She nodded, and began. "After I left the Guard, I was a mess. I felt like I'd been betrayed by everypony. I was hurt, I was confused, but more than anything, I was angry. I wanted the ponies that were responsible to suffer." She hung her head. "I did... some pretty terrible things. Things that I wish I hadn't done. Things that I can never make right. When it was all over, I decided that I was done with ponykind for good. I'd live in the Everfree, with the other monsters." "That was... OH DAMN!!!" She dove for the controls in time to steer the ship out of the path of an enormous green fish.
Raven was listening intently until the dive for the controls. For a split second, there was a crazed look in her eye that she tried to hide, strange lust for near death. It soon faded, however, and she waited for Night to continue.
"Anyway... About a week into my self-imposed exile, I was walking along the riverbank, when a met a strange pony wearing a blood red cloak. I couldn't see his face under the hood, but there was something... odd... about him. He motioned for me to follow him, and for some reason, I did." She steered them around another of the enormous fish, and continued. "He led me to a clearing. A dozen ponies were sitting around a bonfire, roasting marshmallows. He introduced me as 'The Thirteenth,' then vanished into thin air. I never found out who or what he was." "When I arrived, the whole mood changed. They gave me a drink, and started some kind of weird ritual... weird at the time, anyway. It didn't take long to figure out that they were the Cult of Discord, and by spreading chaos in the castle, I had been chosen as the newest initiate." (Ugh. Wrist hurt. No can type good.)
"Pretty much. And I went with it. It wasn't long after that before I started getting my life back together. Moved to Ponyville, started my dojo... even started dating somepony I met that night." She sighed. "You know about Summer, and I'd rather not linger on that."
"It was for me. Some ponies take it to an extreme... like with Az... but most of us are just there for the sense of community." She sighed. "After... after Summer died, I threw myself into the cult. I needed something to kill the pain. I learned all the rituals, studied all the secrets, and when the Ponyville high priestess moved to Manehatten, I was chosen to replace her. That when when I found out exactly what I am."
After what felt like a month, Nightshade finally answered. "One of many." She sighed. "I found out that I... or at least other versions of me... exist in many universes. I learned that I, and many other ponies, was being controlled by unseen puppet masters who toy with our world for their own amusement. Most importantly, I learned that the original Nightshade... who had existed in a world of incredible power and savagery... was dead. In life, she had been powerful. An actual ascended goddess, capable of altering reality at a level far beyond what even Lord Discord is capable of." Nightshade paused to steer the ship around what appeared to be a pudding nebula, then continued. "When her world fell to the hordes of Tartarus, she fought right up to the end. She was killed as she attempted to protect ponykind's last stronghold... the Crystal Empire. In the end, it didn't matter. The Empire fell, the Heart was destroyed, everypony died, and her essence was scattered to the void." They were getting close. Nightshade slowed the ship and continued. "When I looked into the void to learn the secrets of our chaotic universe... she was waiting for me. Her power, slowly dissipating into nothingness, flowed into me. It wasn't supposed to happen. I was just supposed to learn a few things that would help me understand chaos better. Instead, what remained of the other Nightshade merged with me, and I become... something different."
"I... think I should be more surprised than I am. But with what I've seen... Either way, I guess that explains a few things."
Nightshade steer the ship in a swirling vortex of pure chaos, and pointed to a small house in the distance. "We're here."
"Fair enough." She landed the ship on Discord's front lawn and opened the hatch. "Well, are you ready to meet the Lord of Chaos?"
The ship sank into the ground and vanished as Nightshade stepped out. She walked towards the door, which opened as she approached. Discord stepped outside and regarded the two ponies with mild curiosity. "Who's out here making such an awful racket? Oh! I know you! You're one of my priestesses... Ponyville, was it? Nightshade? And who's the little Bat Pony with you? A new convert, perhaps?"
