled a little at his amazement, then noticed how Nightshade looked.  “You don’t look too bad yourself Nightshade, I take it that’s the suit Rarity made you.”

“Yea, I wanted to look my best for you tonight for the evening I had planned. Shall we.” Nightshade raised his right foreleg as an invite to Twilight to take it so he could walk her out.  She walked down the steps and took his foreleg in her own and they made their way out.

“Have a good time you two!”  Spike called out to the couple as they left.

Twilight’s curiosity was getting to her and she just had to ask. “So what’s this surprise you have for me tonight Nightshade?”

Nightshade just smiled at her.  “Sorry, but it’s a surprise, you’ll just have to wait until later for it. However, I did ask princess Luna to make tonight look extra special.”

“Why?”

“I figured it would suit the mood for the surprise.” They continued their walk through Ponyville to the park for their picnic.  They arrived and found the picnic already set up on a hill under a tree. From there, they had a clear view of the night sky that Luna made.  A red and white checkerboard pattern blanket was set up with a brown picnic basket and two candles on either side of it.

Twilight was impressed with the romantic setting.  “Wow, Nightshade, this looks wonderful.  You really know how to show a mare a good time.”  They made their way up the hill and sat on the blanket to begin their date. Within the basket was a bowl of some salad and two daffodil and daisy sandwhiches.  They ate and talked, enjoying each other’s company as the evening waned on.

As the evening was coming to a close, Nightshade thought now would be the time to reveal his surprise to Twilight.  “Twilight, theres…..something I want to tell you.”

Twilight looked upon her coltfriend with a smile on her muzzle. “What is it Nightshade?”

“Even though I am over all my fears of being around others, there is still one more fear I have, a fear that only you can help me with.”

Twilight looked at Nightshade with a bit of confusion.  “What is it Nightshade?”

“Twilight, I don’t ever want to lose you, when Discord threatened you, a fear of losing you grew within me. I don’t ever want to take a chance of losing the mare I love.”

Twilight looked at him with a smile.  “Nightshade, you’re never going to lose me. I’ll always be here.”

Nightshade gazed back at her, nervousness welling up inside him at what he was about to say. “I don’t want to take any chances Twilight, that’s why,”  He paused, he took out a small black hinged box from the pocket in his suit. He levitated it in front of her and opened it.  Inside was a big diamond hoof ring. “I am asking you this question, Twilight Sparkle,….will you marry me and make me the luckiest stallion in the world.”

Twilight gazed upon the hoof ring as her eyes welled up with tears of joy, she place her hoof over her mouth as she gasped at what she was hearing.  Finally she looked back at him and answered. “YES Nightshade, I will! I will marry you!”  She then lunged forward and kissed Nightshade fiercly as she hugged him and started to cry with joy.

Nightshade returned the favor gladly as he kissed her back and hugged her.  After a minute, the two finally broke their embrace, Nightshade levitated the ring out of its box, took Twilights right hoof in his own, and placed the ring on her, all the while both of them smiling a big smile.  “Twilight, I can’t tell you how happy you’ve made me.”

Twilight responded back.  “I feel the same way Nightshade.”  The two shared another kiss under the star filled, moon lit sky.  Nightshades life would soon finally feel complete.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“C’mon dad hurry up, you’re taking forever!”

“All right Shadow Knight all right, hold on.”

Five years have gone by since Nightshade and Twilight got married. They now had a son of their own.  Shadow Night was a little pony with wings and horns like his father.  He had a black coat with a dark blue mane and tail with a pink streak through them. His eyes were normal, like a regular ponies, and were colored light blue. Twilight and Spike moved in with Nightshade after the wedding.  Nightshade let Spike have the room he used and created a new room on the second floor for their son when they learned they were going to have a baby.  Twilight and Nightshade used his library room. Nightshade and Twilight were taking their son to finally see the ruins of Nightshade’s old home.  He had told his son about the shadow walker clan that he was descended from and was very anxious to see the ruins.  “C’mon dad, I wanna go, the way you talked about the place makes it sound so cool. I can’t wait to see it.”

Twilight was amused at Shadow Knight’s impatience.  “Now Shadow Knight, what have I told you about being patient.”  Twilight scolded her son.

“Sorry mom, but I just can’t wait, I’ve never been anywhere outside Ponyville, and Blackwood forest sounds so amazing.”

They were going to make a picnic out of this trip to the ruins and Nightshade was busy packing the food in his saddle bag.  “Alright, I think that’s everything, does anypony need to go to the bathroom before we go.”

“No, I’m good. Can we go now, PLLEEEEEAAAASSE!”  Shadow Knight was giving his father that same dreaded look that made him cringe.  Shadow Knight’s eyes went wide as dinner plates, his lips were pouting with the bottom one quivering, and once again, Nightshade heard a whimpering dog.

“Shadow Knight, what have I told you about using THAT look on me, I hate that look! We’re ready to go so you can stop with the pleading.”

“ALL RIIGGGHHTT! This is gonna be so much fun!” 

“Now remember Shadow, once you know what the place is like, you’ll be able to get there yourself, but I don’t want you going there without me.  Even though the creatures of Blackwood never go near the ruins, it’s still dangerous, alright. I want you to promise that you won’t go there without me.” 

Shadow Knight had been showing signs of his abilities as a shadow walker. He was able to teleport himself to school in the mornings when he thought he would be late.  “OK, I promise, can we go now.”

“Alright, here we go.” Nightshade used his shadow flight spell to transport himself and his family to the ruins of his old home. It was midday at the time and the sun was shining beautifully. The family reemerged at the ruins and Shadow Knight was as happy as he could be to finally get to see his father’s old home.

“WOW! This place is amazing, it looks so cool. I wish I could have seen it before it was ruined though.”  

Twilight then spoke to her son.  “Now Shadow Knight, don’t go running off, you stay close to us ok.”

“Ok.”

Nightshade led his family to the old castle where his parent’s graves were to show Shadow Knight the resting place of his grandparents.   “Well, this is it, the old castle of the shadow walker clan. What do you think son.”

“Wow, it sure is big, is that where grandma and grandpa are?”  He pointed his hoof in the direction of the three stone thrones as they entered the castle.  

“It is son.  You know you were named after your grandpa right?” Nightshade informed his son.

“Yeah, I know, you told me before.  What’s with those pink flowers around their graves though?”  

Nightshade responded with a smile on his face.  “Those are called iron root flowers, it was thanks to one that your mother and I met.”

Shadow Knight grew curious at that statement.  “How is a flower responsible for you and mom meeting.”

Nightshade kept a smile on his face as he looked over to his wife, then back to his son.  “Well, it all started five years ago……”

THE END