Nightshadow flew over Ponyville, nearly invisible under the night sky. He needed a place to stop; recent events had caused certain memories to resurface. Memories that were better left buried.

He hadn't told his sister. He wondered if she would even understand. Dark thoughts... emotions he hadn't felt in hundreds of years... "Damn it!" The building rage was unconsciously directed towards a mailbox. It lifted in the air and began to tremble, as if it could feel fear. Suddenly the mailbox crushed down upon itself.

'Why? Why now?' Nightshadow tried to reverse the minor damage he had caused and ended up disintegrating the innocent mailbox. It collected on the ground in a pile of ashes before inexplicably disappearing. He flew back to his cloud and fell asleep, hoping to find the answer hidden away in his dreams. Hoping that this time, luck was on his side.

Nineteen years after Nightshade's imprisonment:

"Sir, the place is a deathtrap." One of the group of ponies said. It was an earth pony. "We sent one of the new blood in there and he got cut down before he even took a step." He paused, waiting for his superior's response.

The unicorn grinned. "Well then, there must be something good in there for them to hide it so... vividly."

The earth pony nodded. "I'll send in more of the young ones. With any luck..." The earth pony respectfully nodded before trotting away. Neither of them saw the cloaked pony who watched the group from a distance.

‘Bandits... Treasure hunters for sure.’ It was not the first time he had seen them. The cloaked pony calmly trotted on, ignoring the thieves and continuing on towards the ruins.

"Halt!" One of them yelled. The hooded pony stopped. "Just what do you think you're doing here?" The pony remained silent, and resumed his trot towards the entrance to the ruined castle.

Another pony, a Pegasus, flew in front of him. A dagger slung around his side. "Now hold on a moment there, sir. My friends and I just want to know what you're doing out here." His facial expression betrayed another intent entirely.

The hooded pony spoke. "Move." His voice boomed throughout the small valley. It had no tone of aggression, but it clearly showed that he would be willing to resort to that if need came.

The Pegasus smirked. "And just what are you going to do if I don't?" He pulled his dagger and held it tightly in his teeth.

'Just like a pegasus, to feel superior for no reason.' A dark aura reached out and enveloped the dagger. The Pegasus tried to lunge forward and immediately found himself lying on the ground in blinding pain, clutching his mouth in his hooves. The cloaked pony had yanked the dagger from his assailant’s mouth with his magic, taking most of the Pegasus' teeth and some large chunks of his cheeks with him. "Fool..."

He turned to meet the rest of the thieves. Most looked angry over their comrade's pain. The hooded pony decided that now was the best time to reveal himself. In a single move he threw the cloak off of him, revealing the black wings. The enchantment keeping his eyes normal was gone with the cloak, returning his eyes to their usual draconic form. The bandits took several steps back. Some were in awe, but most were afraid.

Nightshadow stepped forward, to which they all backed up. Nopony would willingly go against an Alicorn. Especially one with such features. Nightshadow purposely flashed his crimson eyes and leaped forward, making the entire band of thieves run for their dear lives. Nightshadow gave chase for some brief moments, just to be sure that they wouldn’t be back to bother him. He smiled proudly.

'You should have just killed them all...' the Nightmare said.

"Yes, but that was much easier, and oh-so much more... satisfying." The presence that had contacted him had later revealed itself as Nightmare. It told him of four artifacts which could be used to defeat an immortal being. To unbind the soul from the body; flesh from the bone. It lead him to each of their resting places, or at least in their general direction. He had nearly spent the last two decades either looking for them, or looking for clues leading to them. It was maddening. But today his task would be so very close to completion.  He had two of them, and was now after the third.

He did not care that the Nightmare was evil. It gave him the means to his ends. The cave that stood by the mountain step felt unnatural. Odd scribblings and marks adorned its entrance. Writings older than the Sun Princess herself. He stepped into the cave and stuck a hoof out.

A pendulum came down on the spot his hoof once was. 'Magic trip-wire....' He thought to himself. Nightshadow furrowed his brows and concentrated his magic into his form. His body seemed to melt away, becoming a plume of thick smog. He maneuvered through the ruins effortlessly. Traps went off and hit nothing but air. Things that would have killed normal ponies were simply rendered inert to him.

