Despite the chaos that had just occurred outside, Starshadow’s room remained peacefully calm. Though Starshadow tried her best to entice her special somepony, Big Mac managed to calm himself and resist ploughing into her body like he normally would. His refusal to fill her earned him an annoyed pout from his marefriend, but he managed to convince her that her body was still fragile and smiled as she settled for some quiet cuddling instead.

“You win for now, but once I’m out you better free yourself up for the next two days.” Starshadow said.

Big Mac answered her with a gentle kiss before he put his head down and closed his eyes. Exhaustion from the past several days, both physical and mental, was now taking its toll on the large stallion. It took mere seconds for the red stallion to lose the battle to stay awake, and though he was desperate to stay awake to guard his special somepony he was fast asleep.

Starshadow gently stroked her stallion’s mane and smiled as she heard his breathing slow down and felt his body relax. She could only imagine the worry that had dominated his mind while she was missing, and as she looked over his larger body she noticed a substantial amount of bruising and small cuts all over his body. She had no idea how he could have received so many injuries and made a mental note to ask him or Applejack what had happened, but for now she was more than happy to nestle herself in her special somepony’s embrace and fall asleep next to him again.

On the other side of the hospital, Doctor Horse was not having as pleasant and peaceful of a time as Starshadow and Big Mac were. He had just finished stopping Sunset Flash’s injuries from becoming even worse and was about to finally get some much needed rest when the loud commotion of Specter being brought in broke the tranquility. Rushing out to see what was going on, the doctor saw three guards forcefully securing a dark colored unicorn to one of the empty gurneys. Despite having superior numbers, the guards were clearly having trouble getting the unicorn strapped and secured to the rolling bed. Even with all four of his hooves secured and his magic suppressed, Specter still found the strength to struggle against his bonds and snarled savagely at everypony present.

“Don’t get too close, he’s still dangerous.” one of the guards cautioned the doctor.

“Then what is he doing in here?! This is a hospital!” Doctor Horse exclaimed, afraid to go anywhere near the struggling unicorn. “Why isn’t he locked up in the barracks?”

The guard shrugged. “Princess Twilight’s orders. Don’t worry, he’s going to be put in solitary confinement for now.”

Doctor Horse groaned. Putting anypony into solitary confinement meant that the hospital staff had to monitor the patient around the clock, and due to the recent rush of patients all of the nurses were busy, meaning the task would fall onto his shoulders alone.

“So much for any rest.” he grumbled, but the guards weren’t listening. They quickly rushed the bound unicorn over to the padded room and locked him inside before breathing a sigh of relief.

“He’s all yours.” one of the guards called out as they all turned to leave.

“H-Hey! Wait! Aren’t you supposed to be guarding him as well?” the doctor called out in a panic. However, the guards pretended that they didn’t hear Doctor Horse calling out to them and quickly trotted to the exit, quickly sprinting away once they had made it out the door. All Doctor Horse could do was shake his head in disbelief before finally peering in through the small window to look at his newest charge.

Doctor Horse felt a shiver shoot down his spine as the bound pony inside stared back at him with cold, hard eyes. The doctor quickly averted his gaze, sure that if he kept staring at his patient his life would somehow be ended very quickly. He could still feel the other stallion’s eyes locked on him, so Doctor Horse stepped out of sight and sat down on a nearby chair. He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned as he saw that it had been over 38 hours since he had last slept, and there was no relief in sight.

“Celestia damnit.” he muttered as he struggled to keep his eyes open. “I need a vacation after all of this.”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else? I can always get-”

“I’m fine!” Nightshade snapped at the pony attending to her injuries. Her sudden outburst caused the pony nurse to jump in fright and drop the extra bandages she held, and with a quick nod of understanding the nurse retreated to the hallway.

Twilight sighed. “Did you really have to yell at her like that? She was simply bandaging up your wounds.”

“I can take care of myself!” Nightshade said with a huff. “Well, I could if you removed this stupid suppression ring from my horn.”

“Not until you calm down and we figure out where that other pony came from and what he wants.” Twilight said. “Now, can I trust you to behave yourself here tonight or do I have to have the guards stationed outside your room?”