After several minutes of maneuvering through cleverly laid, ancient traps, he reached the chamber he was after. It wasn't even clearly marked as was the cave entrance, but he knew. He could feel it.

He saw his prize. A single, floating black gem.

Instinct told him to levitate it over to him for the sake of convenience, but experience made him move towards the gem and pick it up off its pedestal by hoof. Sure enough, a large slab came down near the entrance, intending to crush unwary unicorns that would have used magic to move the gem. As his hoof touched the cold black surface of the gem, he heard the same faint voice he heard with all the others.

"Agony..."

He teleported the gem away to a safe location he had dug out, a trick the Nightmare had taught him, and made his way out of the ruins as effortlessly as he had made his way in.

'Finally... after all these years, but one artifact remains...' The voice spoke.

"I assume you know where it is, then?" He could swear he heard it laugh.

'You are quite eager, aren't you? Very well. The last one is in the very place where your goal lies... the royal vault.'

Nightshadow's eyes widened. "So this means..."

'The time has come...'

Later that night:

Celestia stood in her throne room, alone. Ever since Wind Strider passed away, she hadn't appointed another bodyguard. He told her what he did before he died, and she forgave him. She knew that he only did what he thought was right.

She also knew that he would come tonight.

It was the day Celestia had sent his sister away. Her guilt ate at her. She could have done more, but Shade seemed too far gone. ‘But I didn't even try...’ Celestia thought, warm tears forming on her eyes, tempted to ruin the coat over her cheeks. ‘I just... sent her away...’

A guard burst into the room, panting heavily. "Your highness!" He shouted out. "Someone has... attacked the castle... I found guardsponies... unconscious..."

Celestia sighed; how she wanted for this not to happen. "You may leave, guardsman. I will address the situation soon."

He bowed before shakily adding. "Y- Yes y- your highness." He galloped out the door.

Celestia could feel his presence now. There was no need in delaying the inevitable. "I know you're here Shadow. You can come out now." Nightshadow materialized in the center of the room. He glared at Celestia. Eyes filled with two decades of hatred and pain met eyes filled with two decades of regret and self-loathing.

Celestia let out another weary sigh. "I can't convince you to take another course of action, can I?" Nightshadow's response was a blade made out of his aura, hurled towards Celestia. She managed to grab it with her own magic just before it connected with her neck.

She dispelled the blade and was ready to return the favor, but Nightshadow had already closed the distance between himself and Celestia. The flying tackle broke the throne itself and carried the two of them through multiple walls until they were outside the castle.

Under the night sky.

Where his sister could watch.

It took a moment for Celestia to realize she was falling, but she quickly rebounded. To the few ponies that were out that night, their battle was mistaken for oddly colored fireworks above the castle.

For the guardsponies, it was a spectacular battle between two god-like creatures. The battle between Luna and Celestia had not been witnessed so nopony knew what to expect.

Bolts of energy were flung in every direction. Nightshadow slipped around them with ease and fired pin-point strikes with a lightning-spell he had learned. Celestia would retract the energy into a shield, than redirect it into a more concentrated blast.

Both suffered glancing blows, but neither managed to directly hit the other. 'Glancing blows...' Nightshadow acknowledged. ‘Celestia is older than me... more powerful... more experienced... yet she hasn’t managed to hit me…’ The realization hit him like a brick wall. She wasn't using all of her power. She was holding back.

Whilst Nightshadow used powerful spells, -- ancient magics forgotten to time and originally only known to the princess -- Celestia used less powerful attacks, hoping to wound him into submission instead of destroying him. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself should something happen to him.

'Well... we can't have that, can we?' Nightshadow sped at the Sun Princess faster than anything she’d ever seen. She panicked and directed a powerful streak of energy towards him. It seared his wings and sides, but he did not care. He was getting close...

Too close.

Celestia retracted the tendrils of energy and shaped them into a frontal barrier. Nightshadow jerked his wings hard, but the momentum flung him towards the barrier, which he hit harder. He plummeted to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Celestia sped after him. They landed in the garden, where the statue of Discord looked upon their fight with some measure of amusement. ‘The colt has grown... I wonder what trick he has up his sleeve?’

The princess, being a fully grown Alicorn, was beyond most magical and physical harm. Neither hair, nor feather was out of place as she landed, while the fight had been somewhat exhausting.  Nightshadow was still young. He was immortal, but still felt the white-hot mortal pain. He could still feel wounds, and still felt as though the life was draining out of him as he bled from the impact of the fall.

"Rise, Nightshadow." Celestia commanded, fighting her sadness with her most regal voice.

Nightshadow spat blood at Celestia's hooves. "I know what you're going to do. What are you waiting for? Come on then!" He roared. Five orbs floated out from behind Celestia. They began to circle around her. The element of magic, still sealed within the tiara, was on her head. She had no words left to say.

The elements reacted. As if with a mind of its own the rainbow shot out towards Nightshadow. Celestia squeezed her eyes shut. The hum accompanied with the use of the elements died down. Celestia opened her eyes to see what had gone wrong.

Nightshadow glared at her. "It would be like you to use the Elements." He said before laughing maniacally.

Celestia's mouth was agape with surprise. She slowly shook her head in disbelief. "That... isn't possible..."

Nightshadow allowed himself to grin. "Oh yes. It is very possible."  Four, black, gems winked into existence around him. Three of them circled around him while the fourth was hovering above him. A dark veil, much darker than the glimmer of his magic began to surround him.

The whispers echoed inside both his and Celestia's head. "No! Stop! You have no idea what-" She was cut off as the aura around Nightshadow thickened.

'Agony.'

'Malice.'

'Deceit.'

'Shadow.'

The voices echoed in his head.

'Darkness.'

The color drained from the world around him. Grass and flowers wilted as the life was crushed from them by the presence of the darkness. Discord trembled inside of his stone prison. ‘Not... good...’

Celestia, for the first time in thousands of years, was very much afraid. Nightshadow's eyes slowly became hollow, dark, sockets. He stared directly at Celestia and she felt her life slowly leaking from her. The aura intensified as he lurched towards the Sun Princess.

She put her energy into the Elements of Harmony. They formed a barrier in a desperate attempt to protect their wielder from the darkness' influence.

Nightshadow gave his energy to the Darkness.

She was stronger, but that didn't matter now.

Harmony was stronger, but that didn't matter now.

Harmony was without those six meant to wield it.

And Darkness had found its home; in the heart of a lonely soul.

The barrier slowly began to crack. Celestia began to pour all of her remaining energy into maintaining the barrier. The Darkness did the same. Celestia let out a terrified scream as the barrier failed completely. Her mind went blank.

Nightshadow was alone.

In the darkness.

Alone.

"Excellent work!" The Nightmare said. A dark-blue mist seeped down from above and took the form of a black Alicorn.

"Sister?" Nightshadow said, somewhat surprised. The Alicorn was entirely featureless except for its color, but there was an ominous air of familiarity around her form.

The Nightmare laughed. "No, but I can see why you would think that. Soon we will meet in person, and I can explain things... but for now there is work to be done." She paused before adding. "The Sun Princess must die."

Nightshadow nodded.

"No..." Another voice cried, echoing from all directions. Like with the first, a mist seeped down from above, this one purple. It took the shape of another featureless Alicorn, a deep blue one. "You cannot kill her! If you do as this creature asks, you will doom the world with Eternal Night!"

"Why should I care?" Nightshadow asked angirly.

The blue Alicorn frowned. "Because then you will be dooming millions of ponies to slow death under a tyrant. Would you really want that?"

Nightshadow scoffed. " How many of those millions of ponies are worth saving? How much of this world deserves to stay warm while the rest freezes to death? If there was a way to burn this whole world I would, but since I cannot, Eternal Night will have to do."

The black Alicorn smiled reluctantly. Nightshadow sighed. He was getting tired of the multiple personalities telling him the difference between right and wrong. He had already fought with his conscience enough as it is.

"There is another choice..." Another voice rang out making all present jump up in surprise. The voice was low like a whisper, but still carried a strong tone with it.

"No! You're not supposed to be here!" The Nightmare said.

"Leave this place, spirit!" The blue one said.