Nightshade grimly clenched her teeth but nodded in submission. It was humiliating enough for her to be condemned to spending a night in the hospital, but also having two guards foalsitting her the entire night was almost enough to drive her to suicide.

Twilight nodded in satisfaction. “Good. But if I hear that you caused any trouble at all I’m sending you back here to volunteer until you learn to behave. Understood?”

Nightshade nodded again, suppressing the urge to recoil as Twilight gave her a small hug. The wounded bodyguard finally breathed a sigh of relief when Twilight finally left, allowing her to finally start forming a plan in her head without worrying about acting too suspicious. It didn’t take long for her to finish her plan, and with a small smile of satisfaction she closed her eyes to catch a few hours of sleep until it was late enough for her to act.

As she had planned Nightshade awoke in the middle of the night. Slipping out of bed, she silently opened the door and cautiously made her way down the hallway. The dark halls were quiet as all the other patients were asleep and the night staff was most likely in the break room. Her hoofs echoed in the empty corridor as she made her way to the other side of the building, stopping just outside the doors that led to the psychiatric ward. Peering through the door’s window, she smiled as she saw the area void of any guards. The only other pony in sight was the doctor she had seen earlier, and it was very clear he was having a lot of trouble keeping his eyes open. Confident her plan would work, she glanced around once more to make sure nopony else was around before entering the mental ward.

Doctor Horse barely managed to open his eyes as he heard another pony entering the area. His hopes that one of the nurses had finally decided to relieve him were blown away as he saw that it was Princess Twilight’s bodyguard. “Shouldn’t you be in your... what are you doing here?” he asked, his exhausted mind not thinking clearly.

Nightshade looked at the doctor confidently. “I’m here to take over monitoring the prisoner.” she said, trying her best to sound official.

Doctor Horse paused, his mind trying to register what was going on right now. He knew who Nightshade was and her connection to princesses of Equestria, but he was fairly certain that she was here now as a patient, not for guard detail. However, in his current state of mind he wasn’t sure if he was right or it was a figment of his imagination. “Are... aren’t you here as a...”

Nightshade shrugged her shoulders. “Look, I’m not ecstatic about foalsitting some insane stallion either. If you’d rather spend all night watching him, be my guest.” she said, slowly turning to leave.

“No, wait!” Doctor Horse shouted in desperation. Nightshade couldn’t help but grin slyly as the doctor quickly scrambled to his hooves and shoved Specter’s file into her hooves before she could finish turning around.

Nightshade changed her sly grin to a face of concern and compassion. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you go get some rest? You deserve it.” she said manipulatively.

Her words were music to the doctor’s ears. “Rest... yes, rest.” he said drowsily, his tired body beginning to go limp just at the thought of finally being able to go sleep. He allowed himself to be guided to the exit by Nightshade, leaving the psych ward almost in a daze and headed straight for his office, and more importantly his private break room behind his office where his bed awaited him.

Once Doctor Horse had left Nightshade shut and locked the door, preventing anypony from disturbing her without some effort. Turning to face her goal, Nightshade approached the door where Specter was confined and was not surprised to see the black stallion peering back at her through the door’s window. He was still bound and the magic suppression ring around his horn made him helpless, but when Nightshade gave the door a small tug she scowled as she realized the guards had magically sealed the door shut before they left and the heavy steel would be too thick to break with brute force.

Specter chuckled lightly as he saw Nightshade’s face fall in disappointment. “Even with me bound and helpless, you’re still too inept to get me.” he mocked her.

Nightshade slammed a hoof against the door. “Silence!” she yelled back. “You’re in no position to talk! You’re the one who’s been captured, not me! I beat you and you know it!”

Specter chuckled again. “Are you sure about that? Last I remember you were being subdued by that princess. Aren’t you the one that’s supposed to be protecting her? Or does she have to come save your sorry flank every day like that?”

Nightshade gritted her teeth. Never before could she remember wanting to hurt somepony so badly. The ring around her horn beginning to glow as she tried desperately to cast a spell, any spell, at her bound foe; however, the suppression ring did its job and managed to hold strong as it actively cancelled out the magic she tried to channel through her horn, leaving Nightshade drained and Specter safe. The angry mare hit the door once more with her hoof, screaming her frustration at the simple obstacle that had become an unshakable barrier between her and her most bitter enemy.