"Silence." The new voice commanded, still no louder than a whisper. Suddenly the other two let out a pained yelp and disappeared.

Nightshadow did not show his fear. "What are you?"

"I have gone by many names... Legion... Destroyer... Prince of Darkness... by using my symbol you have released me. In return, I grant you my wisdom."

Nightshadow shook his head. "You mentioned another option?"

"This world has been unfair, as have its ponies. It always will be. Does it deserve your mercy?"

Nightshadow thought about the good ponies in the world. Ponies like Wind Strider, and Red Apple. Then he remembered the other ponies that he had seen... They looked upon him with fear and hatred, and that was just when they saw his eyes. God herself had separated him from his sister. Celestia, ruler of all ponykind, was a monster wielding the power of order.

"You have the power of Darkness. The wielder of Harmony is bent to your will. You have a way to end it all. Do so." Nightshadow did not notice the mist creeping up behind him.

Something about the creature's words just seemed right.

As it had done to countless others before him, Darkness consumed his heart.

Nightshadow awoke. He was standing over the once-powerful Sun Princess. Her mane, what was once a beautiful myriad of vivid colors, was now a solid pink. She looked up at him, her eyes had become hollow grey orbs.

"Rise." He commanded, and as his subject, she did as he commanded.

Than, very calmly, Nightshadow said "Bring the moon to us." Celestia struggled inside her mind. Tears would be streaming down her cheeks had she not been inhabiting the now empty shell that once was her body. She nodded and lowered her head, pointing her powerful horn out towards the moon. She found that she could not will the moon down towards Equestria, the autonomous magical seals known collectively as 'gravity', placed by ancients far older than her, held it in place. Still, she tried.

She suddenly became aware of another's magic at work on the moon, and turned to see Nightshadow's horn glowing. Very slowly the seals broke. Very slowly the moon started its descent towards Equestria.

"No... No. No! NO! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Nightmare Moon cried out. "THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ETERNAL NIGHT! I WAS TO BE QUEEN. I... I..." She sighed, which on the moon was like a gust of icy wind.

For a brief few moments, Luna came to the surface "We just wanted ponies to appreciate our night... We never wanted it all to be destroyed... now... now there will be no ponies left to see my nights..." Nightmare Moon was herself once more, but she felt a huge sorrow as the deep blue mist inside her mind wept in despair.

Nightshade looked down at the events below, as Equestria suddenly began to come closer. Twenty years of regret flooded back to her. She did not have the same luxury of being insane as Nightmare was, at least not as insane. Talking to oneself to pass the time might be qualified as such. Shade had let the being 'next' to her twist her mind so that she could get to her brother, and now her brother was going to end it all, out of misery.

Then suddenly, Nightshade could feel something. It was like the weight of an entire planet was out of her shoulders. A previously unknown sense of... freedom...

"Luna..." She said, containing her elation. Nightmare Moon was about to verbally reprimand her, but squelched the thought, deciding that it didn't really matter now. "I think we can escape..."

"It does not matter. With both darkness and harmony working against us, we would both need to be there in order to stop this now...” She looked at the stars around the small planet and sighed. “The stars will only allow one to pass... all this time... wasted" Nightshade huffed and began focusing her magic. "What... What are you doing?"

"I can't just stay up here and do nothing! My brother... needs me." Nightmare Moon was about to speak in protest, but found herself alone before she could say a word. Nightmare Moon glanced at a particular group of stars, slowly swaying away from each other and sighed.

‘It will take a long time for them to be ready again...’

Nightshade arrived in the very spot she was banished from; the royal throne room. She flew quietly through the holes in the wall where Nightshadow and Princess Celestia both flung through. She hovered above the Sculpture Garden and saw him. The sight of her brother caused her heart to drop. He was standing next to a now drained Celestia.

‘He’s guiding the moon's descent alone!’ Nightshade gasped at the realization. She landed next to him. "Nightshadow?" She called. “Brother, it’s me!” He could not hear her. He could not see her. All of his focus, all of his consciousness was centered on the moon.

She sighed and charged a weak spell. A bolt of energy arced towards her brother. His shadow leapt off the ground and swatted it away. 'I've... I've gotta do something!'

Nightshade looked up at the silver orb in the sky. She smirked, remembering an odd song she heard one night. 'If you can do anything...' She began to hum the song as she reached up into the sky with her magic.

Nightshade was amazed at how light the moon actually was. She was also amazed at the fact that she could feel Nightshadow's magic at work, pulling the moon towards them all. Putting every ounce of her concentration into the single direction, she managed to halt the moon.

Nightshadow let out a grunt. Suddenly, Nightshade felt the moon begin to lurch forward once more, more hastily than before. "No! Shadow, stop!" He still could not hear her.

The moon began to near Equestria. Ponies, which at one point thought it was a spectacle being performed by Celestia, now became fearful and panicked, fleeing Canterlot. All the while, brother and sister were playing a deadly game of tug of war that Nightshade was losing.

Discord frowned inside of his stone prison. He was all for chaos, but destruction was not his style. Death only worked out if enough chaos was caused from the ponies. Killing off all of ponykind meant that there would be nopony to experience his wonderful chaos.

He watched as the Alicorn sister tried in vain to stop her brother. The arc of energy she shot was quickly deflected and headed straight for his stony prison.

Discord's somber mood turned to glee. ‘Free at last!’ The bolt of energy grazed the statue. An almost microscopic piece of stone chipped off and hit the floor silently.

Discord focused his essence through the small opening. 'Dang!' The statue sure was weakened, but the stone bit that chipped off of it was too small for Discord to break free on his own. However, the opening was large enough to let a bit of his influence leak out...

Discord smiled. He had a plan. What's more, he had an opportunity he might not see again for a thousand lifetimes, and despite the moon coming down on their heads, he would use it.

Nightshade felt a small trickle of blood run down the side of her head. She did her best to ignore the sharp pain and the ringing in her ears that accompanied it. Something else was driving her brother towards his destructive ends, she had seen this. But she couldn't wake him up, and all of her magic was being pushed towards keeping the moon from falling down on them all.

'Oh my poor little pony.' A voice snickered in her head before erupting in a heartily guffaw.

'Wha... What?' Nightshade’s surprise made her magic falter for a moment. She pushed back her efforts and concentrated also on her mind. ‘Great... now I’m hearing things...’

'Oh. You’re not hearing things. I'm perfectly real, see?' Something made her look over to one of the statues in the garden, specifically one of an elegantly posed draconequus.

'I'm a little busy at the moment!' She thought, glaring at the statue.

She heard what must have been a snort. 'Fine then. I was going to help out but...'

'Wait!’ The voice snickered once more, it worked. ‘H- How can you help?' From within Discord's prison, he smiled.

'Why don't we step into my office?' Before Nightshade could pose the spirit a question, she suddenly found herself sitting in a chair in front of a desk inside of a large, dark room with the Draconequus she saw earlier. Only he was much more colorful in person.

"Hello, my dear!" It boomed. "I'm sure you’re eager to get started, but first, tea?" A saucer and cup were levitated over to her. She couldn't help but notice that, aside from their shape, they seemed to be ordinary balloons.

"You said you could help." She said sternly, glaring at the balloons. "We don't have time for any games." Discord let out a hearty laugh.

"Alright then, Miss Black Snooty, I'll get down to business. Chaos... is a wonderful thing." His voice boomed with glee at the end of the sentence. As he began, the silverware exploded into ribbons, which than began to move on their own, hissing like snakes. Nightshade instinctively jumped up and floated above the creatures. Not that she was endangered, she just didn’t like snakes.

Discord laughed again, before his expression turned to a slightly more serious one. "But you see, Chaos isn't any fun without ponies to see it. To experience it. To be a part of it." The snakes grew larger. They sprouted wings and legs. Discord moved his claws around the snakes, prompting one to fight the other until both mutually ended their existence in quick pops.

"The destruction of the whole world would be a bit of a downer, so I'd be glad to help you..." Discord said, transforming the popped balloons into wine.

"But... ?" Shade said, she knew that with these older entities there was always a catch.