From the other side of the barrier, Specter laughed at his adversary’s reaction, paying no heed to the sudden show of violence. “Don’t tell me you’re losing your patience already.” he teased her once more. “Did being humiliated back there really hurt you that much? I’m sure if you go visit the foalternity ward here you may be able to beat a few newborn fillies. Maybe.”

Shaking with rage, Nightshade’s vision tinged red as the world around her faded away. All that mattered to her in that moment was tearing the door off of its hinges and silencing the hateful stallion beyond it. In her blind rage, she abandoned all of her training, and even the most basic laws of magic and began summoning all the energy she could manage into her horn. Again the suppression ring flared to life, attempting to block her, but Nightshade would not be deterred again. Her horn began to glow with an eerie black aura and sparks began to appear around the ring as it’s white glow intensified.

Specter’s confidant sneer began to falter as he watched; even with his own magic sealed he could sense that Nightshade’s magic was beginning to overwhelm the suppression ring, a feat he himself had been unable to accomplish earlier when he’d been captured. What’s more, the look of pure malice on the mare’s face, in those piercing green eyes...

Specter suddenly found himself on his back on the floor of what appeared to be a small shed of some sort. A brown unicorn filly stood over him, covered almost completely in blood, her face contorted in pure hatred as she stared down at him. The colt tried to run, tried to use his magic, anything to escape the filly, but somehow those eyes held him frozen upon the blood-soaked floorboards. A long fishing hook floated in the air between the two of them, it’s menacing tip pointed at the prone unicorn before it. Somehow, the mare’s loathsome glare prevented him even from crying out as Specter could do nothing but cower in silence as the wicked edge withdrew slightly before flying through the air directly towards his eyes...

Specter was jolted back to reality when he saw the hallway suddenly filled with a blinding flash of light; he barely had time to shield his eyes against it. In the next instance, his senses were overwhelmed by the sensation of magic flooding area around him and what sounded like something metal being shredded and glass breaking. Seconds passed and finally the light faded. When he finally opened his eyes he saw that the steel door that had stood between the two unicorns had been reduced to smoldering splinters. What’s more, the floor and walls and likely the ceiling around the mare were cracked and he could see that several windows along the hallway had been blown out as well.

Nightshade hadn’t actually cast a spell, she had simply poured all of her power into her horn at once. Such a thing was pure insanity for any unicorn, much less one of such power; uncontrolled and unfocused magic, if released in such volume, would invariably violently consume everything within its area of effect including the caster. The suppression ring had been able to partially block the massive formless spell but, not having been designed to handle such a surge in power all at once, finally gave out; the shockwave of the suppression ring failing had shattered everything within 30 feet of the mare.

Nightshade now stood unobstructed in front of him, the inky black aura of her magic fully visible, her body unsteady with fatigue from the incredible effort, but a wicked, depraved smile on her face as she looked at the suppression ring now lying shattered on the ground around her.

Looking upon her, Specter began to tremble uncontrollably against his restraints as a powerful emotion he could not recall ever having experienced began to take hold of him, consuming his conscious thoughts. “N-no way...” Specter said barely above a whisper as his voice trembled and cracked, trying desperately to shrink away from the mare before him. He had lost control completely now; his mind surrendering to this new emotion that had taken hold in him.

He stared down at Nightshade with fear in his eyes.

Nightshade allowed a chuckle to pass her lips as she finally recovered enough from the show of force to regain her footing; her magical aura finally subsiding and disappearing as she regained control of it. “Much better.” Nightshade said with a crazed grin as she turned her attention back to her prone adversary, stepping over the remains of the door and the magic suppression ring. “Now, let’s have a little chat, shall we?”

Author's Notes:

Well then... I guess that pretty much settles the question of which of them is the strongest, now doesn't it...?

Also, fun fact: a Blackguard's magical aura, when and if it's visible at all, is black. I don't remember if I ever addressed that before now...