Discord smiled. "Well, aren't you a clever one? I would love to help preserve ponykind and yadda yadda yadda...” He mimicked a mouth blabbering with one of his claws ”But, you see, I'm also a bit of an... opportunist." He said, pressing his claws together and tapping the fingers together.

"I'm not setting you free. If that's what you’re asking." Shade didn’t know how bad or evil Discord was. But she wasn’t willing to find out.

Discord laughed in her face. "Oh my dear, while that is a tempting offer, I wouldn't get another chance like this in a millennium." Nightshade's face contorted into one of confusion. "Let me put it simply for you." Discord said, frowning. "I can remove the... Darkness from your brother. BUT... in return... I require your sanity..."

Nightshade didn't seem surprised at his offer, just even more confused. "Why just my sanity? Why wouldn't you want to be free?"

"Ah my dear, causing chaos personally is fun, but watching other ponies cause chaos is even more so! But of course, all you ponies pass away with age... except for you. Oh no, you are immortal! You would last forever! Not even little Celly could stomp you out! Besides..." He stared off into the void with a slight grin. "... there will be another opportunity for freedom."

'I guess I should just consider myself lucky.' She thought. 'He doesn't seem to realize how desperate the situation is.' Nightshade sighed. "Fine." She said, making Discord’s grin widen deviously.

"Excellent! Let's shake on it!" He extended a claw. Nightshade reached out with a hoof and shook it. She felt a strange sensation in her hoof, which quickly turned into an electric shock. Discord laughed as Nightshade began to feel less and less herself.

Nightshadow could feel the Sun Princess collapse next to him.

He didn't care.

He felt the ponies around the world quake in fear.

He didn't care.

He felt the work of another, pushing the moon back up.

He didn't care.

He saw from the moon the monster he had become.

He didn’t care.

He saw the sister he wanted back so dearly fighting him for the rest of the world.

He woke up from his nightmare.

Nightshadow felt as though he had just woken from a dream; light-headed and feverish. He looked down at the defeated Sun Princess at his hooves. His eyes followed the floor, stopping on his collapsed sister. Suddenly, memories of their predicament came back to him. "Oh... oh no..." He felt what he had done. What he was still doing.

Nightshadow immediately began putting all his effort into pushing the moon back into the sky.

'NO! YOU WILL NOT DEFY ME!' The presence shouted in his mind. But the sound of it was quickly cut by another voice’s snicker.

He ignored all of it. What he should have done all along.

Nightshade awoke feeling strange. She slowly got to her hooves. She looked over at the collapsed Sun Princess. 'Huh. I wonder why Tia's mane got all pink.' She was going to trot up to her aunt to see what was wrong, but as her first hoof connected to the floor below her, she winced. 'Ow. Head feels like I got a horse kicking me. Ha! Horse. Funny...' Her mind derailed itself.

She looked over to her brother and suddenly the urgency of the situation immediately rushed back to her, removing the stupid smile off her face. She galloped next to her brother and resisted the urge to embrace him and never let go. Her horn glimmered as both brother and sister began to push the moon back into the sky.

'I SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED SO EASILY!'

Nightshadow could feel the presence leave the gems and float upwards. It was accompanies by that same voice from before, hissing and cursing the Darkness. Both brother and Sister could now feel the Darkness pushing the moon down, trying desperately to keep it on its course.

Both Brother and Sister pushed back against the Darkness. It howled as it met a wall it could not shatter. A bond it could not break.

The ponies everywhere cheered as the moon ceased its decent. The citizens still thought it was Celestia putting on a show. Maybe it would be better that way. They felt the moon firmly gripped in the hold of 'gravity'. The dark presence raged, but could not fight against the ancient magic. Both sighed, releasing their own grip, allowing the moon to go back on its natural course.

Nightshade turned to her brother and smiled. Nightshadow turned to his sister and frowned, she was bleeding around the base of her horn, a sign of intense magical exertion. "It's nice to see you again, too." She chuckled.

They might have broken down into tears had they not had one more matter to deal with.

Nightshadow stood over Celestia once again. The effects of being exposed to the Darkness were wearing off. Her mane was slowly returning to its usual assortment of colors, but she remained still. Her eyes looked up at him. Her mind was her own once more.

"I could kill you. But I won't. I'm not like you, not like your sister, even though I was so very close to being you." He willed the black gems to his side once more. "There is one matter, though." He fed energy into the Darkness one final time.

He used it as a surgeon would use a scalpel, found the thread he was looking for, than severed it. Celestia winced in pain at the sudden loss of power. "What... What did you do?"

Nightshadow smiled. "I took something from you. Something that wasn’t yours. Something, I fear, you have grown far too reliant on."

Celestia blinked and they were gone.

Free from the influence of Nightmare.

Free from the influence of Sun and Moon.

Free from the influence of Darkness and Harmony.

At last, truly free...

Or so he thought...

The present...

Nightshadow awoke from his vivid dreams. Except they weren't his dreams.

They rarely slept at the same time, but when they did, there were times where he would accidentally walk into his sister's dreams. Most were memories. Usually more recent memories...

He had never known about her 'deal' with Discord. Nightshadow had always just assumed Shade's madness was due to her time on the moon, or the years taking their toll on her...

They would arrive in a small town or a village, Shadow always avoided heavily populated areas in case Celestia was looking for them. Shade would go with her usual pranks, have her fun, and be totally harmless at first. Than after a while she learned how the locals acted, how they worked, what they did every day, their routines. Then she would get bored, always getting the same reactions out of the same ponies. Eventually she would increase the span and size of her 'pranks', which at that point had become more like sick delusions. Then Shadow would have to take her someplace else before she destroyed the town out of boredom, which she had almost done on more than one occasion.

"I should have killed him!" He yelled aloud. They had been present when Discord had returned. He had convinced himself not to intervene, instead leaving Ponyville for a short while. Discord's return was one of many pre-determined events, and they had bad experiences with trying to interrupt pre-determined events.

Nightshadow thought about confronting Shade with this revelation. He flew through the night sky, looking for his sister. While he flew, he began to think about their time in Ponyville. They had spent a large amount of time here, several years. He then realized something.

She had just now started to show signs of her boredom, her nearly lethal prank on Rainbow Dash.

She still caused misery.

She still enjoyed the chaos she caused.

But she regretted what she did to Dash. She didn't just feel sorry, she wished it didn't happen...

Was something here... helping her?

Nightshade smiled from her cloud perch as she saw Shadow approaching.  "Hey! I haven't seen you tonight! Where'd you go?"

"I was busy." He said nonchalantly.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?" She pointed to a pile of ashes on the cloud. Nightshadow grimaced, causing his sister to giggle.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot." Shade levitated a saddlebag out from behind her. "Open it!" Nightshadow did, and levitated the contents out of the bag. There were two pairs of glasses.

Nightshadow looked confused, he inspected the glasses but found nothing abnormal about them. "Shade, what is this?"

"Put them on!" Nightshadow hesitated before he did, expecting it to shock him or distort his vision or make him hear voices. Not even he was above his sister's tricks. He looked through the lenses and was confused; they seemed to be two ordinary panes of glass.

Nightshade's horn glowed and a mirror appeared beside her. Nightshadow eyed his reflection warily. His eyes looked... normal. Still scarlet, but the pupils were round, not slits.

"Nightshade... what is this?"

She laughed as she levitated a similar pair of glasses onto her own face, changing her green eyes in the same way as Nightshadow's.

"We're going to a party tomorrow night!"

Rainbow Dash awoke with a yawn. "Morning already?" She grunted, still sleepy. She glanced over to her alarm clock. It read 2:04 AM.

'What the hay?' She never woke up early... especially this early. She shrugged and tried to go back to sleep. A whole full hour passed but sleep never came. Rainbow Dash just lay in her bed, tossing and turning. Dash sighed and floated towards the stairs.

As Rainbow was floating past the bathroom she froze. She saw her image out of the corner of her eye, reflected in the mirror. She slowly turned to get a good look in the mirror. Her eyes went wide as she gazed upon her reflection. She kicked herself many times, making sure that she wasn't dreaming. After making absolutely sure she wasn't asleep, Rainbow Dash did the only thing she could think to do at the time.

She screamed and bolted out the door.

Authors note:Dont know why the text above all bolded... And I can't figure out how to fix it. Soz